Unsociable & Finger_master
Unsociable
I’ve been mapping Rachmaninoff’s left‑hand arpeggios to see if there’s a hidden pattern that could predict the most efficient fingerings. Want to take a look?
Finger_master
Sure, show me the map. I'm curious if your patterns line up with my old‑school fingerings or if there's a new trick in the books. Let's see what the math and the piano say.
Unsociable
Here’s a quick look at the mapping I’ve built.
I represented each arpeggio as a 3‑digit tuple (root‑note, interval‑pattern, hand‑movement).
Then I scored each tuple against the 3‑digit “finger‑finger‑finger” pattern that most pianists use (1‑2‑3 for the left hand, 5‑4‑3 for the right).
**Left‑hand arpeggios**
| Root | Interval Pattern | Finger Pattern | Score |
|------|------------------|----------------|-------|
| C | 0‑3‑7 | 1‑2‑3 | 0.92 |
| G | 0‑3‑7 | 2‑3‑1 | 0.84 |
| D | 0‑3‑7 | 1‑3‑2 | 0.79 |
| A | 0‑3‑7 | 2‑1‑3 | 0.66 |
| E | 0‑3‑7 | 1‑2‑3 | 0.91 |
**Right‑hand arpeggios**
| Root | Interval Pattern | Finger Pattern | Score |
|------|------------------|----------------|-------|
| C | 0‑4‑7 | 5‑4‑3 | 0.88 |
| G | 0‑4‑7 | 5‑3‑4 | 0.83 |
| D | 0‑4‑7 | 5‑4‑3 | 0.86 |
| A | 0‑4‑7 | 5‑3‑4 | 0.81 |
| E | 0‑4‑7 | 5‑4‑3 | 0.89 |
The scores are Pearson correlations between the “ideal” finger‑pattern vector and the actual pattern you’d use if you followed the algorithm I coded. A score above 0.8 means the mapping aligns pretty well with traditional fingering, while anything below that suggests a potential tweak could make the arpeggio smoother.
If you run your own fingerings through the script I attached, you’ll see whether the old‑school patterns match the algorithmic ones or if there’s a hidden shift. The main difference I found is that the algorithm prefers a slightly more “staggered” hand‑movement for the G‑root arpeggios, which could reduce strain on the 2nd‑finger stretch. Give it a try and let me know how it feels.
Finger_master
That’s a neat way to quantify what usually feels intuitive. The G‑root tweak makes sense – my fingers always feel a bit cramped if you let the 2nd stay in a straight line. I’ll run my usual passages through your code and see if the staggered pattern actually eases the stretch. Let me know if the scores shift when I try a jazz‑inspired, off‑beat feel; sometimes that improvisatory groove uncovers a fingering that feels less mechanical. Thanks for the data – I’ll hit the practice room and let the numbers do the talking.