Tips

[tinkertanker]

Wow. Just moved from an, ahem, electric keyboard that I have been playing for the past 6 months to my new Clavinova CLP-270 and obviously my fingers are feeling the difference!

First on my list is a decent teacher but does anyone have any tips about making the transition from a keyboard without weighted keys to the Clavinova, i.e. what I should look out for in particular?

I'm thinking that I ought to limit the amount I play per day, at first, as I really don't want a recurrance of tendonitis in my elbow (not caused by playing the keyboard but perhaps could be aggravated by playing the piano).

Thanks

Nick

[jeremyjchilds]

Do not "press" the notes down with your fingers...you need to transfer the weight of your arm from fingertip to fingerip.

Practice this with your tech..(scales arps..)

Put your hand on your desk right now...in correct playing position, and allow your hand to "rest" in that position, there should be no tension in your deltiod or Bicep muuscle. this is how it should feel when you are playing.

[eastcountypiano]

The muscles in your fingers will have to develop, too.  Just like lifting weights, take it easy at first and soon as you feel a "burn" or tiredness in your hand...quit.  In a couple of weeks your fingers will be in shape and ready to go.  If your feeling a pain anywhere else in your hand, check your hand position. 

[cadenz]

when i changed from keyboard to piano it probably took me six months to a year to get used to the feel. but don't worry, i'd been playing for about 8 years, it won't take you as long to adjust to get back to the level you feel you are at now.
when i first played on a piano, the delay between pressing the key and the sounding of the note really bugged me! despite how subtle it was.
theres no special things you can do to quickly get used to the feel of the piano, other than playing on it a lot  you should get a teacher, practice, and very quickly you'll start getting somewhere. if your elbow starts to bug you at all, take a break and try again tommorow. you need to try and consciously be relaxed in your arm, no tension.
you'll want to explore the dynamic ranges and the soft gentle touches required to get soft chords.

[tinkertanker]

Thanks for the replies guys.

Jeremy. Thanks for that. I've heard that from quite a few different sources and tried to implement that on the keyboard anyway (although of course it will be much more important now). I am feeling a little of an ache in my upper back but this is not as such piano related. In general, I have been a slouch! Hunch back all the time, so now I am trying to improve my posture in general not just while playing the piano.

East. True, I am feeling some strange sensations in my hands already. I have in the past thought these to be tenosynovitis (the hypocondriac in me coming out) but maybe it is just some of the muscles not being used to it. It's not painful, just, sort of, tight in places (ie. in between the knuckles on the palm side of my left hand in between fingers 4 and 5 and  left hand just below the knuckle of finger 2). Is this normal for a beginner? I also get a little tingling in my finger ends but I'm pretty sure this is just from pressing into the hard heavy keys rather than soft plastic ones.

Cadenz. I'm already getting used to the piano and although some more brisk (well brisk for me) passages are a little more difficult, the weighted keys actually seem to make the passages sound smoother - result! As for the tendonitis, I'm pretty sure it's on the way out now. It was never caused by the piano but lifting weights and now I'm back lifting weights but constantly monitoring them and bringing up the intensity but lowering it immediately as soon as it feels a little achy.

Cheers guys. Any comments on the finger/hand sensations?