The numbers 1 to 5 beside notes are visually prominent, so an adult beginner may read the number first and then send that finger to a key. This feels efficient at the start, but it can quietly turn “1” into the name of a particular note. A fingering number answers which finger to use on this occasion. Staff position, note name and sounding pitch answer what to play. The two systems cooperate, but they cannot replace each other.
Suppose the right thumb begins on middle C. It is easy to equate 1 with C. When a phrase begins instead on E, the thumb is still 1 but the pitch is E; in another passage, the same C may be played by finger 2 or 3. If the mind relies on the shortcut “see 1, move thumb”, a change of position removes its bearings. Secure reading starts with a note’s place on the staff and its interval from surrounding notes, then uses fingering to organise the movement.
This does not make fingering unimportant. A good fingering turns musical structure into a repeatable route, especially through crossings, legato connections and leaps. During practice, however, it can help to name notes, sing their direction, or briefly cover selected fingerings to test whether the music or only the digits are being read. The central distinction is simple: the note defines the destination; fingering supplies a way to reach it. Mistake the method for the destination and the movement may become familiar while reading does not mature.
https://viva.pressbooks.pub/openmusictheory/chapter/keyboard-and-finger-numbers/
ScoreFlow
When using ScoreFlow with a new score, the same distinction can guide a quick check: confirm the pitch relationship first, then ask whether the fingering makes the movement more coherent, without letting numbers replace notation or hearing.
