BAd Habit.ANyone else also?

[instromp]

I just want to know that if its natural for your pinky to stick out when playing??? I mean is this something bad? Because mines does it all the time and it's hard trying to break this habit. PLEASE HELP ME!!!!! IT IS VERY ANNOYING!!!

[thalbergmad]

There was a thread on this subject a while back.

I think a few people played like this.

Me included

Thal

[nicolaievich]

Some years ago I had a teacher that got very mad because I played with the pinky like that, only in my RH. She told me to try to relax the finger, and I spent some time thinking about that while playing. It was uncomfortable, but after a month or so the pinky just went to the right position.
I think it's not bad as long as that position doesn't get in conflict with your performance. However I have never seen a video or a live performance where the performer plays like this.

Hope you can deal with this.
Greetings.

[emmdoubleew]

It's a sign of tension and if you don't get rid of that bad habit you might hurt yourself when you move on to difficult repertoire.

[Tash]

oh i'm so one of them, i got a reputation at school for it, they thought it was the funniest! i used to do it in chromatic scales but got over that, now it's more just when i'm playing things with big stretches and my pinky's bringing out the melody.
but i don't think it's the greatest thing- try practicing slowly and really focus on keeping your pinky in and hopefully it should eventually get the hang of it

[instromp]

Thanks for all of your help with this.But i've tried to play with it down and it keeps "popping" back up,ugh, soo stressful !!! I dont know about the tension part,when i play i always relax.When i do scales also,"POP" there it goes. Maybe there is tension, but hopefully i can gradually stop this so it wont be a problem in the future.Thanks for your comments.

[alwaystheangel]

I swear that's inherited too!  My mother and my grandmother and I play with our pinkies out like we're having tea!  I hope it's not too much of a problem but it does appear to be pretty common... who knows?

[franziii]

Something you might consider doing just as an experiment to see if you can modify this hand position....
take something soft like a large wad of cotton and gently squeeze it and carry it with you throughout your day, all the time flexing your fingers as if you were striking the keys on the piano. if this makes a difference ,no matter how small, then graduate to something harder like a squeezable rubber ball.

[zheer]

I just want to know that if its natural for your pinky to stick out when playing??? I mean is this something bad? Because mines does it all the time and it's hard trying to break this habit. PLEASE HELP ME!!!!! IT IS VERY ANNOYING!!!

  I found a temporary solution for this problem ( if you want to call it a problem ) this morning.
Very briefly play Bachs prelude in C-minor from his WTC Book 1. However remember to hold down the bottom note with your little finger and hold down the top note with your RH little finger, do this as you play all the other notes with your other finges. Hence Your LH and RH little fingers will be playing crotchet beats , where-as the other fingers will be playing staccato semi-quavers. Remember not to turn this prelude into a hanon finger study. Good luck .

[instromp]

  I found a temporary solution for this problem ( if you want to call it a problem ) this morning.
Very briefly play Bachs prelude in C-minor from his WTC Book 1. However remember to hold down the bottom note with your little finger and hold down the top note with your RH little finger, do this as you play all the other notes with your other finges. Hence Your LH and RH little fingers will be playing crotchet beats , where-as the other fingers will be playing staccato semi-quavers. Remember not to turn this prelude into a hanon finger study. Good luck .

THanks i will definetly try this!

[pianohenry]

at one time or another both my index finger and my pinky would stick out while i play. its gone away now, but i never considered it a serious problem, it never affected my playing

[henrah]

However I have never seen a video or a live performance where the performer plays like this.

Hamelin does it in his cadenza to HR2, when he does a chromatic scale upwards in the LH.