“Teacher, the first number 3 is not a fingering, is it? . . ? ? “
“You are right. The 3 is not a fingering. By looking at the note itself, which is B natural, you may think of the 3rd finger on the 3rd position, but in this case, the 3 is not a fingering.
The third A from the beginning is an open string, and the E comes after that is also 1, so it is more natural to start the beginning of this etude in the first position.
Do you see the number 3 is printed in italics ? as well as other numbers are in a different font ? “
“Yes, I do !”
“Usually, 3 for triplets are printed in italics.
Of course, when you look at the music, you should be able to find the notes are triplets or not, by looking at the time signature and the groupings of the notes, even the music does not indicate the triplets with figure 3, right? I’m sure YOU can! Don’t you think?”
“Ah … yes … (^^;)
“As you found today, if the music has the 3 for triplet printed, you should not confuse it with the fingering 3. Again, if the number 3 is in italics, it’s a triplet. Otherwise, it’s a fingering.
Thanks for checking.” ^^