Ring finger problem

[joynes]

Hello!

This is my first post in this piano community, and as the topic says it's about my fourth finger on the right hand. It's very stiff compared to the other fingers, and therefore it's quite difficult to perform a  fast run smoothly and without unevenness.  Either it sounds to loud when I hit the keyboard with the problematic finger, or it doesn't sound at all = Unevenness. Quite rarely does the latter occur but sometimes it does because the finger is too stiff, and therefore the sound it makes when hitting the keyboard is often mingled with the next or the preceding note.

What should I do to make this finger run more smoothly and to make my playing more stable. Probably I just have to slow down and gradually build up the tension in the finger, but since I know there are lots of very competent piano players and teachers on this site, I would really like your opinion about it.

P.S: If you see any grammatical or other errors in the text please correct them. You see I'm from Sweden so my english is fairly good, but I haven't exactly mastered it....... yet .

[ivoryplayer_amf]

Have you ever broken it?  You should probably go to a doctor first and then try to master it later...you don't want to do more damage to it.  A pianist' fingers are their life!! 

[joynes]

Don't worry  , I know I'm not even near braking my finger. It's just  a  bit stiff when I play.

[ramseytheii]

Perhaps if you break it, then let it heal, it will gain in strength and flexibility.

Walter Ramsey

[pianistimo]

?  ramseytheii, i see you are humorous when you want to be.  and perhaps entirely right. excepting the pains i get in my leg occasionally from having it broken - everything seems to be as flexible as it was before.  but, MORE flexible?  i'm wondering - unless the finger stayed broken - how flexible it would be.  didn't robert schumann try that?

[electrodoc]

I don't know whether breaking the finger was meant to be humerous or not but I seriously advise not to break any bone or joint. There is no guarantee that bone will heal properly, and with joints there is likely to be less flexibility. I should know having seriously damaged my ankle joint in a climbing accident some ten years ago. It has been a problem ever since!

The main reason for weak and stiff 4th and 5th fingers is that they share the same set of muscles. All of the other fingers have their own muscles. So, for the 4th and 5th it is like trying to do the same work with only half of the apparatus.

I found that in the earlier years that Hanon was very useful for developing finger strength and independence. (I know that some contributors do not like Hanon but used wisely and not to excess the exercises do have some use.) Even now, if I have been away from the piano for any length of time I tend to go back to a few Hanon exercises to warm up - rather like a dancer at the bar. Try some technical exercises that emphasise these fingers - and start off slowly in order to concentrate on the fingers rather than speed. The speed will eventually develop quite easily.

Best wishes

Electrodoc