wrist

[doryanne]

Hi,
Learning to play a piece containing some bars with chords that should be played ff, my teacher taught me how my hand should move: in order to obtain this strong sound, the movement should some from the arm, not from the wrist. She made me do some exercises: I let my hand actually fall on the keys (no matter what keys) or even on a plain surface and telling me that repeating this my fingers should actually start hurting a bit, but like this the wrist relaxes, it is not tensed as it was untill now. During this exercise the wrist moves a bit down below the kyes level and then moves up for the next chord.
So far so good. I can do that, but what do I do when I actally try to play the rights keys (chords of 4 notes)? Trying to hit the correct keys, my wrist becomes tense again and I do the ff not from the arm but again from my wrist.
Hope I explained well what I mean. My teacher says that this is something that will come in time, but I find it hard. Why? Because I want so much to play the right notes and leaving my wrist more relaxed will prevent me from doing that.
What do you think? Has anyone experienced the same problem?
Thank you!

[lattlay]

Hi,

I think the key thing here is that you should use your arm weight/gravity to give you power. You can see this in action by just dropping your hand onto the keys while keeping your hand totally relaxed.

2 things to keep in mind when you like this:
- Do not drop your wrist below the keys; it isn't necessary and you put unnecessary strain on your wrists.
- The exercise that your teacher showed you is just that: an exercise. Once you learn the motion you no longer need to lift your hands up too much; you can get full power (while staying relaxed) with no space at all in between your fingers and the keys!

With this in mind, I think that it is normal that your hand feels strained when you play the 4 note chords. It's a strain that comes when you're hand is in an open position (this is especially felt by people with smaller hands).
You will feel strain for a while, but make sure you are using arm weight to depress the keys, and NOT your wrist. Check to make sure that your shoulders are relaxed too.

What section of what piece are you playing? Maybe I can take a look at it for you so I can better explain myself.

[quantum]

Think firm fingers, flexible supported wrist, weight from torso. 

Let your fingers do the aiming for the correct keys.  They need to remain firm with a solid hand position.  Make sure your wrist is not tight or overly tensioned.  It needs to remain flexible and at the same time supportive of the weight.  Use your arms to transfer the weight from your torso.  Use your torso to achieve the ff power.  The whole sensation is to play with your entire body in one single fluid transfer of energy from the core to the extremities, not just the hand. 

[keyboardclass]

Let your fingers do the aiming for the correct keys.  They need to remain firm with a solid hand position....The whole sensation is to play with your entire body in one single fluid transfer of energy from the core to the extremities, not just the hand.  

It does indeed look 'fluid' but there's the instance of key depression (a few milliseconds) - for that time only all is tense (firm).  Straight after go back to relaxed.  Keep the wrist high till after this moment - that's the secret.

[pianot]

This is for "DoryAnne about the wrist and her problems with getting a double FF by using a "SLAMMING" action from her wrist .... No, you will NEVER get a real double Forte by using the wrist .... you need a truly supple arm and forearm, from shoulder and elbow and wrist and hand and fingers ALL TOGETHER in a fluid action .... IMPORTANT>  the motion is NOT just downwards with the fingers above the keys, but is instead a movement starting back of the keys and the arm throwing the wrist and hands a little forward--- down and forward into the keys with power and force from the body ,... but you reeeeeellly need to get this done over tine,not just one day or one week ... it grows and gets better as your fingers get STRONGER !! Be patient with yourself, and begin to FEEL your body and your muscles.
Trond Wellbourne

[keyboardclass]

I think Trond is referring to 'up' notes:

I was referring to 'down' notes:

Both have their place in the tool box.

[doryanne]

Thank you all for your answers!

Lattlay, I learn "Romeo and Juliet" theme, by Nino Rota and arranged by Henry Mancini.
It can be downloaded free here:

https://www.sheetzbox.com/piano/sheets/6728/Romeo_and_Juliet-Love_Theme_PianoNotes.html

Thank you!

[lattlay]

Hi doryanne,

I looked at the music and the best approach I think is to play the chords the same way as the lady in the second video posted by keyboardclass (the one with the 'down' notes). Notice in that video how the lady is using her arm weight and not her wrist to give power to her playing. This is the same motion you need to use when playing those 4 note chords in your piece.

It takes a while to learn how to relax properly so the tension you feel is normal. Just always keep in mind that you should try to relax and focus on using your arm weight when playing. Also, it is more tiring to play chords if your hands are small because you have to open your hand wider and that tenses your hand/wrist. Again, this will solve itself with (correct) technique and practice.

Best of luck with the piece!