Technique paranoia!

[in_love_with_liszt]

Ok, so I spend all this time for years and years, since I was 9, obsessing over obtaining good technique and a nice rounded curve to my fingers when in piano playing posture. Now my old teacher critcized one of my performances, saying that my fingers were TOO curved, and if I would loosen up and flatten my fingers I would be a more expressive player. Problem is, I've spent so long of my life obsessing over this "perfect curve" that I'm to the point where I feel like I have to do EVERYTHING with my fingers curved, or my technique will be ruined. If I lift a box, my fingers are either curled under, or curved; if I do anything, and you look at my hands, my fingers are curved. I realize that I'm being kind of foolish here, but I can't stand the sight of my fingers on the few occasions that I've had the courage to try to fully extend them--either from all the years of keeping them curved, or something else, now when i try to straighten them, the tips of my fingers just curve upwards while close to the base stays bent. And it's not comfortable either to try to straighten them anymore. I certainly don't think I play bad, but my old mentor's criticism of my performance of Liszt's 12th Rhapsody took me by surprise. Is it truely bad to have a more curved finger playing style? I'm at a loss for what to do next.

[donjuan]

haha! I have the same problem and the opposite problem!! I play Beethoven with super curved fingers, and Liszt with flat fingers.  However, there are parts of Liszt where I need to be very technically proficient and play with curved fingers, and places in Beethoven where I need to bring out the dolce touch, and use flat fingers.  It is very difficult to play both ways!  You certainly need to play expressively, with lots of rubato and flat fingers in parts of Liszt's 12th Hungarian Rhapsody, or else it will sound measured and carefully calculated, not free and Gypsy-like- as it is supposed to be.  

Have a listen to Jeno Jando's recording on Naxos of the Rhapsody.  It is excellent and should inspire you to play in the manner in which it is intended.

Good Luck,
donjuan

[bernhard]

Don’ t focus so much on the minutiae of movement. Instead put your full attention on the sound you want to produce. If you cannot, keep insisting and somehow your unconscious will eventually find the best positions/movements that will enable you to sound just the way you want.

If you are too focused on the physicality of your technique, you will have no space for the musicality of your sound.

This advice is good for you because you have been playing for some years, so you already have built up in your unconscious a sizeable repertory of physical techniques/positions from which to draw.

The same advice would be useless for a complete beginner because a beginner’s unconscious has not yet amassed any substantial amount of physical techniques.

From this you may conclude that perhaps the repertory of techniques at your unconscious disposal may be limited to only curved fingers, so spend sometime working on pieces the require flat fingered technique (the more black notes, the better, also a lot of the romantic repertory).

You may also deduct that there is no “correct” technique. Every passage will require a specific pattern of movements, that will also specific to you and your physicality. People are constantly limiting themselves unnecessarily.

If you have a detailed enough aural image of the sound you want to produce in your mind, trust me, the fingers will comply.

I hope this helps,

Best wishes,
Bernhard.

[in_love_with_liszt]

I understand what you're saying, but as I earlier mentioned, when you flatten your fingers and play, how do you prevent the top joint of the finger from bending the wrong way? When that happens you loose alot of mobility and strength, and when I try to flatten my fingers, that always happens. I'm still iffy about this whole flat finger thing, I mean, I have large hands and can play octaves and major tenths still keeping my fingers curved, so I guess my real question as well is what exactly does playing with flat fingers do to the sound that can't be done with a curve? I'm just confused.