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Variations on Nostalgia – Boris Berman Plays Brahms and Silvestrov
In recent months, the 85-year-old Ukrainian composer Valentin Silvestrov has received the world's attention more than ever due to the ongoing war. Silvestrov's piano music covers more than half a century, and it would be hard to find a better proponent for it than the composer's longtime friend Boris Berman, whose coming album offers a panorama of the composer's evolution. Berman has also just released a new Brahms album – and feels an affinity between the two composers. Read more >>

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Topic: Body stretches (Read 1621 times)

pianojems

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Body stretches

on: June 18, 2004, 09:45:43 PM

Everyone has been talking about how to stretch out the hands for maximum playing. But what about body excercices and stretches one should do before practice and performance. Are there particular stretches that can be done right at the practice site rather than a gym, Despecially the kind that will relieve tension and prevent back/neck/shoulder pain during practice?

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Spatula

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Re: Body stretches

Reply #1 on: June 18, 2004, 09:51:09 PM

Er, well I guess start off with Seymour Fink's Mastering Piano technique book, it has some "whole body" stretches ..with your arms, shoulders etc.

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xvimbi

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Re: Body stretches

Reply #2 on: June 18, 2004, 10:14:02 PM

Quote

Everyone has been talking about how to stretch out the hands for maximum playing. But what about body excercices and stretches one should do before practice and performance. Are there particular stretches that can be done right at the practice site rather than a gym, Despecially the kind that will relieve tension and prevent back/neck/shoulder pain during practice?

In order to get ready for practice or performance, just playing scales, arpeggios and so on will be sufficient to prepare the muscles. If you want to stretch in order to increase your range, the respective muscle(s) should be thoroughly warmed up before doing any stretching exercises. Back/neck/shoulder pain during piano playing is preventable through proper posture and technique, no stretching required. If stretching is required to relieve tension, go ahead, but also evaluate your technique to find out you do something wrong, which will be the case in 99.99% of all instances.

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donjuan

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Re: Body stretches

Reply #3 on: June 19, 2004, 04:43:26 AM

I was reading Josef Hoffman's book, and he says the best exercise for the whole body is a brisk walk outside. I tried it before a music festival, and hey, I won my class!! (of course, it may have all been a coincidence..)

Im sure Bernhard has some good advice for this topic.

donjuan

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Tash

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Re: Body stretches

Reply #4 on: June 19, 2004, 02:40:51 PM

omg walks are so good i love doing that before practices cos no matter what the weather it is i always get warmed up and i'm ready to play, eg. today i intentionally walked home 20 minutes from the station instead of getting picked up so i could get a good start to my practice!

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pianojems

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Re: Body stretches

Reply #5 on: June 25, 2004, 08:34:40 PM

you know, walking sounds like a great idea, but how long is it recommended to walk before you practice?

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Spatula

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Re: Body stretches

Reply #6 on: June 27, 2004, 01:51:42 AM

30 mins at a brisk pace, and don't dawdle but get your mind focused on what you want. use your minds eye and pretend you can do your technique in your head

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