Piano finger numbers

Piano finger numbers are the same in both hands: thumb 1, index 2, middle 3, ring 4, little finger 5. They appear as small numbers by the notes, and a number on the first note of a phrase usually tells you where the whole hand sits.

Piano finger numbers are the same in both hands: thumb 1, index finger 2, middle finger 3, ring finger 4, little finger 5. They are printed as small numbers by the notes, and a number on the first note of a phrase usually tells you where the whole hand should sit.

The numbers

Because your hands are mirror images, the numbers run in opposite directions on the keys. Put both thumbs on middle C: the right hand's fingers go up the keyboard 1 2 3 4 5, and the left hand's go down it 1 2 3 4 5.

In the music

Fingering is printed as small numbers near the notes: usually above the notes on the treble staff and below them on the bass staff. Editors only mark some notes:

• The first note of a piece or phrase, to set the hand's position.
• A place where the hand moves, or a finger crosses.
• A note where the obvious finger is wrong.

Between marked notes, keep the hand where it is and let each finger take its own key.

The five-finger position

The first hand shape nearly every beginner learns is the five-finger position: five white keys next to each other, one finger each.

• Right hand, C position: thumb on middle C, then D, E, F, G with fingers 2 to 5.
• Left hand, C position: little finger on the C below middle C, then D, E, F, and the thumb on G.

In a five-finger position the finger number is the note: in C position, 3 always plays E. That is why beginner pieces stay in one position for as long as they can.

Keeping a good hand shape

• Curved fingers, as if holding a ball. Flat fingers are weak and slow.
• Play on the fingertips; the thumb plays on its side corner.
• Wrist level with the keys, not dropped below them.
• Relaxed shoulders. Tension travels down the arm.

Beyond the five-finger position

Most music moves further than five keys. The hand does it in three ways:

• Moving between phrases, lifting the whole hand to a new position.
• Stretching one finger to a key just outside the position (in Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star the little finger reaches from G to A and back).
• Crossing: in scales, the thumb passes under the fingers (or a finger over the thumb) so the hand can keep going. In C major, the right hand plays 1 2 3, tucks the thumb under to F, then 1 2 3 4 5.

Common mistakes

• Forgetting the left thumb is 1. It is easy to number the left hand from the left side. The thumb is always 1.
• Ignoring fingering. It is there to save a scramble a few notes later.
• Moving the hand in the middle of a phrase when the position would have covered it.
• Tucking the thumb late in a scale, which pulls the wrist sideways.

How to practise

1. Tap the numbers on a table: call a number and tap that finger, one hand at a time.
2. Play C position up and down, saying the finger numbers aloud, then the notes.
3. Read a simple piece's fingering before you play: where does each hand start?
4. Try mirror playing: both thumbs on middle C, both hands moving outwards together, same finger at the same time.

How Octotune helps

Octotune shows fingering three ways at once: the number above the note, a fingertip on the key, and a drawn hand under the keyboard with the finger to use lit up. Before a lesson starts, the coach says where to put the hand ("Start with your right thumb on C4"). Songs without fingering get it suggested, the way a teacher would pencil it in. In Kids mode, fingers 1 to 5 are among the first things learned, with the child's own hand drawn and the finger lit. Open Octotune.

Next: Steps, skips and leaps.

Practise it: Unit 1, Middle C, D and E

The Octotune team · Updated 23 September 2026