Bumble Boogie - Piano fingering advice

[moj]

One of my piano students is working on a boogie woogie piece called Bumble Boogie (it's based on Flight of the Bumblebee). He's got the tempo up to m.m. quarter note = 160 and working it up to 176 ( he's more comfortable with a 4/4 time signature for now).

 

There's a section in the piece that I thought he could play with the right hand fingering that I use at a fast tempo. However, the fingering has it's limitations with him since he has smallish hands and can only reach a 9th comfortably and has trouble using the *open hand* fingering.

 

We've tried other fingerings, but nothing that's satisfactory. He has the most problems with playing the octaves at a fast tempo and I may reluctantly have him use single notes in its place.

However, before I do that I'd like to ask for a few suggestions for alternative fingerings from the piano teachers and pianists in this forum.

 

Below is the links for the jpg and MIDI files ( the section of music starts at 2:08 of the MIDI file). Thanks.

Bumble Boogie

MIDI

Treble clef R.H. fingering:

| (51) 2 | (51) 4 (51) 4 3 2 (51) 4 | 5 4 3 2 (531) 1 2 2 (51) | 3 2 (51) 1 2 2 (51) 3 2 | (51) 3 2 (51) 3 2 | meas. 6-9 same fingering.

[iLaw]

Mojazz,

 

Could you be a little more specific as to where exactly on the page he is having problems? I happen to have a couple of differences of opinion on the notated right-hand fingerings, but none that have to do with playing the octaves. Are you saying that as he's coming down on the eighth note melodic lines he has trouble accurately catching the interspersed octaves?

 

Larry.

[moj]

Larry

 

My student has some some difficulty in playing the E, D, A notes after the 2nd beat [count: and 3 and] leading into the E octave on the 4th beat in the 2nd measure. Using the:

 

4, 3, 2 fingers on E, D, A going to a 1-5 on the E octave.

 

The problem is he can't use the 4th finger *on the E* from the A octave [beat 2] and play it at a fast tempo without error. So, I think I need to use a single E note on the 4th beat instead of the octave. Thus, the new fingering:

 

Old: 4, 3, 2 -- 1-5 <-- octave

New: 3, 2, 1 -- 5 on a single E note

 

I know it won't make too much of a difference, BUT I think there might be another way to keep the octave by using another fingering that might work.

In the 3rd measure, I use 5, 4, 3, 2 on the D, C, A, E to facilitate the *open hand* fingering without any finger cross-over. However, because of the fast tempo, he has difficulty with it. I'll probably have him use 3, 2, 1, 2 instead. As far as the other octaves he doesn't have too much trouble with them.

Though he's only been playing for 4 years and needs a bit more "finger development" he's pretty determine to learn this.