Look down at your fingers. If you
haven't noticed they are all different in length. Many pianists and
typists are taught to equalize their fingers by curling them so that
all five are touching the keys at the same time. This places your
fingers in a constant state of flexation. It is impossible for a
musician to relax their fingers if they are holding them in
contraction. In addition, you can only move a bone in one direction
at a time but we all have several muscles that can pull them in
several opposing directions. So if you are trying to move a finger
up or in a certain direction but another muscle is pulling the hand
in an opposite direction, there is going to be strain or at the very
least, in-coordinate movement. This is why some pianists struggle
with scales, arpeggios or speed.
It behooves the pianist to play on the
edge of the keys for the keys are lightest on the outside edge. If
you have ever played on a see saw as a child, you know that
regardless of weight, if one kid sits on the outside edge of their
seat and the other kid is sitting forward, the kid on the outside
will “weigh more.” Just like the see saw, the piano key is a
fulcrum. Such as using a board and rock to move another rock, the
further out you are on the board, the more power you will have. Your
shoulder, elbow, wrist, knuckles and each phalanx of your fingers are
all fulcrums.
If you were to place your middle finger
on the outside edge of a white key, all your other fingers will be
hanging off the keys in the air. This is counter intuitive to most
teachers but by using your shoulder and elbow to move in and out to
place each finger, it not only reduces how much you need to move a
finger but, it gives the finger the power and weight of motion and
gravity without having to use the sluggish flexor muscles. Indeed,
the piano is forward so the pianist or typist needs to have a
constant forward shift momentum to their movement. If they static
load, since the body wants to contract, they risk falling off the
keys or cramping. When that begins to happen, the pianist contracts
even more in an effort to grasp at the keys and this just creates a
downward spiral of technical inefficiency and tension.
To equalize the length of all your
fingers you need to get in/out motions into your arm. The pianist
who does not risks playing on the inside of the key where the keys
are heavier, thus is born, the myth that the pianist needs more
strength to play or, they might complain that the action of the piano
is stiff. The keys feel stiff because the pianist is playing too far
in. Again, this is counter intuitive to most teachers but the arm is
much faster at placing a finger than a flexor is at playing.
Using the C scale, place your thumb on
the outside edge of the C. When you play the index finger, come out
from the elbow and play straight down. Because you are coming out,
you need to replace it with a forward shift. The arm will come out,
up and forward all at the same time. This is where the wrist and
forearm work together. It is also what gives many pianists a look of
grace. Even though you are coming out, you are also moving in, up
and down. When you play the middle finger, you come out even more.
When you play the ring finger, you simply shift forward without
needing to use the actual flexor. The same thing happens with the
pinky. You just shift inward but stay on the outer edge of the key.
Be careful you know about forearm alignment first. I'll discus that
later. That is another fulcrum.
Every scale has different patterns of
in/out. Actually, many scales are easier to play because the black
keys are already forward so there is less “out” to employ.
However, since the black keys are higher, you need more forward
shifting with an “up” in order to come straight down on the key.
This too is where pianist create tension grasping for keys. The
finger does not strain and stretch to reach keys, the arm places them
where they need to be which is directly over the key. Singers are
taught to sing higher than their target note so they don't sing flat.
Likewise, when you walk up stairs, your ascending foot raises higher
than the next step then comes straight down onto it. Notice also
that when your leg raises up, the down muscles are actually relaxed
and your up muscles are engaged. Then, you don't stomp on the step
but rotate to the next leg. This is important for the pianist to
know. They can only relax if they play up then let gravity play
down. The moment they press down into the key they corrupt the arms
ability to go back up. A dual tension occurs and anarchy of
technique ensues.
Without up/down and in/out, the
musician will risk strain and uneven playing. Up/down and in/out
movements give the arm (fingers) a lot of power allowing the
pianist/typist to truly relax the fingers/hands/long flexor muscles.
Most hand and wrist strain is caused by using more than one muscle at
a time to move one bone in two or more directions simultaneously. It
is imperative to learn to use one muscle at a time. This can only
happen by relaxing the flexors which are the very muscles most
pianists are taught to use.
When you walk, you don't flex your toes
with each step. The toes just go where the leg places them.
Likewise, the fingers go where the arm places them. The fingers
don't operate independent to the arm and they surely don't drag the
arm behind them. When you are washing a window, writing on a chalk
board or waxing your car, the hand goes where the arm places it and
the fingers do as they are told, with no effort.
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