Trouble with writing finger. Should I continue playing?

[pianosfun]

Hello guys,

I've recently decided to deactivate my account. This is because I use it very little. I originally spoke of having difficulty allowing my fingers to drop into piano keys because they had a deformed shape and were lacking in strength. I'll be ok, even if I don't physically play on the piano, though, because I know Jesus Christ.

Thanks for concern and helpful insight. I will remember it, pianosfun.

[ted]

I have had similarly erratic movements of particular fingers and fixed them. You can't just go flat out trying to force matters though, or you'll end up with something far worse. It will probably take a few months at least, whatever approach you use. Is it the site of an old injury ? Do you use that finger in damaging ways unconnected with piano playing ? These days much more is known about RSI, dystonia and so on, and how they affect piano playing. There might be a knowledgeable piano teacher near you who could observe you and recommend a course of action. If it is not materially impeding musical flow, not painful, not getting worse, there is also a case for ignoring it. Stop playing ? Certainly not ! But if you are not already doing so, give yourself rests between shorter sessions. Thirty minutes work, fifteen minutes rest, something like that.

[pianosfun]

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[pianosfun]

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[ted]

Unfortunately not all such problems are visible or audible. Mine were not, and everyone said how well I was playing, but internally I struggled to get through things. I played competitive tennis for over twenty years and I am sure that gripping a racquet decreased flexibility. But you have to have a life. If piano playing becomes so delicate that you hesitate to use your hands in other ways, then to my mind the restriction would outweigh the gain. If it really is the result of squeezing triggers, you are no longer doing that, and you had no injury, then flexibility and control will probably return slowly over weeks or months whatever you do. You could try removing your concentration from the offending finger, easier said than done I know, think about all the other aspects of your mechanism and just let things come right over time.

[pianosfun]

. . .

[unimaster]

This might be helpful. Do pianists hands grow?

Of course. After five or so years of playing steadily, most pianists hands are 1/3 larger than everyone else's. (Helps us reach those double-octave spreads. . . .)

Arright . . . all kidding aside, if you're asking whether the hands of people playing piano grow more dextrous over time, I'd say there's no question about that—and that their dexterity increases in specific relation to the act of playing the piano. In other words, you can teach those pesky fingers new habits, just like you taught them how to yank back the spring-powered bolt of an air gun. There may have been a touch of physical damage (straining the tendons or whatever), but even that should fade over time. If your teacher says she doesn't see anything obviously arthritic or deformed about your fingers, then it's probably just a case of spending a little more time and effort on the relearning process than most people have to.

So keep pushing those levers. Don’t get discouraged by setbacks. You tell those fingers who’s boss. . . .