Wrist pain

[holden4]

I've recently started to get a lot of uncomfortable pain in my wrists but only when playing songs requiring much movement. I have to stop and take breaks before I am able to go back and play more.
Do you ever find this, and Is this repetitive strain?
Is there some technique that will help?

[lostinidlewonder]

Video of your playing is required impossible to understand your problem otherwise.

[samasap]

Maybe, do lots of scales to warm up with before playing your pieces of music, or is it the scales giving you wrist pain?

Also make sure that you are sitting correctly and that your posture is right.....All this could contribute to wrist pain...If your chair is too high or too low then this could be the problem.

Make sure that your wrists are relaxed, and that your elbow is inline with both your wrist and knuckles. Arpeggios are good to practice big stretches....if your not doing them already, then start working on some and this could also help strenghten your wrists. Having the correct technique is very important and this should help stop you having wrist ache.
Also keep your hands close to the piano, and remember to keep your fingers curled....Don't have your fingers too flat on the piano!!! 

Hope this helps. Let me know if you want any more advice!

[go12_3]

There should never be any kind of pain while playing the piano.  How does your wrist
feel when you type on your computer? or some other repetitive activities?
If there is an ongoing pain no matter what you do, then see a doctor in order
to have the pain taken care of professionally.If the pain is related to playing piano, make sure you are not moving your arms too much while you play a fast piece and not tense up anywhere from the shoulders on down through your fingertips.  The wrists should be relaxed, not too high and not too low while you play.  Sometimes when we practice too much on the fast pieces; also,
practice in shorter segments, like 15 minutes and take a break. Relax and do something else and then return to practice another 15 minutes.  There are ways to ease up the pressure and pain
of the wrists, that is if the pain is only caused from piano playing. 

[holden4]

Thank you all for your comments. I've started doing more scales to warm up and it seems to help. Also taking breaks helps.
Many people have said my posture is not so good at the piano so i'm working on improving that. :-)

[jinfiesto]

Holden, if you're having pain issues at the piano, it is an issue with technique. Your understanding of technique needs to be corrected theoretically before it can be corrected practically. I suggest reading or watching some Taubman/Golandsky. They specialize in this kind of thing.

Playing more scales WILL NOT help. You'll probably just hurt yourself.

If you can video the sections that give you problems, I'd be happy to help.

[holden4]

Jin- Thank you. I will post soon as a video. My technique is terrible, I already know this ... lol ;-)

[pianisten1989]

As many have alredy said: It's impossible to be sure of your problem, but I guess you're stiff in your wrist. Try to soften it up. Try playing a single tone, and go up and down with your wrist - slooowly and without pressure. Then do the same thing, but do a circular motion with your wrist. That helped me a lot..

[prongated]

What pieces (songs?) are you trying to play exactly?

[keyboardclass]

Bear in mind there are times your wrist is going up and times it's going down though I hardly do any in pre-Chopin music.  The modern piano is a dangerous beast!

[sitbon09]

I'm with jinfiesto on this one.  Any pain must be the result of either a medical condition or incoordinate movement/technique.  I'd see a teacher who is capable of diagnosing the problem before resulting to any video posts although these could help, again depending upon the qualifications of the instructor.  Generally a free wrist which can move is required but perhaps you are holding tension here you are not aware of.  Do you use circling movements with your wrist at all or does it tend to be held still?

Andrew

[liordavid]

do you play any sports that can hurt your wrist

[holden4]

No, I don't do any sports like that.

I think it is technique.

Example- in left hand, if i am playing a low note, then back up for a chord, continuously at a fast speed for more than a few minutes, that hurts.
in right hand- I may be playing many many chords together, fast speed for a few minutes.
Same way, my wrist really hurts and all around that area it hurts to move.
 
 always do scales before I play and warm up.
Doesn't make any difference.

Again, it must be my technique.

[pianisten1989]

As many have alredy said: It's impossible to be sure of your problem, but I guess you're stiff in your wrist. Try to soften it up. Try playing a single tone, and go up and down with your wrist - slooowly and without pressure. Then do the same thing, but do a circular motion with your wrist. That helped me a lot..

I'd try that...

[keyboardclass]

You need to relax between the low note and the chord.  To do this your hand needs to be hanging from the wrist much of the time.