Brainstorming (General Movements)

• Moving
• Changing position
• State of Muscles
• Floating:
• Finger pads (2s, 3s, 4s, 5s)/sides (1s) above the keys, not touching
• Can be caused by elbows too bent or shoulders raised too high
• Should be avoided as it causes fatigue in the shoulders
• Somewhat Floating and Somewhat Resting Down:
• Finger pads (2s, 3s, 4s, 5s)/sides (1s) contact with the keys
• 1s are short fingers - they can or may not be touching the keys all the time
• When keys are not played, muscles should be at this state.
• Somewhat Resting Down, but not completely Resting Down:
• Finger pads (2s, 3s, 4s, 5s)/sides (1s) at the points of sound or bottoms of the keys
• When keys are played, muscles should be at this state.
• Resting Down:
• Finger pads (2s, 3s, 4s, 5s)/sides (1s) at the bottoms of the keys
• Completely resting down makes the fingers lazy to move
• Should be avoided
• Pushing Down:
• Finger pads (2s, 3s, 4s, 5s)/sides (1s) at the bottoms of the keys
• Forcing the fingers down at the bottoms of the keys
• Once the sound is produced, forcing down the keys lower will not change the dynamics, and it is a wasteful of energy and it can cause fatigue, injury, or technical problems.
• Should be avoided
• Active Movement v. Passive Movement
• In order to play the modern piano, we have to combine gripping muscles and arm weight.
• However, beginning students often use too much gripping muscles and very little arm weight
• We must master applying less gripping muscles and more arm weight
• Active Movement of the finger pads (2s, 3s, 4s, 5s)/sides (1s)
• Moving fingers from the knuckle joints (2s, 3s, 4s, 5s) or from carpometacarpal joints (1s) in a small amount
• The goal is not really to depress the keys, but more not to collapse the nail joints when passive movement is applied from the wrist (less) or the elbow (more)
• Passive Movement of the finger pads (2s, 3s, 4s, 5s)/sides (1s)
• Finger pads (2s, 3s, 4s, 5s)/sides (1s) change position passively by following movements from the wrists or elbows.
• Wrists (Should be used less):
• Vertical Walking Hand
1. Flat fingers, hands, and forearm
2. Drop fingers + hands as one unit by stopping holding them up
3. Raise fingers + hands as one unit by holding them up
• Elbows (Should be used more than the wrists, but still in a small amount):
• Vertical Walking Arm
• Flat fingers, hands, and forearm
• Drop fingers + hands + forearm as one unit by stopping holding them up
• Raise fingers + hands + forearm as one unit by holding them up
• More on Forearm Movements next