A Rapid Fix For Buckling Joints

I've just written a post that details why joints collapse and a simple practical approach to curing that. However, it also leads on to some issues about freeing the hand of wasted efforts- in a way that is especially relevant to smaller hands. There's an argument at the end as to why small hands absolutely need the extension action, that I think would be very hard to make a counter argument against. Any thoughts would be welcomed.

Hi I find this article very useful. I've used "lengthening" more or less unconsciously but this article (and that of Beauchamp) has driven me for a while to analyze more exactly how and where to.As an example a passage in Grieg A-minor (3mvt second solo) which is very hard to get cristal clear at speed now has become just that. Now what muscles/tendons are involved in this ? Do you think it's possible to develop some strength? I mean doing it very fast takes some strength.At least it seemes so.One way is to play with the knuckle (pushing it down) and use the sceletality but "shooting out" the joint is faster.Hard to explain what I mean in english.

Hi I find this article very useful. I've used "lengthening" more or less unconsciously but this article (and that of Beauchamp) has driven me for a while to analyze more exactly how and where to.As an example a passage in Grieg A-minor (3mvt second solo) which is very hard to get cristal clear at speed now has become just that. Now what muscles/tendons are involved in this ? Do you think it's possible to develop some strength? I mean doing it very fast takes some strength.At least it seemes so.One way is to play with the knuckle (pushing it down) and use the sceletality but "shooting out" the joint is faster.Hard to explain what I mean in english. In a way I don't really care which muscles are involved (but more about the basic result) but in another sense I'm quite intrigued. For me, the thing I showed at the end (where adjacent fingers are forced to close in if you only grasp, but where they open if you combine the grasp and the lengthening action) may be the single most important issue in high velocity playing. I simply cannot see any possible argument for the superiority of a standard action that does not involve some trace of lengthening- given the sheer conflict it causes when this absent. I emailed the woman who wrote about carrezando to ask what she thinks, but I haven't had any reply. quite frankly, I cannot envision any argument that could counteract the significance of that issue or support the carrezando idea as anything but an indirect trigger for its direct opposite action. I remember how much my fingertips used to ache when I tried to grip inwards there! I've come back to the Waldstein in the last few days and the former sense of struggle in many passages has vanished. in those where there is difficulty, I'm usually noticing my fingers are not getting the mildly forward line right. I think it would be interesting to know the mechanism behind why the added opening action of the finger joints stops the conflict, as there seems to be an inherent problem with anything that doesn't involve it to some degree- other than in slower passages where the hand does not need to perform a significant stretch. whatever the anatomical issue, I'm certain that it literally defines the limits of what can produce real speed and what is doomed to fail. I'm recently finding that the lengthening of fingers is the common link in tying together many elements into a coherent whole. I mentioned in another post how effective use of big arm throws depends on a retraction before reaching the keys- to let the finger shoot out into length, rather than crumple. also in rotation, I've found that prepping the finger against the key resistance ensures that fingers are always lengthening rather than getting squashed by rotation. it seems to me that the common link behind the success of either finger or arm based methods is basically whether the fingers are expanding in length or being shortened. anyway, what I've found means I can involve ups or downs of the arm equally happily without causing hand collapse- which has almost eradicated my old problem of the high bunched up wrist. when I use my arm to provide extra power, it definitely helps the hand to perform it's useful "positive" movements now- rather than serve to collapse it. I see how the lengthening is strongly implied by many of Alan exercises (perhaps most notably the bicycle spokes) but I didn't personally find the feel for it until I made it a conscious goal to add lengthening to the basic grasp. Having an awareness of the style of action has transformed how likely I am to perform it on instinct now, when simply exploring. previously the purer style of grasp was too deeply imprinted, however, for my instincts to feel the alternative. This single piece of conscious awareness changes everything about the experience. I'm not sure about the strength issue- but I would say that the better the finger is prepped against the key, the more result you get for the least effort. I'm using a lot of exercises that involve banging the surface of keys without moving them and trying to stand up on keys without moving them. very little strength seems to be needed when you start in the right state.

by the way, one indirect thing that helps is to literally try to perceive whether the fingers create space between themselves and their neighbours, while moving the key. Sometimes, I pick out the holes even better by looking for this associated issues rather than by looking directly at the lengthening. this revealed many of those tiny collapses that spoil the poise and alignment - especially with the fifth fingers. When I get it wrong, they're usually closing in rather than expanding slightly out. I should stress though- I don't wish to argue against some great advice that Alan gave about all the fingers closing in together during melodic passages. I like this opposite a lot for that melodic context. However, I think high velocity finger work passages always require subtle opening as the keys go down, rather than closing.

Interosseous for the extension of the proximal and distal joints and the lumbricals to flex the fingers at the MCP (hand bridge) joints. This is the only way of moving the finger that gives real independence because there are no opposing muscle groups involved. (the last couple of paragraphs on that page give the correct explanation) Strictly speaking, you don't need strength to make this movement if your fingers are well-prepped against the key, resting with just enough weight of the hand/arm to keep the fingers down but not press the key yet). At speed, there is probably a slight arm weight pressure involved to keep the wheels on the road. Also, at speed, grouping becomes more important (one arm movement "creates" 3-4 finger movements). I have noticed that training this movement with the help of a clothespin (heavier than a key) works wonders. I have also noticed that the THUMB may interfere at speed in finger passages. My default principle for the thumb in finger technique is now that it should NEVER touch the key when it is not playing. Instead, I simply let it dangle somewhere along the keyboard edge until it is time to play a note. If I have to play deep into the black keys, the thumb hangs just over the keys, but it doesn't touch them until it has to play its note. Believe it or not, but students who used to suffer from wrist pain on the pinky side report that the pain goes away by doing this and that they feel that the pinky finally starts using its own power. Paul

Interosseous for the extension of the proximal and distal joints and the lumbricals to flex the fingers at the MCP (hand bridge) joints. This is the only way of moving the finger that gives real independence because there are no opposing muscle groups involved. (the last couple of paragraphs on that page give the correct explanation) