Showing results for "fingering"

• present participle of finger.

fingering

American  

[fing-ger-ing] / ˈfɪŋ gər ɪŋ /

noun

• fingerings
  plural

1. the act of a person who fingers.

2. Music.

   1. the action or method of using the fingers in playing on an instrument.

   2. the indication of the way the fingers are to be used in performing a piece of music.

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fingering ¹ British  

/ ˈfɪŋɡərɪŋ /

noun

1. the technique or art of using one's fingers in playing a musical instrument, esp the piano

2. the numerals in a musical part indicating this

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fingering ² British  

/ ˈfɪŋɡərɪŋ /

noun

1. fine wool for knitting

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• fingerings
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of fingering

Middle English word dating back to 1350–1400; see origin at finger, -ing ¹

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

fingering fingerings

Other remaining brand-name correspondents, including the ageless Lesley Stahl, for a while were feared to be fingering their rip cords too.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 5, 2026

"I tend now to play parts of chords, rather than fingering the whole damn thing. I use these shortcuts that would be a nightmare for a guitar teacher."

From BBC ● Nov. 21, 2023

She had a leopard scarf elegantly wrapped around her head and was fingering a glittering ring and staring blankly into the distance.

From Reuters ● Feb. 7, 2023

He looked away, fingering a frayed edge of the carpet.

From Salon ● Dec. 15, 2022

But Tall Andras rubbed his hand across his thick blond beard, looked across the marketplace to where Water Claire stood fingering ribbons at a stall, and said to his mates, “She could be wed.”

From "Son" by Lois Lowry

He largely taught himself to play the oboe and English horn, using a book that showed the fingerings.

From New York Times ● May 12, 2023

“I changed his position, his bowings, his fingerings, and I was just in absolute shock that he was able to take everything in so quickly. I knew I was working with somebody special.”

From Washington Post ● Sep. 14, 2021

“My scores of Schumann, Chopin, Ravel, and Messiaen are still covered in the meticulous fingerings and often pointed criticisms that she would notate, bar after bar,” he wrote shortly after Loriod’s death, in 2010.

From The New Yorker ● Sep. 10, 2018

Students learn and practice on a chanter, an oboe-like instrument with the same fingerings as the bagpipe’s melody pipe.

From Washington Times ● Jan. 31, 2017

Learn any alternate fingerings and other "tricks" available on your instrument for fine-tuning each note as you play.

From "Understanding Basic Music Theory" by Catherine Schmidt-Jones and Russel Jones

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