Tips for teaching piano finger numbers

I never regret spending a little extra time working on key building blocks of beginner piano. Because well, sometimes things don’t always “stick” with just one lesson from the method book.

So let’s talk about one of the first things new students need to know: finger numbers!

Here’s 3 activity ideas that take the learning off the method book page and make things tangible for students:

1) Draw your hands

student places hands on a blank piece of paper
help them trace around each hand
student labels each finger – NOTE: if students are not yet printing numbers confidently, write the numbers for them using a thick highlighter, then have them trace overtop the highlight with a pencil.
Alternatively, you can write the numbers on stickers and have them apply the stickers to the correct finger.

You could also extend the learning by:

students covers their drawing with their hands and “mini high-5″‘s a given finger number
students draw a ring or nail polish on a given finger number

This is totally doable on a blank page BUT if you are interested in some finger number specific pages, click here to preview my beginner worksheet pack.

2) The ring game

Here’s a game my beginner students ask to play again and again!

You will need:

A dice
Rings or finger puppets

How to play:

roll the dice
identify the number you rolled
put a ring on that finger
If you roll a 6 or a number you rolled already, roll again
whoever completes their entire hand first wins!

3) Finger Number Flash Cards

These sightreading cards can be used as a regular “drill” to get fingers moving in sequence, even before students can read music!

Here’s how they work:

students are shown a randomized card
students identify if they should use RH or LH (indicated at the bottom corner of each slide)
students use their knowledge of finger numbers to tap the number sequence

You could also extend the learning by:

push a “pop-it” toy with the corresponding fingers
have students play the number sequence in C position on the piano to create melodies

Included are both Google Slides and Boom Card version (one purchase gets you both!). You can view the preview here: Piano Finger Numbers Flashcards: 180+ Digital Google Slides & Boom Cards