Lighter Touch on Thumb?

[toufu]

Any advice on how to obtain a lighter touch on the thumb?  Such as with a fast arpeggio?  Thanks in advance!

[abell88]

1. Try slanting your hand away from the thumb.
2. Play it in slow motion, and over-exaggerate the difference (i.e. play the thumb pianissimo and the other fingers mezzo-forte).
3. Always listen!

[steve jones]

This applies to me too - sometimes if playing a fast scale (TO) I come down to heavier on the thumb giving a noticably accent.

I have found that properly balancing the wrist helps (ie like described in the Chang book).

[rlefebvr]

Simply play it slow. Use a metronome and make sure your sound is nice and even. Only then move up the tempo 2 or 3 beats and try again. It should all come naturally with time.

If you can't get an even sound playing slow you certainly won't be able playing fast..

[vakulchai]

This is what I do. It might be not correct though.
1) Use less arm weight on thumb. Don't execute the passage using thumb alone.
2) Shape the passage in a related way. For example, if it is scale I will use more weight on 3rd finger and less weight on thumb. This will creat illusion effect smoothing scale
3) To play soft, weight must be control by arm and some other parts not only finger alone.

[pianistimo]

lessening the 'down, up' motion and using only a sideways motion of the hands might help.  sort of dragging your fingers up the keyboard by moving your wrist horizontal, at an even speed, or zipping to some notes.

i found this article, too, but it doesn't deal with arpeggios:

www.pianotoday.com/PTML1.html

[squinchy]

You could try hitting the key on the side of the nail, with the thumb at a 45 degree angle to the key. Having elbows out and raised enough so the thumb has space to be at such an angle also helps.

For [non-seventh] arpeggios, avoid counting in multiples of 3. Counting in 3 always lands the strong beat on the thumb, causing an accent. Count in 4/5/7 will switch the accent's location, yielding a more balanced arpeggio.

[rohansahai]

Lack of control is the cause ...try and play the scales with only the thumb ..H.S. using the standard variations (rhythm, dynamics) as you would do otherwise. However, don't over do this ..since it can be injurious. Maybe 5 minutes everyday should produce good results.

[klick]

My teacher says that if you have alot of trouble in a specific piece, try practicing it slow and when a thumb is to be played, tap the key but dont make a sound. After doing it slow, do the 4 rythmn excersizes if appliceable (long-short-long-sorth, short-long-short-long, long-long-short-short and so on). Then play it faster, as written and 4 rhythmns, and in no time the thumb plays as loud as the other notes.

 Don't know how well it works, as ive never tryed it. But give it a shot, and tell me if it works. If i need to use it, then i will know whether to use it or another method.