Inactive hands prefer to be in fist position...

[felval]

Hey Everyone,

I've been noticing something with my hands lately. 

Now that I'm paying more attention to arm - hand relaxation and all that good stuff, I've noticed that many times throughout the day when I have my hand in "neutral" position, I'll have it clenched, to some degree.  I’m not really forming a fist but am not at the completely relaxed position that I think should be normal for times when the hand is not being used.  I think my hand prefers to have my fingers rolled and tucked into my palm.  Am I making sense?

Is this normal or does this mean I'm carrying too much tension?  Is it something else?  I hope this isn’t affecting my piano playing.

Regards,

F

[xvimbi]

This appears to be quite common, and I have heard that it is usually brushed aside. However, I have read somewhere a cogent explanation why this is not a good thing and is potentially alarming. But I can't, for the life of it, find that reference. I'll report back as soon as I have found it. In the meantime: any change from the natural disposition of body parts should be considered abnormal and potentially threatening.

[will]

I have read that: The 'neutral' position of your hand can change depending on the balance between flexor and extensor muscles. Piano playing generally requires only an easy lifting of the fingers, whereas the down action of the fingers to sound notes is much more vigorous. Because of this the flexors may become much stronger than the extensors and your hand will assume a somewhat clenched position, compared to that of your pre-piano playing days.
     I also have some notes written down about this somewhere that I'll try and locate and see if I can give you any more info.

[felval]

Thanks for the comments.  I look forward to any more info you may come across.  I'm just trying to research this so I can understand what's happening.

[Brian Healey]

This is what I call a transference of tension.  It may or may not be directly related to piano playing (not knowing anything about you or your other activities), but I'd be willing to bet that there's at least a connection.

Have you ever noticed how bodybuilders' arms are permanently curled? Or how about this: have you ever had a friend hold your arms firmly while you tried to push them up, and then when he let go, your arms sort of "flew up" by themselves (when I was a kid, this was cool little trick we did sometimes).  This is the result of muscles and ligaments getting used to a certain motion or exertion without compensation. Personal trainers will tell you that for every muscle group you work, you should work the opposite muscle group equally. For instance, if you work your abs, you should also work your back to equal things out.

With the piano, it's a little different, since there's not a lot you can do to work opposite muscle groups, but stretching definitely helps. If you want, I could describe some stretches that I think would help "loosen up" those arms and hands.

Lastly, try this: clench your hand as tight as you can, then stretch it out as far as you can. Then let your hands relax completely. The shape of your hand after you relax it is your natural hand shape, and this is the shape that will allow you optimum relaxation while playing.


Peace,
Bri

[xvimbi]

OK, I found it, and of course, it was in my favorite book ("What every pianist needs to know about the body" by Thomas Mark). Will already alluded to the problem, but it's not because the flexors are stronger than the extensors. Even if the flexors are stronger than the extensors, excessive finger curl will not occur, unless the flexors are actually contracted. Curled fingers come from the fact that your flexors are constantly contracted. When you now lift a finger, you have to overcome the flexor tension first. This is the classical case of co-contraction, and that it potentially injurious.

Finally, chronically curled fingers encourage a shortening and tightening of the wrist. The wrist will look like a hinge, rather than a long, flexible structure.

This is not to say that playing with curled fingers (which is the cause of Valeb's problem) is not permissible, but one has to get back into the neutral position as soon as possible, i.e. the fingers need to be released when they are not playing.

[will]

Not a whole lot more to add. The book that I read that has some talk about this is 'The technique of piano playing' by József Gát.
At the end of the book there are around 50 'gymnastic' exercises for the hand. I believe some of these include exercises that the author recommends to balance things out so your hands neutral position is in a more suitable shape for piano playing.
I still haven't found all the notes...I may have something written down more specifically about these 'gymnastic' exercises. In any event, I'll make a better effort to find the notes because I want to refresh my memory of the book.