Right Hand Fingering Indications

David Raleigh Arnold

Two Systems of Immediate Interest

Carcassi: For Beginners Only

+ or x = thumb
. one dot = index
.. two dots = middle
... three dots = annular or ring finger

(In the book, it’s at the foot of p. 11.)

Modern and Used Exclusively by the Author:

• t = thumb
• i = index
• m = middle
• a = annular or ring finger
• q = pinkie

The History

Right hand finger indications have varied a lot over the last two centuries. Here are a few examples of guitar right hand finger indications from published methods and other works, starting with my own preference. I haven’t tried to be thorough. The first column is the different indications for thumb, the second index, etc.:

t i m a q         (My preference)

p i m a (q, c, x, p) (Latin, etc.)

t i m r p        (English)

. .. ... ....         (International: Carulli, Legnani and others)

+ . .. ...
x          (International: Carcassi and others)

t p l r         (Dutch)

d z m g
⌃          (German)
v

Why were dots used at all?

Why use dots for right hand fingering, when there are arguably too many dots in music already?

I doubt it would ever have happened without bilingual editions of beginner’s guitar methods. Right hand finger dots are prevalent in them. Dots are easy to understand, remember, and engrave, but they are not easy to read and very subject to errors. The student must learn some other systems anyway, because right hand dot fingering systems are unusable by those who are no longer beginners. There is a surfeit of dots in written music without adding dots for fingering.

Books in a single language tended to use that language for right hand finger indications until modern times. That’s where my examples came from.

Why “t”?

The “t” may be considered to stand for the English “thumb” or the Dutch “taume”, but it also resembles a cross, whether a plus sign or an X, which was used for thumb in bilingual methods by Carcassi and others. Another advantage is that it is not a “p”, which stands for piano. A “p” could also be pinkie (Scottish), polec (Polish) or pointer (English), wrongly indicating “q”, “a”, and “i” respectively. In printed music there is little chance for confusion, but in handwritten music the “p” for thumb is a very bad idea. Usages which are unsatisfactory in quickly handwritten music should always be avoided or eliminated, even in typesetting. Scribbling is still important to musicians, whether they be composers, arrangers, or performers, for reasons that are entirely practical, not historical or spiritual or because of habit. There is absolutely no reason that the mistaking of a dynamic indication for a fingering indication should ever be allowed to happen.

In his very popular 19th century piano method, [Sydney Smith] used “X1234” instead of “12345” for fingering.[1] That remains a very good idea, because it is more friendly to string players than the standard indications. An “X” cross for thumb has the disadvantage that it it resembles a double sharp, but pianists can be expected to be very careful about placement because the same symbols apply to both hands.

On top of all that, banjo music always uses a “t” for thumb, and that is not going to change. It is desirable to use the same fingering indications for as many instruments as possible.

Why “q”?

Quinque (L.) Quattro (It.) Meñique, Pequeño (Sp.)

The Dead Hand of Tradition

I want to dispel any notion that pima must be some sort of accepted standard. Spaniards used it, and certainly there is nothing wrong with that, but Segovia in particular did not desire that Spanish should be the exclusive standard or official language of the guitar. I heard him casually use both appoggiato and tirato in the 1960’s. I take that as an indication that he did not want the guitar to be isolated by language from other instruments or from the greater musical world. Italians had a monopoly on music publishing for the greater part of a century because of technology. Movable metal type for music was developed in Italy as opera was being invented, so Italian became the lingua franca of music for centuries. Every day it becomes more desirable to keep that convenience, or go back to it, as music becomes ever more international.

Right Hand Indications for Striking Chords

The standard marking is to draw an arrow before the chord pointing in the desired direction. If the arrow points from the low note to the high (upward), you strike downward. That results in a rat’s nest of vertical lines and stems, and added finger indications are still necessary.

A bit better is a short arrow above the chord pointing the same way. It is a problem that some less enlightened people will think that the arrow pointing downward means to strum downward. Of course it means to strike upward, from the high note to the low.

This is a better way. It is very simple because it uses the same letters as are used for individual notes. It is intuitive because the “W” and “V” represent “M” and “A” upside down, and the “U” is up. It uses letters only, not strange new unwelcome symbols:

From low note to high:

thumb=T; index=I; middle=M; annular=A; pinkie=Q

From high note to low:

thumb=U; index=N; middle=W; annular=V

The pinkie[2] strumming upward is not useful.

Using a Flat Pick

Flat pickers use the violin upbow and downbow signs:

Pick downward: ⊓

Pick upward: ∨

Some have been known to use D and U. ☺

If arrows are used for strumming chords, the arrow indicates to strike downward by an up arrow, because you are strumming from low note to a high. A down arrow means strum up.

Not my fault.

End Notes:

§1 As of 2012, his is the only piano method I know of which is free for download.

§2 “Pinkie” is a Scottish word standing for the small finger. “Penkwe” is thought by linguists to be the root Indo-European word for “five”, from which five, fünf, quinque, cinc, panc, all are ultimately derived. That makes “pinkie” one of the very oldest Indo-European words that we have. You would think that using “p” in guitar music for the fifth finger of the right hand would be out of the question, but it has in fact been done in a published book.

©2012, 2008 David Raleigh Arnold - http://www.openguitar.com