The Art of Piano Fingering: Traditional, Advanced, and Innovative Paperback – March 24, 2013

The most surprising thing about this book is that it was not written 150 years ago. It is, as far as I can tell, the first serious tratise on correct fingering for the piano. And as most teachers will tell you, good fingering is the greates problem-solver for all pianisits at all levels, as well as the best way of avoiding injury. Mestro Bar-Niv’s book addresses all aspects of fingering, from the most basic of basics right through to approaching extremely difficult passages in contemporary music.And here is the joy of it: the approach of the book is not to teach you the best fingering, per se, but rather to give the pianist a firm grounding on how to THINK about fingering. The author understands that all hands are different, that all tricky passages are different, and that one almost always has options.The book is, of course, no susbstitute for a good teacher, a point that Bar-Niv makes clear. Nor does it particularly cover interpretation, pedaling, style, nor many other aspects of our challenging art. But it is exactly what the title says. As a pianist of some ability and fifty years of experience, I can unabashedly recommend this book to all lovers of the keyboard, at all levels, and especially to those who teach. The writing is fresh, with garnishes of humor. It is abundantly provided with illustrations and musical examples that cover all aspects and periods of classical music. And, of course, good fingering is good fingering, regardless if you are paying Brahms, jazz, or accompaning the church choir. I urge all keyboardists to check it out!

What one strategy solves the majority of piano-playing problems? Fingering!!! This book by Rami Bar-Niv on fingering strategy is so long overdue, and will be an enormous aid to players and teachers alike.Generaly I buy piano pedagogy books and am disappointed not to learn anything new from them. They go in a bookcase and are rarely used as reference. I was delighted to see this book is different! I have spent a good deal of time slowly working through each example, applying the techniques to pieces that have given me difficulty, and experienced much success! This book will be close to my piano so I can glean every bit of information from it.I heartily recommend The Art of Piano Fingering to anyone who plays or teaches piano, whether for fun or profit.

This book is a "must have" for anyone who employs a constructivist approach to teaching and learning. In The Art of Piano Fingering, Rami Bar-Niv frees us from traditional pianistic techniques and customs that can be injurious, and empowers us to rethink and reconstruct our approaches to passage playing. The examples Rami Bar-Niv applies his extraordinary instruction to are taken from classical music repertoire and are sufficient to offer insights at all levels of playing. Dozens of exercises and photos are included that model, develop, and reinforce the articulations necessary to accomplish "...efficient fingering that serves the music and the health of your hands..."In a note to the author I wrote: "Your book arrived Wednesday and I began to read it that evening and yesterday morning. I love it! It is so clear. The attention to the editing is a testament to your care for your readers. In contrast, I just want to burn my Hanon! How I've hurt my hands stretching them indiscriminately.When I stopped my fall piano instruction at the college due to facilities issues, I started thinking about the fingering of some of the simple root arpeggios I was working on. I knew that there had to be a better way with some of them for me. When I returned to my teacher in the spring, I asked her about these possibilities and she insisted that the standard fingerings were pretty much absolute. Bah humbug! So thank you for granting us all permission to alter fingerings to preserve the health of our hands and move about the keyboard with more ease and expediency! I am so thrilled."The mind and body are freed to create!I ask the author to consider writing an adult piano methodology which would incorporate everything his great mind has to offer piano students. Innovation in teaching methodology needs to come to this field so one doesn't spend a lifetime learning awkward technique that needs to be undone. Thank you.

This was just the book to improve my piano playing. I am a self taught adult beginner who plays by ear and my difficulty had been how to finger passages on the fly. This book provided me with some useful principles which have improved my fingering in the short time that I have had it. It is very easy to understand if one knows the basic musical terms. Great book.

Where’s the references, man? It is a thorough book, and has a lot of good exercises and ideas, but at times it seems rambling and unorganized. It’s hard to know who the audience is because one page will be on some rather advanced fingering techniques and then the next page will be some beginner level basics. Maybe the author meant it to be more like an encyclopedia style, but it feels less so when the writing seems so casual. It needs a team of editors to review it and come out with a revised edition but it’s a good start for now.

This book has been so helpful for me! As a pianist with a BA in music, this resource helps me continue to grow my skills at the piano. Fingerings described in the book help me to play at faster speeds with more efficiency. Thank you Rami!!

I found that this is not a book to read. It should sit on your piano's music stand so you can read and work your way through it. But I cannot get it to sit quietly and cooperate whilst I do so. It need to be spiral bound, or comb bound or on a Kindle or something. I am even contemplating cutting off the binding, but don't really want to that to a 35 dollar book.