To look at my hands or not

[brogers70]

I began piano at age 40, about 10 years ago; I play stuff at grades 7 and 8 fairly well. I'm a poor sight reader but a good memorizer. As a result I rarely look at the music when I play - I use it more away from the piano to make sure I'm paying attention to dynamics, articulation, etc. And instead of looking at the music, I look at my hands. My new teacher tells me that looking at my hands will make my playing tense and unexpressive. So he keeps telling me it's a bad habit, and that I can just look away and "feel" where the notes are. I know what he's getting at - I'm envious of those young players who look all around the room but always know how to find the keys. But when I just look away and "go with the flow", the flow flows into a bunch of wrong notes. On pieces that I've played for a couple of years I do not need to look at my hands so much, but on newer pieces I can't get rid of the crutch.

I think my teacher is confusing cause and effect - when you know the piece really well you play it fluently and expressively and, incidentally, no longer need to look at the keyboard. He seems to think that if you can force yourself not to look at the keyboard you will, as a result of not looking, play more fluently and expressively.

So I can't decide whether it is a good investment to spend the hours and months or years it would take to work through all the "keyboard awareness" exercises in that "Super Sightreading Secrets" book, or to just spend those hours working on pieces, even if I am looking at my hands a lot. Anybody have any advice?

[stevebob]

Whether reading from the score or performing from memory, one's eyes are necessarily looking somewhere unless they’re kept closed.  I don’t understand why looking at the hands should hinder relaxation and musicality to any greater extent than looking at anything else—and unless your own playing actually is “tense and unexpressive,” your teacher’s claim seems demonstrably invalid (or, at the very least, not universally applicable).

I think that fluent reading and proficient sightreading are very valuable skills in their own right; sightreading practice in particular will result in a more secure sense of the keyboard’s geography, and, in consequence, you won’t need to look at your hands as much.  But a strategy of greater reliance on reading and less dependence on memorization won’t necessarily lead to what your teacher wants you to cultivate.  In fact, some people believe that the greatest interpretive freedom is achieved when performing from memory!

[birba]

WHAT?!  If you aren't looking at the music, what are you supposed to look at?  (I could be very vulgar here, but I won't...)  I suppose, ONCE IN A WHILE you might look into space and imagine you're listening to someone else play, but these are little games to get us to listen to ourselves.  I think it's very natural for a pianist to look at his hands while he's playing. 

[pianissimo123]

I think you should do what makes you feel most comfortable and relaxed. You could probably do a bit of both. When I'm playing, depending on what I am doing, sometimes I look at the sheets, glance down at my hands every so often, look around, or even play with my eyes closed. Of course you probably don't want to stare at your hands too much       ...
Don't worry though. In the end, I think whatever balance that you adopt that makes you feel confident, polished, and precise is the one that is right for you..   All the best.

[stevebob]

Like so many things, it comes down to "whatever works."

But what happens when one's teacher doesn't grasp that ... and wishes instead to impose what works for him or her?  I think that's as much of a predicament for the original poster as deciding how frequently to look down at the hands.

[brogers70]

Thanks for the helpful replies. I guess I'll set aside some time to work on sight reading/keyboard orientation a la Richman, but for the rest of the time I'll look at my hands and the keys whenever I need to.

[jimbo320]

The advice I can offer, as crazy it may sound, would be to play pieces slowly to gain muscle memory then close your eyes and picture the keyboard in your head and playing the correct keys. As you practice this, you'll gain the speed and agility for a good sound. Go for a flowing sound rather than speed. speed will naturally occur by repeating this step. Try it...

Jimbo