Single notes

The algorithm takes a list of MIDI notes as input:

from piano_fingering import computeFingering

notes = [
    60,
    62,
    64,
    65,
    67,
    69,
    71,
    72,
]

fingered_notes = computeFingering(notes, 'right')   # or 'left'

The code above will produce the following output:

fingered_notes = [
    {'notes': [60], 'fingers': [1]},
    {'notes': [62], 'fingers': [2]},
    {'notes': [64], 'fingers': [3]},
    {'notes': [65], 'fingers': [1]},
    {'notes': [67], 'fingers': [2]},
    {'notes': [69], 'fingers': [3]},
    {'notes': [71], 'fingers': [4]},
    {'notes': [72], 'fingers': [5]},
]

Chords

You can add chords to the list too:

notes = [
    [60, 62, 64],
    [67, 71, 74],
]

fingered_notes = computeFingering(notes, 'right')

The code above will produce the following output:

fingered_notes = [
    {'notes': [60, 62, 64], 'fingers': [1, 2, 3]},
    {'notes': [67, 71, 74], 'fingers': [1, 3, 5]},
]

Rests

A rest is specified by an empty list. Note that the algorithm doesn’t take rests in consideration. They are supported to help the user of the library to use the result list. It is up to you to separate your notes on long rests, so the fingering of one part of the song doesn’t affect another one.

Example:

notes = [
    60,
    [],
    64,
]

fingered_notes = computeFingering(notes, 'right')

The code above will produce the following output:

fingered_notes = [
    {'notes': [60], 'fingers': [1]},
    {'notes': [], 'fingers': []},
    {'notes': [64], 'fingers': [3]},
]

User-defined fingering

In case the algorithm doesn’t produce a fingering that you find optimal, you can constrain it by specifying your own fingering on the input:

notes = [
    60,
    62,
    64,
    {'notes': [65], 'fingers': [4]},
    67,
    69,
    71,
    72,
]

fingered_notes = computeFingering(notes, 'right')   # or 'left'

The code above will produce the following output:

fingered_notes = [
    {'notes': [60], 'fingers': [1]},
    {'notes': [62], 'fingers': [2]},
    {'notes': [64], 'fingers': [3]},
    {'notes': [65], 'fingers': [4]},
    {'notes': [67], 'fingers': [1]},
    {'notes': [69], 'fingers': [2]},
    {'notes': [71], 'fingers': [3]},
    {'notes': [72], 'fingers': [4]},
]

Converting a note name to a MIDI note

Two helpers functions are provided to convert note names (like C5, A#, Bb3) to MIDI notes.

To convert a single note name, use:

from piano_fingering import nameToMidi

midi_note = nameToMidi('C4')

When the octave isn’t indicated, ‘5’ is assumed.

To convert a list of notes (with the same format than for computeFingering() in the above examples), use:

from piano_fingering import listToMidi

notes = [
    'C5',
    ['C5', 'E5', 'G5'],
    {'notes': ['C5'], 'fingers': [1]},
]

midi_notes = listToMidi(notes)