What is wrong with me Hands ???

[DepravedPianist]

I've been getting alot of guff as of late about the way my hands are working the keyboard. Here is what my mentors comments usually sound like. "Stop dropping your nuckles, stop raising your wrists, RELAX, RELAX, RELAX!!!" lol. I try so hard, honestly, but when I play as he shows me I feel so stiff, and it's as if my hands don't want to do that. I do have long fings, but I thought that this was to my advantage. Please if you want to reply with "maybe you should just consider it your personal style," then don't. I really need any good suggestions that you may have. The piano is everything to me.

Obssesed Forever
Stephen

[Colette]

being stiff and tense when you play is never considered a pianistic virtue and certainly not a style, and long fingers are, uh, attractive, but won't serve you well unless you know how to have them serve you. your problem was my problem for years, except my former teachers never bothered to help me realize that i was doing something wrong when i clenched my hands, tensed my shoulders etc. etc. it is somehing that can, unfortunately, lead to physical problems with your wrists and hands and if not correted, will limit your range of sonority, technique and musicianship. so, i would advise you to take your teachers comments very seriously. now, I still have to think about staying relaxed; and there is the key, consciously reminding yourself not to be tense. if you play a passage through regardless of speed or dynamics and you notice yourself getting tense, immediately stop and try to figure out why this is happeneing. is it the fingering? is it awkward for you? is it the tempo? the phrasing? once you pinpoint the area of trouble you can insolate it and try different ways of working though it---exaggerated loose arm/elbow/wrist movements in a slow speed work wonders for sonority. this way, an ff starts  to have a more cushioned sound, not a mallet on a xylophone, and a pp has quiet depth without sounding like you're simply "tickling" the keyboard.

[rachfan]

Hi DP,

I'm one of the believers in a "quiet hand".  That is,  the quieter the hands (i.e., no unnecessary and uneconomical movements at the keyboard), the more efficient and effective one is in accomplishing the technical and musical goals set out by the composer.  But before you conjure the image of rigor mortis, let me explain further.  

First, to achieve quiet hand motions, the entire playing mechanism must be relaxed.  As Colette aptly points out above, tenseness and stiffness kill any pianistic endeavor. Relaxation must be present in the torso, shoulder, upper arm, forearm, and wrist (the fingers have to be somewhat taught to articulate properly).  The wrist has to be free floating, supple, adaptable and fluid in its motions.  When some part of the mechanism becomes tense, the wrists and fingers will then desperately try to do double work to compensate, but the result will be substandard every time.

Some examples to illustrate: If you're called upon to play fff, that starts with the torso.  You'll bend forward toward the keyboard.  If you are playing sonorous chords, that will be chiefly governed by the upper arm, which will influence the forearm in applying controlled arm weight in the situation.  If you are doing a rotary motion for a tremelo or doing stacatto octaves, etc., the wrist will be predominant.  In playing legato and light staccato, the fingers will be essential contributors.  Yet in portato, the forearms and wrists will come more into play again.  But none of this can be accomplished if, for instance, you're shoulders are tensing causing stiffness and pain there, thereby hobbling the rest of the playing mechanism.

When I said "quiet wrists", generally speaking they'll be level with your elbows and will not be engaged in bumpy or jerky motions.  Having said that, there are some important exceptions.  If the two hands are playing in extremely close quarters like overlapping, one of the wrists (the hand that is impinging on the other hand) will be raised a little to accommodate.   Or, when playing the black keys, the hand will be thrusted forward slightly to be able reach those notes better.  Or when playing with arm weight in striking a sustained chord, the wrists will sink in the keys very slightly as "follow through" that is not different in principle from following through with the raquet after hitting a tennis ball.   Or one hand might have to cross over the other.  All of this is choreographing the hands, much like dance steps, to make sure execution is as smooth and seamless as possible.

Have you ever watched conductors?  Most often the best conductors are not those given to large, frenetic, and dramatic motions.  Rather, the real pros are those who can muster the forces of the orchestra with very economical motions.  For example, while Leonard Bernstein would be jumping off the podium into the air, Antal Dorati would barely move a muscle, and yet would draw an incredible effect from the entire ensemble!  It's the same with pianists and how they employ their wrists along with the rest of the playing mechanism.  

Incidentally, on fingers, long fingers (I have them too) are a decided asset in playing certain composers like Rachmaninoff who also had large hands like us.  I never found large hands to be at all helpful in Mozart however.  When I was a student, there were others with tiny hands who could always play rings around me in that regard.
As years pass, and once you have paid your dues in proving yourself as a "well-rounded pianist", you might then tend to specialize in the music of composers whose music you not only admire and most enjoy, but whose styles of writing best falls under your hands too.

I hope this helps.

[OlderGuy]

my teacher is always on my case to relax fingers, the wrist, the thumb.  She said a thing that was quite striking to me: you have to pay more attention to fingers that don't play than fingers that play.
To learn to relax those fngers is essential.
She tells me o play the piece I am leaning very light staccato, just touching the keys (marcato?) That relaxes fingers.  The other trick: After you reach to a note with number 1 or number 5 don't let your fingers to stay spread apart; collect them together right away.  The spread out fingers are tense. -Peter

[DepravedPianist]

Well I just wanted to give everyone an update. I've successfully unlearned that bad technique. I grabbed some old rollerblading wrist pads that hold your wrist down, and spent all night playing like that; and voila. I was cured. My hands feel so much free/er now. But I have to keep an eye still to not allow myself to slip back into old routines. I believe the best thing to improve bad technique, is to use other bad technique.LOL, in my case anyways. I've been playing at a chair thats a little lower than most (like gould) which affords me better technique in music based on the principals of counterpoint; ie bach, but does make it exceedingly difficult to pull off two hand octave runs at fortissimo. But hey who needs to show off anywho. I aint (lol aint!) anton rubenstein. Well good night, and farewell.

All for the love of that damn slave driver, the piano!

The DepravedPianist