Students of the piano are taught that there is a correct hand position for playing. Achieving this position is something that should be practised and worked on daily. The Piano Hand. Maybe you’ve seen it illustrated in a beginner piano series. The hand is curved in toward the palm with only the tips of the fingers touching the keys. But a good piano hand is not really something to learn because it wasn’t invented or developed, it was just discovered. The piano hand is the human hand at rest. If you stand sideways in a mirror with your arms relaxed at your sides, you’ll see that your hand naturally finds a perfect piano hand shape. It is the way our hands are designed. We use this shape at the piano because the best way to play is with a relaxed hand and body. Relaxation invites flexibility and flexibility allows agility and agility produces facility. Facility is found in relaxation. Tension resists prolonged rapid movements. When you struggle with speed at the piano, tension is your culprit. The goal when playing piano is to maintain the integrity of the natural hand as much as you can and return to this natural state of rest as often as possible. Sometimes playing different passages of music requires you to open and flatten your hand to reach for a large leap or form a large chord that extends beyond your natural shape, but as soon as you are finished with that task, return to home. Even when playing a long scale that requires unnatural finger crossings, you are trying to execute the crossing with as little disruption to the natural hand shape as possible.
The human hand shape is a strong structure that is required to accommodate the weight of your arms and body when playing passages that involve massive amounts of sound. The arch of the hand is compromised when any of the knuckles wobble or buckle. Practise involves learning to play while keeping each of your fingers’ knuckles curved, allowing energy a clear path from your upper back, right to the tips of your fingers.
If you consistently play with a lot of tension, for example, with your fingers extended or with your wrist lifted, injury won’t be far along. Keeping your hand in unnatural positions for long periods of time is unsustainable and your body will find a way to shut that behaviour down – through fatigue and/or injury.
Authenticity
“Any good musician can live a thousand lifetimes in an quarter rest.”
Like mastering the piano, living authentically is a tricky task when it feels like survival requires so much work and strain. It feels like so often I am expected and required to push past my natural shape. But living with less strain is possible by thinking about the piano hand. There is a me that is natural and finds its shape without effort and it is a strong structure. I want to try to maintain the integrity of that shape as often as I can. As I go about attempting to accomplish things in life, I am inevitably required to stretch outside of that shape and even hold manufactured positions for periods of time. Any challenge worth stepping up to will do that. The key to avoiding short-term or permanent injury, is to try to preserve the natural piano hand while playing and when venturing outside of it, return to your natural piano hand as often as you can, even if it is for a second. Any good musician can live a thousand lifetimes in a quarter rest.
Where do I start?
Sit on the edge of your piano bench with your legs at a 90 degree angle and your feet flat on the floor. Sit tall and notice the sitz bones that you are balancing on. Put your hand to the keys and, starting with your thumb, press each finger down, one at a time, and hold each one for 10 seconds. During the 10 seconds, notice your wrist being loose and let it move around in circles. Be aware of the fingertip's connection with the keybed. Check to make sure that each knuckle is curved and strong without wobbling. Let your shoulders drop to rest position. Notice that your neck and face are loose. Do this with each hand separately.
Comments