During one of the last master classes I played in as a student, I learned a very important lesson: the importance of fingerings and of knowing your musical goals when deciding on fingerings. The class was with a well-known guitarist in Europe. I played Ponce's Theme, Varie et Finale, and had been working on the piece for some time. My ideas were clearly defined; I was hoping the teacher would help me convey my ideas more effectively, perhaps give me some fresh perspective on the piece. Fresh perspective delivered! I didn't change my thoughts on this particular piece because of the lesson, but rather gained vast insight into what leads great musicians to differing opinions on fingering.

While I had fingered the whole piece primarily based on what made the best legato connections, this particular teacher preferred everything to be fingered based on what made the most interesting or consistent color control. I took the teacher's points into consideration, but when a choice had to be made as to whether to sustain the legato or to maintain color continuity- I ultimately wanted to choose legato, and he color.

I suppose there could be other factors that motivate players to choose a particular fingering. The beginner might choose fingerings that are the easiest, even if they don't allow for legato, continuity of color, or even correctly sustaining note values. The showy player might want to include a lot of shifts, or playing in a lot of high positions to make his job look more difficult! The player who likes simplicity might finger everything in open positions, while the player who likes the controlled sound of closed strings might move things up the neck to gain that control. And, of course, not all fingerings work for all people; we all have different size hands, different fingers lengths, and different reach potential.

In the end, I imagine my master class teacher still fingers according to color control, and I still finger according to legato possibilities- but I learned something. As a teacher, I learned to consider the ideas of the student, to understand why they have made the musical and technical choices in the work at hand. As a player, I learned that I should, as we discussed in the last column, continue to examine my playing from a different angle. When I can't satisfy multiple agendas with one fingering, I would still choose a fingering that connects the line over one that breaks the line. But perhaps in doing so, I can also make a mental note to change right hand position slightly at that time, to compensate for the change in color forced by changing strings as opposed to shifting up the string, for example.

I think the lesson here is to step outside yourself. Look at a score you played a while back. Can you identify what motivated your fingering decisions? I know some people (I used to be one of them) who don't write in much fingering; I think this is a mistake. I think generally, if you haven't written it in, chances are you haven't really considered your options - you are just grabbing whatever feels most natural. This is a great place to start - but may not result in the best musical choices.

So you've found an old piece and identified your motivations. Now come up with a different motivation. For example, if you were playing everything in the first position whenever possible, try keeping the melody all on one string. Obviously this may not be a practical solution, but looking at it from a different angle may allow you to see a new possibility. Force a change in your way of thinking. You might discover something new that you want to bring out in the piece.

You don't have to decide today, in the next week, or in the next month, what motivates your fingering in general. In fact, that can change from piece to piece. Perhaps the most important tool we possess as artists is that of awareness. Simply being aware of what is motivating your decisions is likely to bring about a whole new world of options for you.