Need to clear up a discrepancy...

[steinwaylvr2]

This is my first post here, and I figured what better website to use to clear up a technique issue from a student's standpoint...

My former piano teacher (K-12) told me a few years ago, when I was learning to play Rachmaninoff's Prelude in C# Minor, that during the 'sfff' part at the end of the piece (after the agitato section), that I should lift my whole arm (up to the shoulder) and drop it down to get the weight of my entire arm involved to produce that big of a sound.  While performing this piece at a competition, one of the judges told me afterward that playing like that could cause future problems (i.e. carpel tunner, etc.).

My question is: can somebody tell me who is right?  I'm a confused college student and nobody is able to answer my question because it seems like everybody has their own ideas.

[xvimbi]

This is my first post here, and I figured what better website to use to clear up a technique issue from a student's standpoint...

My former piano teacher (K-12) told me a few years ago, when I was learning to play Rachmaninoff's Prelude in C# Minor, that during the 'sfff' part at the end of the piece (after the agitato section), that I should lift my whole arm (up to the shoulder) and drop it down to get the weight of my entire arm involved to produce that big of a sound.  While performing this piece at a competition, one of the judges told me afterward that playing like that could cause future problems (i.e. carpel tunner, etc.).

My question is: can somebody tell me who is right?  I'm a confused college student and nobody is able to answer my question because it seems like everybody has their own ideas.

Dropping the arm from shoulder height is a bit extreme, but if it's done right, there shouldn't be any problems. After all, it is equivalent to dropping the arm from half as high but using additonal muscular force to achieve the same loudness. The impact on the fingers and wrist will be very similar. The "trick" is to touch the keys just long enough for the hammers to strike the strings. Then immediately break the fall to avoid slamming into the keybed. That is what causes the problems. Avoiding slamming into the keybed will not be entirely possible in such a movement, so one also needs to relax the wrist immediatley after impact, so that the counter force is not absorbed by the joints, but by the muscles. You won't get carpal tunnel syndrome, unless your wrist is really angled to the extremes while your are doing that and you do it hundreds of times a day. Hope that helps.