Avoiding injury

[donjuan]

I injured my tendons of my hand playing works of Liszt, and I am sort of out of commission (It actually hurts to type as well).  I guess Im temporarily screwed, but for the future, does anyone have any methods of avoiding injury while playing physically demanding works?  Should I play warmup scales for a half hour everyday before working on the pieces?
Any suggestions would be helpful..

Thank you so much
donjuan

[JK]

I really feel sorry for you, it must be driving you mad not being able to practice! The way I tackle virtuosic pieces is not to try and do too much too soon. Maybe you're plying too much Liszt and therefore need to work on something a bit less physically demanding, you're bound to have problems if you practice Liszt all day! I find very slow and deliberate practice is the best way for me, I never try to play pieces through up to speed everyday and I only work on a small part a day. Also staccatto practice at pp dynamic is very ggod. As far as warming up is concerned I find scales are good but actually practicing the section of the piece that you intend to work on slowly is better for me, then as my practice session goes on my fingers and arms become much more accustomed to playing the piece and after a while I can play up to full dynamic and tempo if I wish, doing things gradually I think is the key.

Another thing to consider is how you are actually playing the instrument, this may sound a strange thing to say but this is something that I have recently changed about my approach to the attack on the keys and I have found it has helped me no end. Instead of using physical force to play things like chords and octaves I try to use the natural weight and gravity of my arm, cushioned in turn by my wrist (much easier to show than explain!). For me this has a number of benefits: firstly it ensures that I hit notes and chords cleanly and often with greater clarity, secondly I find that I hardly ever make a bad sound with this technique, thirdly it helps you not to work too hard (this is vital in passages that have a lot of fast notes where putting in too much effort just makes you seize up, grab and slow down!!) and lastly it makes you sometimes take that little extra bit of time that you need to get to a note and avoid grabbing at it. The most important point here as you probably know is that the way to avoid injury is to avoid tension and to try and stay relaxed. I find that I tense up when I rush, which in turn creates more rushing and more tensing up. Therefore I find metronome practice very useful, very often you have more time to get to aukward notes than you think!

The last thing I would say is as soon as you get even a twinge of pain in your hands or arms you must stop and either rest it for a while or play more slowly and quietly. A few years ago I was lucky enough to catch tendanitis in the earlier stages, I was made by my teacher to rest my hand for a week and I'm glad that I did, if I hadn't I could still well be having problems now, whereas instead it hasn't come back at all (well not yet anyway!).

Hope this helps a bit.

[xvimbi]

Citing from the book "What every pianist needs to know about the body" (I think, this book summarizes the current knowledge about anatomy as it relates to piano playing fairly well), the four reasons for pianists' stress injuries are 1) co-contraction of muscles, 2) awkward positions, 3) static muscular activity, and 4) excessivle force. Several factors contribute to the body's resistence to injury and its ability to recover: general health; physical fitness; rest; age.
As you have experienced, the tendons are the most fragile component of the human playing apparatus.
Personally, I can say the following: I accumulated a lot of injuries from rock climbing. I am now re-evaluating my entire piano technique with the goal of getting rid of the four major "sins" I have listed above. Applying those rules has helped curing my climbing injuries to the most part; I believe it will help my piano playing as well and keep me healthy.
I wish you good luck - and patience: only start playing again when you are completely, I repeat, completely, entirely, utterly healed. Take the time to educate yourself on human anatomy and physiology as well as on the mechanics of the piano and have a hard and critical look at your technique. If you have access to an Alexander technique class, check it out, although I think one does not have to attach fancy names to what appears to be common sense.

[donjuan]

Thank you very much for your advice.  I should learn, in the future to take day long breaks to refresh my hand.  I will also try to concentrate on using the weight of my hand to create power- I thought I was doing that, but obviously not..

Thanks again for your help!
donjuan

[Saturn]

When I was a kid, I once became ill and had to stay home from school.  The doctor prescribed me some antibiotics to kill the germs, and his directions were to finish the bottle.  After taking about half the bottle, I no longer felt sick, so I figured I must be healed.  I stopped taking the antibiotics.  A week later, I was sick all over again.

Just because the symptoms were gone, it didn't mean I was completely well yet.  So, after the pain is gone, the hand may be in the final stages of healing, so continue to rest the hand a while to make sure it heals completely.

If you can type okay, I'd be curious to know which tendons you injured, and what it felt like.  Also, what did your teacher say about it?  Besides what's already been suggested, I can only add that seeing someone who specializes in injury-preventive technique may be helpful.  That's what I've been doing.

It's important to let your hands and arms "breathe" when playing, especially on demanding works.  Ever tried to hold your breath while lifting weights?  It's not a good idea.

Taking little breaks not only helps to rest your body, but also helps you to understand and appreciate the music better.  Musicians tend to work very obsessively.  Sometimes in university practice rooms, I'd hear students having 2 hour practice sessions without a break, as if they were playing a single piece 2 hours in length!  The brain gets fatigued and disoriented, because it gets conditioned to hearing sound; the music doesn't "stick out" anymore.  Then you lose awareness over your playing.

I often would play like that.  Then one day, after some tiring playing, I decided to rest, which I rarely did.  I sat in front of the piano for a couple minutes, without playing.  Not hearing myself play was actually shocking to me!  I suddenly became aware of sounds that I didn't notice while I was playing.  When I started playing again, I felt much better.  By allowing myself to hear silence, I became much more aware of sound.

