Help with CC Chang's "Cartwheel Method"

[omnisis]

I apologize if this has been asked before but I am having a hard time visualizing this
paragraph from Chang's book:

The Cartwheel motion Method (Chopin's FI). In order to understand this motion, place your left palm flat on the piano keys, with the fingers spread out as far as you can like the spokes of a wheel. Note that the fingertips from pinky to thumb fall on an approximate semi-circle. Now place the pinky above C3 and parallel to it; you will have to rotate the hand so that the thumb is closer to you. Then move the hand towards the fallboard so that the pinky touches the fallboard; make sure that the hand is rigidly spread out at all times. If the 4th finger is too long and touches the fallboard first, rotate the hand sufficiently so that the pinky touches the fallboard, but keep the pinky as parallel to C3 as possible. Now rotate the hand like a wheel counter clockwise (as viewed from above) so that each successive finger touches the fallboard (without slipping) until you reach the thumb. This is the cartwheeling motion in the horizontal plane. If your normal reach is one octave with your fingers spread out, you will find that the cartwheeling motion will cover almost two octaves! You gain extra reach because this motion makes use of the fact that the center three fingers are longer than the pinky or thumb. Now repeat the same motion with the hand vertical (palm parallel to fallboard), so the fingers point downwards. Start with the pinky vertical and lower the hand to play C3. Now if you roll the hand up towards C4, (don't worry if it feels very awkward), each finger will "play" the note that it touches. When you reach the thumb, you will again find that you have covered a distance almost twice your normal reach. In this paragraph, we learned three things: (1) how to "cartwheel" the hand, (2) this motion expands your effective reach without making any jumps, and (3) the motion can be used to "play" the keys without moving the fingers relative to the hand.

I just can't seem to get the picture of what's going on....anyone good with illustratrations out there?
When I try (what I think) is this motion I get an uncomfortable feeling in the meaty part of my hand opposite my thumb and under the pinky (looking at the hand from above).


~omnisis

[kilini]

I made the same topic, but didn't get any replies. The cartwheel method is damned confusing.

[xvimbi]

I think CC explains it very well. However (!), this cartwheel motion is only for illustrative purposes. You should feel awkward, particularly when you do the cartwheel with the hand perpendicular to the keys. It doesn't matter, though, because you will never use this motion in the extreme form as explained in the text in real playing. It only demonstrates the concept that one can have a tremendous range (two octaves or more) without actually moving the forearm laterally. However, by all means, use that motion for "normal" arpeggios, spanning about an octave or so, and similar. You won't approach the extreme angles for the wrist.

[omnisis]

Hey, somebody responded!  For a while there I thought I was going to set a record for the
lowest reply/view ratio on the forum 

Thanks for the advice xvimbi, I think I see what I was doing wrong.


To give a little background on what I'm trying to do with the method, I am basically practicing
simple two octave major triad arpeggios and gradually bringing them up the speed.   I sort of took this methodology as a way to play fast arpeggios.  Before this I just did horizontal octave leaps.  The only difference (As far as I understand from reading Chang's book) is in the rotation of the wrist which is used to set the hand in it's new position without making a blind leap.  My handspan is such that I can easily play ninths so I don't need this method because of a physiological weakness.  I guess my mistake was forming the motion too literally with my hands causing rotational tension in the hand muscles.   I'll have to try to apply this method again in a less severe manner.

BTW, I am a rank beginner at piano playing so please don't flame me if I said something that sounds wrong.

~omnisis

[xvimbi]

I'll have to try to apply this method again in a less severe manner.

Yes, definitely. Remember, never put any joint at its extreme range of motion. You'll do fine if you can stay in the central 1/3 of the range around any joint. However, sometimes, one has to go to more extreme angles. Just don't do it all the time.

The rotational motion described by the cartwheel analogy is very important for playing in general. As you may have heard already, the fingers should ideally be aligned with the forearm when they play, because this is the most economic and least stressful position. So, one should constantly adjust the wrist/forearm such that they are all roughly in a nice straight line with the fingers.

BTW, I am a rank beginner at piano playing so please don't flame me if I said something that sounds wrong.

That's no excuse. You'll get flamed anyway.

Just kidding

[celticqt]

This cartwheel motion reminds me of a problem I had with some of the Chopin nocturnes.  My hands are pretty small - I can reach an octave comfortably, but that's about it - and some of the octave runs in the RH (fingering 1-3, 1-4, 1-5, etc.) really hurt my wrist.  I figured I was tensing up or something, and stopped playing them for a while. 

[CC]

Yes, the cartwheel is difficult to explain in words, so I will try to make a video of it, but I am not yet set up with my computer -- in the process of setting it up, so please be patient. Couple caveats:

(1) cartwheel does not work for long arps going over more than 2 octaves; it works best of repetitive shorts arps, such as the LH accompaniment of Chopin's Fantaisie Impromptu.
(2) nobody uses a pure cartwheel; it is always combined with other motions, so that the cartwheel motion is often difficult to see, unless you know what to look for.
(3) the key to successful cartwheel is a flexible wrist that can flex both right and left.
(4) it works best with flat finger positions.

[CC]

PS: the cartwheel is not my invention.  I first learned about it from Mlle Combe, our daughters' piano teacher.