There is a fabulous method for teaching scale fingering that I've been using for nearly thirty years now. This is an shortened extract from the book where I first learnt about it. Others might find it useful.

"Ernest Hutcheson (d. 1951) was a pianist, composer, author and former head of Julliard School of Music. He taught the fingering to all the major and minor scales according to four easy rules concerning the principle of where the 4th finger goes.

He strongly advised against teaching scale fingerings by thumb positions or even to care where the thumb falls. There is always a three note group and a four note group someplace within each scale. Since the first, second and third fingers are used twice in each of the two groups, while the fourth is used only once, the principle becomes knowing where the fourth finger goes.

THE FOUR RULES (two for each hand)

RIGHT HAND

1. IN SCALES BEGINNING ON A WHITE KEY(except the scales of F) PUT THE FOURTH FINGER ON THE SEVENTH DEGREE OF THE SCALE.

2. IN SCALES BEGINNING ON A BLACK KEY (and the scales of F) PUT THE FOURTH FINGER ON Bb (or A#). WHEN THERE IS NO Bb (or A#) IN THE SCALE, THE FOURTH FINGER GOES ON THE SECOND DEGREE.


LEFT HAND

1. IN SCALES BEGINNING ON A WHITE KEY (except the scales of B) PUT THE FOURTH FINGER ON THE SECOND DEGREE OF THE SCALE.

2. IN SCALES BEGINNING ON A BLACK KEY (and the scales of B) PUT THE FOURTH FINGER ON F# (or Gb). WHEN THERE IS NO F# (or Gb) IN THE SCALE, THE FOURTH FINGER GOES ON THE FOURTH DEGREE.

There are only two exceptions to the above rules, both occurring in the melodic minor ascending scales.
They are:

RH F# melodic minor ascending
LH Bb melodic minor ascending

That is the end of the extract. (Whew!)

It took me a bit to get the rules in my head, but now I find students pick it up much more easily than the thumb turning rules.

Hope this info is helpful or at least an interesting read.

yjoh

[i]Music...a joy for life.