English fingering

noun

: marking of piano music that indicates the thumb by an X or + and the other fingers by the numerals 1, 2, 3, and 4 starting with the index finger

The English fingering, + to 4, has also been retained in the figures from Cramer's Etudes …

—Sandra P. Rosenblum, Performance Practices in Classic Piano Music, 1991

called also American fingering

compare german fingering

Word History

First Known Use

1859, in the meaning defined above

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