my left hand's forefinger is wild??

[b.piano]

Hi..

I've noticed something during practising Hanon.. my left hand's forefinger is wild.. I can't control it easly.. I mean I know that the 4th & the 5th fingers in the left hand are weak & hard to control (which is simething I'm working on).. but I didn't expect to have a problem with the 2nd finger.. so is that normal?? it's not something that effects that much on practicing & doesn't effect the pieces I'm playing so far.. & even my teacher didn't notice it, it just makes me spend more time to control this wild finger..should I worry about it?? or just don't care & give it a little more practice?? 

thanks everybody...

Boran
a student in the 1st year- fine arts institute- music department
Erbil- Kurdistan- Iraq.

[zheer]

.. I mean I know that the 4th & the 5th fingers in the left hand are weak & hard to control (which is simething I'm working on).. but I didn't expect to have a problem with the 2nd finger.. so is that normal??

     Thats a common issue amongst pianists, teacher often describe the 4th finger as weak, though the term hard to control sounds more accurate ( simply cuz in day to day activity we tend to use those fingers less frequently).here is something you can try, an E major scale (LH)
, if you place all five fingers on the keys, starting on the note (E), with-out pressing down any keys, making sure that the wrist, arm ,hand and the very tips of the fingers are totally in-active (motionless), you can then work on finger independance by concentrating on pressing down the keys using your finger tips only. It sounds simplistic at first, especially at a slow tempo, though the difficulty starts when the music demands a faster pace.
      I hope that helps , best of luck. 

[b.piano]

Thanks a lot Zheer!! I'll work on that today..
I think i'll be asking about a lot of things cuz my teacher is not here  it's great to find such a forum.. there is no forums like this in Arabic or Kurdish.. & it's great to know that there is always people ready to help 
Thank you again.. 

[zheer]

Thanks a lot Zheer!!

  Your welcome.

[amelialw]

practise chromatic scales ( control your 4th finger and don't let it fling around) , I used to have the same problem as you and that's what I did

[thalberg]

Hi..

I've noticed something during practising Hanon.. my left hand's forefinger is wild.. I can't control it easly.. I mean I know that the 4th & the 5th fingers in the left hand are weak & hard to control (which is simething I'm working on).. but I didn't expect to have a problem with the 2nd finger.. so is that normal?? it's not something that effects that much on practicing & doesn't effect the pieces I'm playing so far.. & even my teacher didn't notice it, it just makes me spend more time to control this wild finger..should I worry about it?? or just don't care & give it a little more practice?? 

thanks everybody...

Boran
a student in the 1st year- fine arts institute- music department
Erbil- Kurdistan- Iraq.

Sometimes the way you position your arm can affect how your fingers work.  Do a lot of lifting and dropping  exercises to get your arm engaged.  Also, perhaps consider what you might be doing with your left forefinger outside of your practice time that would cause it to malfunction at the piano.

[b.piano]

practise chromatic scales ( control your 4th finger and don't let it fling around) , I used to have the same problem as you and that's what I did

I'm orking now on the Chromatic Scales  but the contrary Chromatic scale Drives me CRAZY!! Thank you.. I'll work more on this one, cuz I have to practice the Chromatic hard during the summer for (the flight of bumblle bee..   

[ted]

I have had times, over fifty years of playing, when one finger seemed to develop a "mind of its own" and did unwanted things, produced unwanted sensations, automatically. I found that, in such cases, it was useless, even directly counter-productive, to concentrate on fixing the erring finger itself, forcing it to behave with repeated exercises and so on. I did try that, at first, and found it only made things worse. A better strategy is to concentrate on the correct fingers, the music and relaxed playing, and gradually the issue disappears over time - possibly quite a long time - weeks or even months.

It is always possible that something outside piano playing is causing it but in that case whatever it is should be glaringly obvious.

 

[b.piano]

  I'm confused now? what should I do?? 

[zheer]

I'm confused now? what should I do?? 

   Dont worry, piano playing has evovled so much over the years, different ways of teaching it, different method of learning , different school of piano playing, different teachers and so on. It is confusing at first, a teacher can only teach what he or she knows,its then down to the student to decide what works and what does'nt. (not easy)

[b.piano]

Sometimes the way you position your arm can affect how your fingers work.  Do a lot of lifting and dropping  exercises to get your arm engaged.  Also, perhaps consider what you might be doing with your left forefinger outside of your practice time that would cause it to malfunction at the piano.

hmm.. I do have a problem with connecting my arm & shoulders to my hand!! I didn't even know that I have to use my shoulders sometimes till one month ago when an American piano teacher who came here told me so..

from your replys I see that I should give my forefinger a spicial attention.. at least I now know that I'm not the only one  Thanks to you!!!

[b.piano]

   Dont worry, piano playing has evovled so much over the years, different ways of teaching it, different method of learning , different school of piano playing, different teachers and so on. It is confusing at first, a teacher can only teach what he or she knows,its then down to the student to decide what works and what does'nt. (not easy)

well!!! I guess you are right.. but I still have no experience!!! I'm not sure what to do 

[zheer]

I still have no experience!!! I'm not sure what to do 

   Ammmmmmmm,well you mentioned that an American piano teacher was teaching you piano , he/she is in a better position to correct any errors in your piano playing,since learning over the net can be very difficult. Though you can take advantage ov the free sheet music plus various recording by forum members, some of them are very good.

[b.piano]

   Ammmmmmmm,well you mentioned that an American piano teacher was teaching you piano , he/she is in a better position to correct any errors in your piano playing,since learning over the net can be very difficult. Though you can take advantage ov the free sheet music plus various recording by forum members, some of them are very good.

this American Teacher will teach me during (13\7 - 22\7).. I think I'll wait for him  Thanks anyway!!!

[gruffalo]

i think you need to re-think the idea of 4th and 5th fingers as weak. in theory, yes they are, but that is not the main reason why they tend to fly around all over the place. i mean, your fore finger is not weaker than the rest, yet it does the same thing, right? if you try to think more of relaxing the hand and shaping it, those fingers will, over time offcourse, start to respond to that. naturally when we think of something as weak, we want to compensate in force. in this case, you will most likely try to compensate that force with tension. this is not good and it will probably make the fingers stick out more. try to think of hand motions, the way you position your hand according to the direction you are moving on the piano, according to the note patterns and relax the hand and arms more. fingers sticking out are due to TENSION, not WEAKNESS.

[b.piano]

i think you need to re-think the idea of 4th and 5th fingers as weak. in theory, yes they are, but that is not the main reason why they tend to fly around all over the place. i mean, your fore finger is not weaker than the rest, yet it does the same thing, right? if you try to think more of relaxing the hand and shaping it, those fingers will, over time offcourse, start to respond to that. naturally when we think of something as weak, we want to compensate in force. in this case, you will most likely try to compensate that force with tension. this is not good and it will probably make the fingers stick out more. try to think of hand motions, the way you position your hand according to the direction you are moving on the piano, according to the note patterns and relax the hand and arms more. fingers sticking out are due to TENSION, not WEAKNESS.

well.. I said that my forefinger is wild.. not weak..
but my 4th & 5th fingers in the lefthand are still weak.. that's why they still hurt me when I play octaves.. I'm not pushing them hart anyway.. 
thanks a lot. good advice!! 

Boran