🎹 Piano for Beginners · Lesson 3 of 7
Hand position and finger numbers
Fingers 1–5, sitting right and a rounded hand.
Finger numbers
Each hand has finger numbers: thumb = 1, pointer = 2, middle = 3, ring = 4, pinky = 5. The same numbers on both hands. Music for beginners shows them above the notes.
Sitting
- Sit on the front half of the bench, feet flat on the floor
- The bench is far enough that your elbows are a little in front of your body
- Middle C is in front of your belly button
- Shoulders relaxed, back tall
A rounded hand
Hold your hand as if a small ball is under it — fingers curved, playing with the fingertips. Flat fingers are slow and weak.
C position
Right hand: thumb (1) on middle C, then each finger on its own white key: 2 on D, 3 on E, 4 on F, 5 on G. Play 1-2-3-4-5 and back down, slowly and evenly.
Tip
💡 Tap finger numbers on a table: “3! 1! 5! 2!” — a fun warm-up away from the piano.
✏️ Practice: your turn
- Say each finger’s number on both hands
- Sit correctly with middle C in the center
- Put your right hand in C position and play 1-2-3-4-5-4-3-2-1
- Play it 5 times as evenly as you can
🧠 Quick quiz
Answer all 4 questions correctly to mark this lesson as done.
0 of 4 correct
All lessons in Piano for Beginners
- 🎹 1. Getting to know the keyboardGroups of 2 and 3 black keys, and where C is
- 🔤 2. Note namesC D E F G A B — the musical alphabet
- ✋ 3. Hand position and finger numbersFingers 1–5, sitting right and a rounded hand
- 🐑 4. A first song with the right handMary Had a Little Lamb with just three notes
- 🥁 5. Rhythm: the beat and note valuesWhole, half and quarter notes, counting out loud and a metronome
- 🎼 6. Reading notesThe staff, the treble clef, and C-position notes on the page
- 🙌 7. Left hand, both hands and daily practicePlay together, and 10 minutes a day to keep going