M.T.L. – 1. Will you please tell me which is considered the right way to begin the scale of B-flat major, in the right hand, – with the first or second finger (German)?
Ans. – Certainly not with the first, as that is the thumb. The second finger (index-finger), right hand, should begin the scale, if ascending, although elsewhere throughout the scale the fourth finger comes on B-flat. The general rule would be that, if the lowest note of any scale or grand arpeggio, for the right hand, comes on a black key, it is to be played with the second finger, the right thumb coming on the first white key above it. Likewise, if the highest note of a scale or grand arpeggio for the left hand comes on a black key, the second finger plays it, the left thumb coming on the first white key below it. These rules apply to the common practice of scales and arpeggios, but exceptions occur in special passages.
Excepted from The Musical Herald, volume 5, number 1, by Eben Tourjée. Published by the Musical Herald Company, Boston, 1884.