Playing With Fire #4

Another problem with fabled "repetitive strain injuries" is not only what we are doing wrong but, what we are not doing right. Not only are there movements which hinder playing but there are movements which augment it.

Some pianists develop thumb problems. Often they are taught to cross the thumb under the palm which is bad for many reasons and they are also taught to play the thumb straight down which cripples the effortlessness of the rest of the fingers. The hand requires balance and that can not be achieved if we isolate fingers.

The muscle that plays the thumb straight down is the thumb's abductor. Abductor muscles are rather weak and sluggish and fatigue quickly. The thumb's strongest muscle is its flexor which pulls the thumb under the palm. Your thumbs are designed for gripping and holding. But the keys to the piano are not in the palm, they are under it. Crossing under then down uses two muscles at the same time and creates a dual pull of the thumb's bone. In this vector force tug of war between two muscles, strain can occur and certainly uneven playing. In addition, the thumb's tendon and the forefinger tendon intersect. When you cross the thumb under and flex the forefinger, the two tendons grind together. Friction of a tendon is not good. Eventually the pianist may develop thumb problems. Instead of playing the thumb's abductor straight down, there are other movements which can give it effortlessness and power. I'll cover how to get the thumb over (and not under) for scales and arpeggios later.

The first movement is to simply let gravity play the thumb down. Lift your arm up then let if gently fall to the key and depress it (without pressing into the key bed). As you can feel, gravity, or the weight of the arm is very powerful and effortless. Often pianists complain that the action of some pianos are stiff. They are not. The pianist is just trying to play using the wrong or weakest muscles. While depressing a key using gravity, notice you did not use any muscle of the thumb at all. Another motion is to use your pronator and supinator muscle which are located around your elbow. From your elbow, rotate your hand from the elbow, left and right. Notice how fast and effortless you can move your thumb without using it. Make sure your wrist is straight. Now, from your shoulder and elbow, forward shift into a key with your thumb, like poking someone's eye. Again, you don't use any thumb muscle but only arm muscle. The elbow, or pronator and supinator muscles, is where trills and tremolos come from, not the fingers or hand. The pianist who attempts to play them from the fingers (which have no muscles) or hand will quickly experience fatigue, cramps or pain.

You now have three ways to use the thumb to depress a key without using the thumb's muscles at all. Combine all three then minimize them and you will be on your way to effortless playing. Eight fingers to go.