horowitz curls pinky finger in while playing

[asianpianoer]

I recently saw this video of horowitz

and when he plays without his pinky (when it's not needed) he curls it in.

I Have no idea how he does this as it completely stops your 4th finger from functioning.
Does anyone out there do this??

[thinkgreenlovepiano]

I have a friend who does that. It's just natural for her, she didn't even notice till I pointed it out. I can't do it. Mine is quite uncurled when I don't use it.
I guess what works for one person doesn't always work for another.

[quantum]

There are conflicting views on whether one should or should not do this.  Personally, I don't curl my pinky.  

Josef Hofmann writes about the topic in his book Piano Playing: With Piano Questions Answered.  

[stevebob]

There are conflicting views on whether one should or should not do this.  Personally, I don't curl my pinky. 

Josef Hofmann writes about the topic in his book Piano Playing: With Piano Questions Answered.

I thought there were conflicting views on whether or not it's a problem.  Has anyone actually advocated that the pinky fingers should be curled?

[birba]

I find it curls under naturally if you're not using the 4th and 5th finger. 

[nearenough]

For the Horowitz secret(s) read David Dubal, a famous acolyte of the master. Especially reveaing is the compendium of 125 pianists who wrote remembrances of VH.

[pianoplayjl]

Well I think it is natural for any pianist, let alone VH to curl their pinky when playing. The pinky along with the 4th finger are the weakest fingers of the hand. I think I half curl half flatten my pinky when playing.

[nyiregyhazi]

I recently saw this video of horowitz

and when he plays without his pinky (when it's not needed) he curls it in.

I Have no idea how he does this as it completely stops your 4th finger from functioning.
Does anyone out there do this??

Personally, I find that it affects my right hand 4th finger much more than my left. My theory is that Horowitz does this to eliminate 5th finger droop- hence keeping the knuckle in a primed position for moving the key without giving way and compromising the efficiency of energy transfer.

Try curling your 5th and pushing back at the 5th finger knuckle (by pressing underneath on the palm side). You'll find that there's little, if any, room to push it back at all. Now relax completely and try pushing back at the 5th finger knuckle . Personally, I typically have at least a good centimetre or more or movement, when starting from here. I believe this is one of the primary reasons why the fifth is typically viewed as "weak". If the fifth begins from such a position, too much of this slack (of which almost zero exists in the stronger 2nd finger knuckle) has a severely bad effect on energy transfer.

I suspect that this was Horowitz's way of dealing with that issue. When starting from Horowitz's curled position, even if you relax completely again the knuckle tends to stay high. I think Horowitz's curled 5th can actually be a pretty good training exercise, for anyone who has a severe 5th finger droop. It takes out the excess slack from the knuckle of every single finger. However, I've discovered an alternative way to make this happen. If the thumb extends out in the right way (basically, by extending out the side and slightly down), the 5th finger knuckle is automatically primed by some kind of reflex reaction- that takes all the slack out with far less muscular effort. From here, the 5th can just "dangle" easily in the primed position. I think this is an easier solution, for the average pianist.

[keyboardclass]

pianop, will you please stop digging up all this old stuff?

[will]

I have not found any good results from curling the pinky.

Read https://www.musicandhealth.co.uk/differences.html for an in depth answer as to why it may be useful (near the bottom of the page). It basically says that curling the pinky may help lifting the ring finger and may also help in trills between other fingers.

[keyboardkat]

Horowitz himself, in speaking of his tightly curled fifth fingers, said, "No one ever taught me this.  It's the way my fingers worked."

                   - from Harold Schonberg's biography of Horowitz

[jesc]

I don't mind this act of necromancy

Actually the curled pinky is something I naturally do but I viewed it as a weakness rather than something worthy of proper consideration. Personally, it happens to me in some select passages I'm currently studying and TBH I've been spending some time trying to make it go away (i.e. aiming for the finger to be properly relaxed).

[pianoplayjl]

Perhaps its the way Horowitz found to work for his fingers. Maybe it's natural. May be its the way he plays best, just like his hands being near flat on the keys. There is no good or bad about Horowitz curling fingers, as long as it didn't  affect the quailty of his  playing.

I find it curls under naturally if you're not using the 4th and 5th finger. 

Mine are usually straight though.

[rachfan]

I've always kept the 5th fingers naturally cupped or extended as necessary to execute the figuration.  As for energy transfer, I've noticed no difficulty in voicing the tops of chords, octaves or a melodic line in the RH at any dynamic level with the 5th in extended position.  I would doubt that other pianists who likewise do not curl the 5th finger consider it to be an impediment to good dexterity and articulation. It probably comes down simply to which position is more comfortable for the pianist.  Just my experience and opinion.

David

[jmanpno]

I think it is merely an indicator of much of the underlying tension and tendency towards curling in an otherwise remarkably coordinate technique.