Fingerings for fretted instruments

Fretted instruments, such as the classical guitar, require additional fingering instructions for both hands due to the complex nature of the music.

Fingerings for fretted instruments use the same fonts as normal fingerings.

Figure 1. A passage for guitar with right-hand and left-hand fingerings
Right-hand fingering

Right-hand fingerings tell the performer which finger to use to pluck the string, which is usually the right hand. By default, all right-hand fingerings are placed outside the staff, on the notehead side of notes, and follow the stem directions of voices in multiple-voice contexts. When the same finger plays multiple notes in a chord, you can show a single fingering with a bracket for the notes plucked by that finger.

Dorico for iPad shows “p” for right-hand thumb fingerings and “e” for right-hand fingerings for the pinky finger.

Note

In Dorico for iPad, we use “pinky” to refer to the smallest finger, but it can also be called “little” or “fifth digit”.

Left-hand fingering

Left-hand fingerings tell the performer which finger to use to stop the string, which is usually the left hand. In Dorico for iPad, left-hand fingerings are placed inside the staff and to the left of the notes to which they apply.

When shown inside the staff next to notes, left-hand fingering appears smaller than fingering shown outside the staff.

Video tutorial about fingerings for fretted instruments and string indicators (English)