I won't see my teacher for another two weeks and I'm stuck with some fingering. Does anyone have this piece to advise me please - Kirchner's Poco Allegro, Grade 3, B2.

It's Bar 2, LH.

There's a chord of a crotchet C# with a quaver A above, and then a quaver G. Then a chord of two quavers, D,F.

The book suggests F5,1 for the crotchet C#, quaver A chord.

And F4,1 for the D,F chord.

But what finger do I use for the quaver G? It's supposed to be legato but if I use F1, I can't get it legato, and F2 doesn't seem to work.

Any advice please?

It's a bit awkward getting to the 4/1 on the D,F but finger 2 works best for me.

However, it's slightly easier if you play the C#/F with 4/1 instead of 5/1, then it's just a case of moving finger 4 down from the C# to D.

As the top A in the LH is an inner voice it does not matter that it is released a little early, so the suggested fingering is OK. If you don't like the effect then you can get a legato by taking the right pedal just as you release the A and releasing the pedal just as the D and F sound.

If it really bothers you then a true finger legato is possible with the fingering 521 -> 542 but it is a bit awkward, harder to control the volume and, unless it is very well practiced, risks leaving the fingers behind on GA, making a messy sound.

I would encourage my pupils to use finger 2 on the G, but it depends on hand shape and flexibility, and it wouldn't work for everyone. So I'd monitor their efforts and be prepared to modify the fingering depending on what seemed to suit. Thumb on the G is possible as long as the player can avoid a bumpy sounding progression.

A couple of my students have tried thumb on G with varying results. I would stick to finger 2 where possible.

It just occured to me that you can play both G and A with the thumb, and take D-F with 42. That seems a better solution than either the 51 -> 41 you mention or my earlier suggestion.

Yes, I think that's another (good) option for players of this level - and one which some of mine would very probably use, without noticing the fingering in the score!

As long as it can be done fairly smoothly I might leave well alone. Not if the thumb is bumping along in staccato fashion though!

Many thanks for all these suggestions. I'll try them out and see what works best for me. Much appreciated

Just tried this. Finger 2 is also most natural for me.

Thanks PianoNotes