How to Choose the Best Fingering for 16th-18th Century Hymn Playing on the Organ?

Performance of 16th-18th century hymns on the organ requires special kind of fingering. This type of fingering helps to achieve the desired articulated legato touch and feel the alternation of strong and weak beats. In order to play the hymns in style it is important for an organist to know what kind of fingering to use. In addition, then the organist will have a strong feeling of meter and pulse which helps to lead the congregational singing. In this article, I will show you how to choose the best fingering for 16th-18th century hymns.

Avoid Placing a Thumb on Sharp Keys

Because performance of early type of hymns has so much in common with the performance of early music on the organ, generally try to avoid placing the thumb on sharp keys. This has something to do with the early type of keyboard which was used in the Renaissance and Baroque organs. These instruments had keys which were both shorter and narrower than our modern day piano or organ keys. Placing a thumb would be very inconvenient on an early style instrument. Many authors who wrote about performance practice in the 16th-18th centuries had their individual approaches to fingering because of their national school and historical period but most of them agreed that thumbs should be avoided on sharp keys as much as possible.

However, sometimes the thumbs are necessary to use because of wider intervals and chords in the left hand part. It is not uncommon to see the position C-G-C in the left hand. The thumbs are OK on the natural keys but if the piece is written in the mode of F or g, very often there is a chord B flat-F-B flat in the left hand. So in this case the thumbs cannot be avoided. The same holds true for an octave B flat-B flat.

Avoid Finger Substitution

Another important point about early fingering in hymn playing is that you should avoid using finger substitution. Finger substitution is a technique, fully developed in the 19th century and helps achieving a perfect legato touch. This technique involves substituting one finger to another while holding one key. Since we need a different type of articulation in early music, finger substitution will create some difficulties of articulating the hymns properly. Very often pianists who come to the organ will have this problem. If we use finger substitution, we have to think about achieving the articulate legato. On the other hand if we use that special type of fingering, we will articulate the notes naturally.

Interval Fingering

In hymn playing, when you play two voices in one hand, you can use interval fingering which has much in common with the finger skipping technique. This rule generally means that every interval in the Baroque or Renaissance period had its precise fingering and succession of similar intervals should be played with the same fingerings. For example, the thirds usually were played using 1-3 or 2-4. So the passage of three consecutive parallel thirds C-E, D-F, and E-G would be performed using 2-4, 2-4, and 2-4. Use 1-4 or 2-5 for the fourths and fifths (sometimes 1-5 for fifths is more convenient on a modern keyboard). Wider intervals, like sixths, sevenths, and octave are played with 1-5. Likewise, for a passage of three consecutive parallel sixths C-A, D-B, and E-C, use 1-5, 1-5, and 1-5.

Write in Fingering

I recommend that you write in the exact fingering that you will be using in your hymn. Do this at least at the beginning stages of your organist career. In doing so, you will prevent from playing your hymns with accidental fingerings which might not help you to achieve the desired precision and articulation. In fact, treat your hymns like normal organ music and practice accordingly. For example, you may find that in some cases playing not the entire 4 part texture but practicing in voice combinations is more beneficial. Or if you have trouble with sight reading your hymn, stop and work on one phrase at a time.

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