Is it ok to slide hands when playing?

[gn622]

This is a bit confusing to explain but ill try my best

Sometimes when im playing fast passages and i use  my thumb on a black key and then i need to hit the white key below it, i would slide my hand instead of using another finger, and if my pinky is pressing the black key, i would slide my hand down but i would hit the white key with my fourth finger.


is this okay? or is it a bad habit?

[mcdiddy1]

No I do this all the time. I think it is fine as long as you do not slip and land harshly   

[nyiregyhazi]

This is a bit confusing to explain but ill try my best

Sometimes when im playing fast passages and i use  my thumb on a black key and then i need to hit the white key below it, i would slide my hand instead of using another finger, and if my pinky is pressing the black key, i would slide my hand down but i would hit the white key with my fourth finger.


is this okay? or is it a bad habit?

As a simple guide, notice your arm and your knuckles. Does your whole arm fall with the thumb or do your knuckles fall with it? If so, it's a poor way of moving. However, if the thumb activates well it can "slide" off in a way that is very effective. It doesn't fall into the key, but activates enough to maintain the knuckles. It's very low in effort, but it's not a lifeless movement.

[roseamelia]

Your fine if you want to do that

No I do this all the time. I think it is fine as long as you do not slip and land harshly   

I agree with you.

[werq34ac]

It's okay to be using this sort of fingering, but if there's another fingering in which you don't have to slide, I would prefer to use that one.

[quantum]

It is fine to to this.  It is a technique often used by organists. 

[nyiregyhazi]

It is fine to to this.  It is a technique often used by organists. 

On the organ the sound is not affected though. It can be done on the piano, but quality of articulation and tone-production are readily affected unless the movement is extremely well controlled. It certainly shouldn't be done casually, as a replacement for a better fingering. Personally, I rarely do this except with the thumb. Elsewhere, there's almost always a better alternative.

[1piano4joe]

I am aware that jazz and blues players do this all the time but my classical piano teacher considers it poor technique and should be avoided.

I noticed several different editors of Schumann's The Happy Farmer Opus 68 No. 10 have in the third measure of the left hand exactly what your talking about. They want you to slide your thumb off the black key Bb and land with your thumb on the white A key immediately to the left. Sliding is much easier and yet other editors avoid this.

Bernhard mentions in his "principles of fingering" rule #12, "In fast passages you may slide the same finger from a black to a white key and still have legato."

If all these experts say this is okay then it must be.

[werq34ac]

I am aware that jazz and blues players do this all the time but my classical piano teacher considers it poor technique and should be avoided.

I noticed several different editors of Schumann's The Happy Farmer Opus 68 No. 10 have in the third measure of the left hand exactly what your talking about. They want you to slide your thumb off the black key Bb and land with your thumb on the white A key immediately to the left. Sliding is much easier and yet other editors avoid this.

Bernard mentions in his "principles of fingering" rule #12, "In fast passages you may slide the same finger from a black to a white key and still have legato."

If all these experts say this is okay then it must be.

I might be wrong, but doesn't jazz require much less tone control? The problem with this technique is tone control and when you have no choice but to use it, it shouldn't sound any different from not sliding your fingers.

[quantum]

On the organ the sound is not affected though. It can be done on the piano, but quality of articulation and tone-production are readily affected unless the movement is extremely well controlled. It certainly shouldn't be done casually, as a replacement for a better fingering. Personally, I rarely do this except with the thumb. Elsewhere, there's almost always a better alternative.

If one possess the discipline to develop the technique on piano, it could prove very useful in one's arsenal.  It may be less conventional, but why completely rule it out?  IMO the more tools one has at one's disposal, the more able one can be in dealing with difficult circumstances in the music. 

Actually organ sound can be affected by touch, however not in the manner that pianists are accustomed to.  On a tracker instrument the keys are directly connected to the mechanics that allow air to be let into a pipe. 

[nyiregyhazi]

If one possess the discipline to develop the technique on piano, it could prove very useful in one's arsenal.  It may be less conventional, but why completely rule it out?  IMO the more tools one has at one's disposal, the more able one can be in dealing with difficult circumstances in the music. 

Actually organ sound can be affected by touch, however not in the manner that pianists are accustomed to.  On a tracker instrument the keys are directly connected to the mechanics that allow air to be let into a pipe. 

I didn't rule it out. I just pointed out that there's almost always a better alternative- except on rare occasions. I use slides for thirds fingering but it's not something I would employ casually. Sometimes it contributes usefully to a long term plan, but it most typically occurs as a short-term answer to running out of extra fingers- due to poor planning.

[werq34ac]

I didn't rule it out. I just pointed out that there's almost always a better alternative- except on rare occasions. I use slides for thirds fingering but it's not something I would employ casually. Sometimes it contributes usefully to a long term plan, but it most typically occurs as a short-term answer to running out of extra fingers- due to poor planning.

It's fantastic to use for sightreading though when you're always running out of fingers o.o;

[sucom]

To be honest, if you're playing a fast passages of single semiquavers, for example, I would be against sliding any of the fingers onto a note, if only because articulation of notes is rather important.  In general, I would keep thumb sliding for chord playing.