Anyway, this is largely a digression.  Hope your hand heals soon.

- Saturn

[xvimbi]

Thank you very much for your advice.  I should learn, in the future to take day long breaks to refresh my hand.  I will also try to concentrate on using the weight of my hand to create power- I thought I was doing that, but obviously not..
donjuan

That is a very good attitde. I'd like to add to use not just the weight of the hand, but the weight of the  forearm or even the entire arm (when appropriate, of course). Heck, why not use the weight of most of the body every now and then by bouncing up and down a bit on the butt for those fff chords! When you see Yefim Bronfman do that during Brahms' piano concerto No. 2,  fff takes on a whole new meaning  

[newsgroupeuan]

Hmmm....I have a tendon pain....It doesn't hurt when I type or in normal life....but when I rotate my right hand to the right(it connects to the base of my hand and I assume it's connected to my fifth finger as it move when my fith finger moves)....wonder whats wrong??

[donjuan]

Hmmm....I have a tendon pain....It doesn't hurt when I type or in normal life....but when I rotate my right hand to the right(it connects to the base of my hand and I assume it's connected to my fifth finger as it move when my fith finger moves)....wonder whats wrong??

HEY!! ive had that pain before, exactly like you described.  It went away very quickly, and I was back in action really fast.  If not, go to the doctor.  

[Bunnies]

I wish I could help you. But I have only been playing the piano for 2 weeks and I already have shoulder pain and a sore back.
Good luck to you

[donjuan]

I wish I could help you. But I have only been playing the piano for 2 weeks and I already have shoulder pain and a sore back.
Good luck to you

hey..a canadian, eh? hehe..greetings from Alberta!
watch the posture...if you get that wrong to start with, you will find everything difficult.  how old are you?
donjuan  

[xvimbi]

I wish I could help you. But I have only been playing the piano for 2 weeks and I already have shoulder pain and a sore back.

That's not good. Do you have a teacher or do you play by yourself? If you are playing by yourself, have someone knowledgeable teach you proper posture at the piano. The problem here is that there are so many myths out there (e.g. "shoulders back, chest out" - terrible) about correct posture that it may be difficult to get good advice ("good" in terms of anatomically correct). If you are already having shoulder and back problems, chances are you will soon have problems with your tendons as well, if you are not properly instructed.

It is very likely that your general posture is suboptimal in the first place. Depending on age, practically everybody accumulates a lot of bad habits. Sitting on a piano bench will reveal some of those bad habits as most people are not used to sitting on a platform that doesn't have a back. Given a bad posture, the muscles in the back will have to work hard to keep the torso and the head upright. Good posture means most of the weight of the torso and the head is carried by the spine and the "sitting bones", so that the muscles in the back are free to move your arms, which you will need to play the piano.

Likewise, since you are a beginner, you are probably pulling your shoulders up when you play. This is a very natural reaction; one is usually so absorbed getting the notes right that one tenses up. Pulling up the shoulders is a manifestation of that. It is not good either to pull the shoulders down, because this also requires the action of muscles, and this is what you need to avoid. The shoulders should hang completely freely (with exceptions, of course, as some pianistic techniques will involve moving the shoulder).

But here is the reason why you need a teacher or a friend who observes you while you play: you may start out with a perfect posture, but after a few notes, you will tense up, and your posture will be lost. An observer will be able to tell you how long you can maintain your posture. Next time you play, make a conscious effort to feel what your shoulders are doing, and you will see that they move up (I bet you!). One can learn to "tell" individual muscles to relax, but it will require some time.

If you are serious about piano playing, I would highly recommend to put the priority on proper technique. The wisdom of age (and injury) is speaking here  

ADDENDUM: With respect to the shoulders moving up, sitting too close to the piano is another contributing factor. This is in fact one of the most prevalent mistakes in beginners. It practically "bunches" up the body, which will move the shoulders up. When the fingers are placed on the white keys in the middle of the keyboard, the elbows should in fact be slightly in front of the body and should not bump into the sides of the body when they have to move in. The angle between upper arm and forearm needs to be greater than 90 degrees to do that.

[faulty_damper]

Simple avoidance is the ultimate solution.  It will do wonders for your piano technique.

[46streicher]

Something most pianists don't think of: today's pianos are not like the pianos the composers were writing for, up to the end of the 1800s.

In the earliest pianos of Mozart's or Beethoven's day, the hammers were tiny and the keys went down only a fraction of their present depth, with almost no effort.

Also, many piano builders gave the player more tone-colors than are available on the more "even" modern piano. Greater contrasts between loud and soft (bright vs. velvety), treble, mid-range and bass (like different timbres in a string trio) and  from the moment the hammer hits the strings to when the tone dies out (sharp initial attack, followed by a quick decay to a lower level, like a public speaker enunciating consonants) made it easier to "bring out the melody" in a thick texture.

Playing the modern piano is much harder work than any of the composers dreamed you would have to do to play their music.  If you are hurting yourself, it may be because the music was conceived for a much more cooperative piano!  And if you seem to be fighting your piano and still not getting the effect you are sure the composer was after, consider whether the music was written for a piano that was a totally different instrument.