Elbow Position

[pleasantemu]

Hello,

I've heard a lot of varying opinions on elbow position when playing. Some seem to think they should always from a 90 degree angle at key level, while others seem to like being higher than the keys with straight elbows (see Brahms, Daniel Barenboim, and a few others).

I personally love the straighter elbow position above the keys, as it allows me to use my full bodyweight to better control sound.

Here are some pictures:

https://secure.i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01128/opinion-graphics-2_1128836a.jpg
https://www.davespianoshowroom.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Daniel-Barenboim-Piano.jpg
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1a/Willy_von_Beckerath_-_Brahms_am_Fl%C3%BCgel.jpg
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/dd/3f/4d/dd3f4d5716f2b2ee9908124664f95b7c.jpg
https://andantemoderato.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Krystian-Zimerman-performs-Chopin-Four-Ballades.jpg

What do you guys think? Is one position more likely to cause injury?

[j_tour]

Well I don't know about forearm injury, but I keep my elbows about parallel to the keyboard.

Yeah, if you're improvising or maybe in some isolated bits of legit rep you can just do whatever you need to, but I don't think I could even run some scales without a parallel elbow and leading with the forearm.

You could try an angle of about between three-halves pi and zero/two-pi if you want.  I guess Glenn Gould did that.