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Scan 51
Dictionary of music and musicians, 1908
22 lines. Read by computer on 5 September 2026. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.
1FINGERING
3all existing methods being totally inadequate. Accordingly, he fixed the place of the thumb in the scale, and made free use of both that and the little finger in every possible position. In consequence of this the hands were held in a more forward position on the keyboard, the wrists were raised, the long fingers became bent, and therefore gained greatly in flexibility, and thus Bach acquired such a prodigious power of execution as compared with his contemporaries, that it is said that nothing which was at all possible was for him in the smallest degree difficult.
5Our knowledge of Bach's method is derived from the writings of his son, Emanuel, who taught it in his Versuch über die wahre Art das Clavier zu spielen. But it would not be safe to conclude that he gave it literally and without omissions. At any rate there are two small pieces extant, the marked fingering in which is undoubtedly by Sebastian Bach himself, and yet differs in several respects from his own rules as given by his son. These pieces are to be found in the 'Clavierbüchlein,' and one of them is also published as No. 11 of 'Douze petits Préludes,' but without Bach's fingering. The other is here given complete:—
7In the above example it is worthy of notice that although Bach himself had laid down the rule, that the thumb in scale-playing was to be used twice in the octave, he does not abide by it, the scales in this instance being fingered according to the older plan of passing the second finger over the third, or the first over the thumb. In the fifth bar again the second finger passes over the first—a progression which is disallowed by Emanuel Bach.
9The discrepancies between Bach's fingering and his son's rules, shown in the other piece mentioned, occur between bars 22 and 23, 34 and 35, and 38 and 39, and consist in passing the second finger over the first, the little finger under the third (left hand), and the third over the little finger (left hand also).
11Bar 22. 23.
13Bar 34. 35.
15Bar 38. 39.
17From these discrepancies it would appear that Bach's own fingering was more varied than the description of it which has come down to us, and that it was free in the sense not only of employing every possible new combination of fingers, but also of making use of all the old ones, such as the passing of one long finger over another. Emanuel Bach restricts this freedom to some extent, allowing for instance the passage of the second finger over the third, but of no other long finger. Thus only so much of Bach's method has remained in practical use to the present day as Emanuel Bach retained, and as is absolutely essential for the performance of his works.
19Emanuel Bach's fingering has been practically that of all his successors until almost recent times; Clementi, Hummel, and Czerny adopted it almost without change, excepting only the limitation caused by the introduction of the pianoforte, the touch of which requires a much sharper blow from the finger than that of the clavichord or harpsichord, in consequence of which the gentle gliding of the second finger over the third, which was allowed by Emanuel Bach, has become unsuitable, and is now rarely used.
21In the teaching of all the above-named masters, one principle is particularly observed,—the thumb is not used on a black key except (as Emanuel Bach puts it) 'in cases of necessity,' and it is the abolition of this restriction which forms the latest development of fingering. Modern composers, and in particular Chopin and Liszt, have by their invention of novel passages and difficulties done once more for the thumb what Bach did for it, and just as he redeemed
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