Right Wrist Burns

[pianolotus]

Ive recently started practicing Hanon. I am only up to the second exercise.

I notice that after a few minutes, no matter what speed, my right wrist usually begins to burn. The burning is onset by when my right middle, ring, and pinky finger pressed the keys. I do not experience this burning in my left wrist which is attached to my weaker hand.  While playing Hanon or scales i try to let my wrist 'float' up and down gently to see if that takes the burning away, but it does not do much.

Thanks

[xvimbi]

Search for Hanon on this forum, and you will find that most people do not recommend these types of exercises, because they frequently lead to injuries. In essence, stop doing them. If at all, only do them under supervision by a qualified teacher.

Concerning your problems, you need to describe in more detail what is going on. For eample, where is the burning sensation located exactly?

[pianolotus]

 It feels like the inside of my wrist is on fire. Between the round bone that sticks out of ur forearm and the end of ur palm, more specifically - but concentrated at the joint. Moving my wrist in a circular motion helps to subside the  sensation.

If Hanon will lead to injury, what method will i use to make my left and right hand of equal or similar strength.  Are scales ok? I believe Chang does look down upon scales as much as Hanon - correct?

The songs I practice are also much easier on the left hand than the right, so that method will not be too successful.

Thanks

[jlh]

Try some Bach 2 and 3 part inventions or the Well-Tempered Clavier -- the left hand and the right hand are pretty equally represented in those.  Also, some of the Chopin etudes were specifically designed for developing the left hand.

[xvimbi]

It feels like the inside of my wrist is on fire. Between the round bone that sticks out of ur forearm and the end of ur palm, more specifically - but concentrated at the joint. Moving my wrist in a circular motion helps to subside the  sensation.

OK. This sounds to me like the consequences of ulnar deviation. Could it be that your hand is often angled to the right, particularly when you need to play with the thumb? There a myth-like old adage that says that the fingers must be aligned with the forearm to give them the most power. As a consequence, when playing with the thumb, many people angle their wrist such that the thumb is aligned with the forearm. This is not only awkward, but it leads to tendonitis in the thumb.

Another contributing factor is stretching. If you need to reach large intervals and you don't relax between playing one note and another by smoothly opening and then closing your hand, tension will build up. Example: you are sitting with the thumb on a note and need to play another one one octave higher. Reaching with the pinky an octave higher is not a trivial motion. First, most of the time, you will observe ulnar deviation, but also, the entire hand will be tensed up, and there will be a lot of stress across the palm concentrating at the base of the thumb. The trick is to release the thumb just at the right moment, before the stretch becomes too large.

Let me know if you have the feeling that any of this applies to your situation.

If Hanon will lead to injury, what method will i use to make my left and right hand of equal or similar strength.  Are scales ok? I believe Chang does look down upon scales as much as Hanon - correct?

Hanon does not lead to injury; Hanon done wrong leads to injury. In principle, there is nothing wrong with doing these exercises, as long as they are done correctly. Most beginners don't have the  required technique yet to do them right. It's catch 22, because Hanon is supposed to build technique, yet one must have good technique already to do Hanon.

The songs I practice are also much easier on the left hand than the right, so that method will not be too successful.

There are many threads along those lines. Check out one of the most recent ones:

https://pianoforum.net/smf/index.php/topic,5794.0.html

I personally recommend anything by J.S. Bach. His exercise pieces are designed to build up coordination in the fingers of both hands. The recommendations by jlh are good, but if those works are too difficult for the moment, try the easier ones, particularly the Notebook for Anna Magdalena or the Klavierbuechlein fuer Friedrich Wilhelm Bach. Also, try Scarlatti. Not only will this build and improve your technique, but you will learn a lot about music and will add pieces to your repertoire. What's better than doing exercises that are musical and can actually be performed.

[Hmoll]

  If Hanon will lead to injury, what method will i use to make my left and right hand of equal or similar strength.  Are scales ok? I believe Chang does look down upon scales as much as Hanon - correct?

 

I don't think that Chang looks down on scales. Also, with all due respect to that fellow poster, Chang is not the last word on technique and how to acquire it.
You seem like you have little experience, so if you don't know your scales, you should learn them.

If you are practicing Hanon, and your hands are burning, then you're practicing it the wrong way. The best thing to do is to stop practicing it, until you are under the guidance of a good teacher.

[pianolotus]

xvimbi

I do not believe it is an ulnar deviation. My right hand is rarely angled to the right when I was doing Hanon - the burning begins when I press down with my right ring finger. Please note that my fingers are weak, and to press the keys on my piano is somewhat difficult, of all the pianos I have played on, mine is the hardest to depress the keys. It is rather new, less than 5 year old, babygrand.

When I play songs, I do not experience any pain or burning.

Ive read that the wrist should be limber and not stiff, but when I watch videos of say Cziffra, I do not see his wrist moving up and down much. So, to what extent should the wrist be moving up and down when one is playing a scale for example.

[xvimbi]

xvimbi

I do not believe it is an ulnar deviation. My right hand is rarely angled to the right when I was doing Hanon - the burning begins when I press down with my right ring finger. Please note that my fingers are weak, and to press the keys on my piano is somewhat difficult, of all the pianos I have played on, mine is the hardest to depress the keys. It is rather new, less than 5 year old, babygrand.

When I play songs, I do not experience any pain or burning.

Sorry, I have no idea. If you do a google search with "wrist burning sensation" you'll find lots of hits. Hopefully, there is something that will help you.

Ive read that the wrist should be limber and not stiff, but when I watch videos of say Cziffra, I do not see his wrist moving up and down much.

First, do not assume that Ciffra, Fleischer, etc. don't have problems. In fact, most of them have problems.

Second, accomplished pianists distribute motions over all joints from the torso to the fingertips. As a result, the motion around each individual joint will be very small, almost unnoticeable to the untrained eye. Sometimes, you see pianists with a lot of wrist motions or shoulder motions, etc., but even if you don't see such pronounced motions, do not assume that they are not there.

[Daniel_piano]

OK. This sounds to me like the consequences of ulnar deviation.

Xvimbi could you please elaborate on the topic of ulnar deviation
I didn't understand the chapter about it in Mark book
In fact, from what I understood reading Mark book about ulnar deviation it seemes like the opposite of what you said
So I didn't understand it at all

Thanks
Daniel

[xvimbi]

Xvimbi could you please elaborate on the topic of ulnar deviation
I didn't understand the chapter about it in Mark book
In fact, from what I understood reading Mark book about ulnar deviation it seemes like the opposite of what you said
So I didn't understand it at all

Thanks
Daniel

Ulnar deviation is when you move your hands sideways towards the little finger, resulting in the thumb being in line with the forearm. In "pianistic" terms, this is called "thumb-orientation", and it is "bad".

[resourcefulhedgehog]

I know i'm 20 years late, but did you ever fix this problem?
Experiencing a similar thing myself.
Thanks

[martinn]

One should really stop and consider what is going on if there is the faintest sign of pain. Hanon should not be painful at all. I use some hanon for a brief warmup, never extended practice. And a good way to find out what is happening is to play slowly. Seriously slowly. And only start doing a bit faster if there is nothing uncomfortable. Pain is a sign to stop immediately and not to do that again. Only a few bars and slowly is a start.

[geopianoincanada]

Bach's "Prelude in C major" was absolutely murder on my right arm about 2 years ago. My right arm has to undergo physiotherapy now so I'm taking a break from piano. It's a very difficult thing to do because not playing piano in the mornings leaves such an empty hole.