New! A Finger Finder app
The e-version of a popular slide rule for violin players
I’m excited to announce that today, I launched a Finger Finder app (and waited to write this until I could test it out)! I’ve been threatening to figure this thing out for over 10 years, but could never quite jump through the painful and expensive hoops required by Apple and Google for their app stores. So I ended up making it independently, through my site at fiddle-online.com. Yay!
Please note that, as a teacher, I like making available something helpful to learners, something to make their path easier. Those who play or are learning violin might find this app super useful for themselves or their students. Those who don’t play might still find it interesting, especially the weird patent from 1888!
The way the app works is this: You click or tap on a key or key signature, and it shows you the fingering pattern for that key on the violin/fiddle. It also shows you some other things, like the root notes, the notes of the major chord/arpeggio, the root of the relative minor for the same key signature, and the territory that each finger is responsible for (hint: usually 2 spots, totally manageable!).
The goal of putting this thing together was to demystify playing in tune on the violin, and to help players feel comfortable playing in unfamiliar keys. It clarifies where the fingers go, and shows the recurring patterns not only on each string but in relationships across neighboring strings.
I wrote an earlier article here on Substack about what it means to play in tune on the violin. It includes a video about how the Finger Finder works, because whether or not you have or want one, the concepts involved can be really helpful for organizing the way you think about fingering and intonation.
If you’d like to know how this gadget got its start, see the story below. But first, for those who just want the goods, here’s how to find and use the e-version of the Finger Finder.
How to find and use the FF app
Instead of the Apple or Google stores, just visit fiddle-online.com. If you’re already a member there, you know how things work — the FF app is free for subscribers, or 2 credits for a month (it doesn’t renew automatically but that’s easy for you to choose to do), or you can purchase it outright for 6 credits.
If you’re not familiar with fiddle-online, you can try the FF app for free by joining the site, which earns you 2 credits — the cost of a month’s use of the app. (Credits = dollars except sometimes you get free ones, like for joining or subscribing.) Joining obligates you to only one thing — receiving an emailed newsletter on the 1st of each month. No company is in charge, nobody’s collecting info about you; it’s just me managing the thing, arranging for online classes & concert/workshops, and offering lots of stuff you can use at your own pace if you so desire. And if you run into any problems or confusion, just get in touch and I’ll sort it out.
Phone app
The cool thing is that you can visit the webpage for the app from your phone’s browser, have your phone create a shortcut for your home screen, and voila, you’ll have an app-like widget that you can tap on, to directly open up the FF app. Sometimes you might have to log in to use it but if your phone remembers passwords that just means one extra tap.
The back story, and strange patents
The original Finger Finder came from drawings I used to make for fiddle students. I pulled them together in the form of a slide rule back in 2005, and after making them by hand for a while, I found a printer willing to print, cut and glue them for me. All I had to do was assemble them and insert them into sleeves. And send them to people. Etc. It adds up.
But to break even from the printing cost, I knew I had to ask a distributor, such as Shar Music (the main one) and Johnson String, to get them out to people. The version they sell includes an extra card for exploring 2d and 3d positions. There’s also a version for viola.
But I knew there was a risk someone might rip off my idea, so I set about getting a patent.
My patent was approved in 2009. This involved a lot of research by the patent examiner to make sure there wasn’t something similar out there, dating back over 120 years. Some of the comparable gadgets they uncovered were pretty fascinating but not the same idea. Nor are other fingering guides I’ve seen. They tend to show dots or isolated circles with the names of notes.
Here are some images from a few selected patented gadgets that the patent office thought were somewhat similar. Mostly, these applied to piano and guitar. The patents below are from 1888, 1901, 1995, and 2001.
The point of the Finger Finder is to allow people to see fingering patterns that are quick to grasp and are transferable from string to string, key to key, without being tied down by the names of notes. The circles for each finger are drawn big enough to be touching, because that physical sensation is how we play in tune — our fingertips are either squeezed together or they’re a finger’s-width apart.
Of course, anybody who’s interested in knowing note names can start with the names of the strings, and count up alphabetically. There are not too many choices on each string. They can also learn the C scale, which has no sharps or flats, and know that anything that deviates from that scale is a sharp or flat. The horizontal lines on the Finger Finder mark the territory of each finger and can help highlight whether which finger moves higher (sharp) or lower (flat) to reach a note.
But I don’t think the most useful strategy for learning music is to name the notes. If you find out that a tune is in the key of G, you’ll know from the Finger Finder that the 2d fingertip touches the 3d on the G & D strings, but it touches the 1st on the A & E strings. That one switch of the 2d finger is all you really need to know to play in tune in that key! Generally, one pair of fingertips touch on each string, and that bit of information goes a long way. By contrast, the mental gymnastics of remembering to sharp or flat each of the named notes in a key signature is an interesting academic exercise that sometimes proves helpful, but is not always relevant to actually playing the music. Some will disagree with me. I find that knowing or looking up the physical fingering patterns can be super useful, practical and easy to remember.
However people make it work for them, I’m happy to say that over a thousand people love their Finger Finder slide rules.
And I hope this new electronic version makes it that much easier for today’s device-users!
The original slide-rule version is still available if you prefer having something more tangible, though quantities may be limited (printing costs have more than doubled since this project began, especially during the pandemic).
If you have questions, comments, or feedback, feel free to leave a comment below if you’re online, or reply by email. I look forward to hearing from you, as always.