Playing sharps and flats

[Megan]

When playing F# , my little finger slips off, not always , but it is annoying when it does. I only have a tiddly little little finger. About 2 and a quarter inches.
Any cures?

[Sorrano]

Do make sure that your hands have not had lotion put on recently. For me that guarantees slippage! I would suggest devising exercises of playing only on the black keys. (I am assuming you refer to the keyboard.) You can focus primarily on the last three fingers, repeating them.

[Megan]

Thanks Sorrano, I make sure I don't lotion prior to playing. I have been practicing piece with sharps and flats.
At present I am doing D minor scale, though it doesn't have F#, it has bflat and C#. I love doing this scale with both hands. There is that little stretch of the fingers from Bflat to C#.

I'll be moving on to G minor which has an F# Bflat and Eflat. So that is good practice.

The lively piece I have been playing which has F#'s is called Dutch Dance.

[Sorrano]

A piano teacher taught me that I should play with my hands close to the keys; it's easier to miss those black keys when the fingers have to go farther to reach them. Fingering is so important, too. As a young musician I was arrogant and felt that in most cases I didn't need to worry about fingering, but today it's one of the most important things to me.