shoulder tension

[dongsang153]

i've noticed lately that when i sit on the piano for about an hour, my right shour tends to tense up a bit.  anybody know what i am doing wrong?  and is there any way to fix this?  thanks!

[Glissando]

You're probably scrunching up your shoulders while you're playing- I do that sometimes.
Keep your arms further from your body and remember to stay relaxed- you could even put a sticky note on your music that just says RELAX to remind you. You might also try stretching out before you practice, and maybe even halfway through.
You play better when you're relaxed that when you're tense.
Hope this helps!

[Brian Healey]

Try stretching out a little before you start playing. You read my mind, Glissando. Every day, before the first time you play, do these:

1. Stretch your arms straight over your head and grab one hand with the other. Keep your body straight, and bend with your torso to the left and to the right. You should feel the stretch in your triceps and under your shoulders (in the armpit area). Do that until those muscles feel warm and loose.

2. Put your arms at your side and slowly pull your shoulders up toward your ears as far as you can. Sort of like a shrugging motion. Do that until the muscles feel warm.

3. Do the same as #2, but when you get your shoulders as high as they go, roll them backward in a semi-circular motion back to your starting/resting place. Again, repeat until you feel warmed up.

This shouldn't take more than a minute or two to do, and remember to breathe regularly while doing these stretches. You may also find that if you take regular breaks while practicing, it will help. I never practice for more than 20-30 minutes without getting up and walking around, going to the bathroom, getting something to drink, etc. for a few minutes.

[xvimbi]

Try stretching out a little before you start playing. You read my mind, Glissando. Every day, before the first time you play, do these:

1. Stretch your arms straight over your head and grab one hand with the other. Keep your body straight, and bend with your torso to the left and to the right. You should feel the stretch in your triceps and under your shoulders (in the armpit area). Do that until those muscles feel warm and loose.

2. Put your arms at your side and slowly pull your shoulders up toward your ears as far as you can. Sort of like a shrugging motion. Do that until the muscles feel warm.

3. Do the same as #2, but when you get your shoulders as high as they go, roll them backward in a semi-circular motion back to your starting/resting place. Again, repeat until you feel warmed up.

This shouldn't take more than a minute or two to do, and remember to breathe regularly while doing these stretches. You may also find that if you take regular breaks while practicing, it will help. I never practice for more than 20-30 minutes without getting up and walking around, going to the bathroom, getting something to drink, etc. for a few minutes.

Everybody has to try and find out what works for him/her.

I personally recommend AGAINST stretching, particularly BEFORE a practice session. Stretching does not warm up muscles. Stretching requires muscles to be warmed up already. Stretching does not loosen muscles - it makes them tense. Instead, warm up your muscles by first lightly doing the activity that you will be doing more intensely later. Then you may stretch. Watch how athletes get going. They do it the same way.

If you get tense muscles, there is something wrong, namely the technique (barring an injury-type event). It does not have to be your piano-playing technique. If it's only your right shoulder, is it possible that you use you right arm throughout your day more often than your left arm? Do you work behind a computer all day long? All activities throughout the day require the correct technique, from opening doors to pushing buttons. Any of that could be the cause of your problems. Piano-playing may aggravate them or bring them out.

So, instead of stretching, I'd recommend pretty much the opposite, namely relaxation. Take a few minutes to relax completely (this takes months to learn...) to remove tension as much as possible. Then learn to avoid tension in the first place (this takes years...).

Start with paying more attention to find out if something gets tense. This alone will help you getting rid of a lot of tension throughout the day. Then learn to relax and, most importantly, to change the movements that have caused the tension in the first place.

Concerning your shoulder problems, keep in mind that when your shoulder muscles are tense, it means you are doing something wrong with your arms, not so much with your shoulders. If you'd be doing something wrong with your shoulders, then the muscles that control shoulder movements would get tense. Those are in the back.

 

[Brian Healey]

Playing the piano is a physical exercise. Granted, it's low impact, but physical nonetheless. If you're an athlete, a runner for instance, you always stretch BEFORE you exert yourself. For athletes, not stretching leads to quicker fatigue and a higher rate of injury. I think the same is true of piano playing. That's also why I always talk about breathing as well when it comes to piano playing. I guess I should have mentioned, though, that I do my stretching after I've walked to school in the morning, so my body is already a little warmed up. It may help to do something like that before stretching to loosen up your muscles a little.

You're right, though, everybody has to do what works for them, and sometimes it takes some trial and error to figure out what works. I'm a huge advocate of relaxtion as well, and I don't think stretching is the opposite of relaxation at all. In fact, I use my "pre-game" stretching as relaxation in itself. I find it calming. If you're tense while stretching, then you're doing wrong.

[xvimbi]

Playing the piano is a physical exercise. Granted, it's low impact, but physical nonetheless. If you're an athlete, a runner for instance, you always stretch BEFORE you exert yourself.

Yes, BEFORE exertion, but AFTER thoroughly warming up. This is the important aspect, which you then mention a couple of times further down in your post.

You're right, though, everybody has to do what works for them, and sometimes it takes some trial and error to figure out what works. I'm a huge advocate of relaxtion as well, and I don't think stretching is the opposite of relaxation at all. In fact, I use my "pre-game" stretching as relaxation in itself. I find it calming. If you're tense while stretching, then you're doing wrong.

I meant "relaxation" as in "doing nothing", as opposed to "doing something", e.g. stretching.

I think stretching can help to "untense" muscles, but I prefer a hot shower (athletes usually sit in a relaxation bath after working out), or a glass of wine

However, stretching can also aggravate tension. I personally have to be very careful with it. If I would wake up in the morning and stretch like a cat does, I'd end up with pulled muscles left and right.

I found being conscious about what causes tension and avoiding those habits is the way to go for me.

[shasta]

i've noticed lately that when i sit on the piano for about an hour, my right shour tends to tense up a bit.  anybody know what i am doing wrong?  and is there any way to fix this?  thanks!

In addition to relaxing your back, body, shoulders, neck... etc which has already been suggested to you, your source of shoulder tension may be postural, particularly since you mention it only occurs in ONE shoulder.  Some tips to investigate:

1.  When you play, make sure your shoulders and body are aligned with the piano and that you are not sitting slightly skewed with respect to the keys. 

2.  When you are sitting there, relax your back and drop your shoulders --- feel all your vertebrae relax and stack up upon each other.  Make sure you are not sitting too concave or convex, or collapsing your shoulders/back to the left or right.

3.  When you are playing and not using the pedal, make sure your knees are level and both your feet are flat on the floor and not crossed casually at the ankles or tucked under the bench or casually splayed around.  This will all affect your overall posture.

4.  Try adjusting the height of your bench.  Particularly if you are doing a lot of sight-reading and looking up and down from the music to the keys, adjustments may make a difference and reduce neck/shoulder tension.

5.  Also, check the overall placement of your piano bench to make sure it's level with respect to the floor and straight with respect to the keys.

Good luck!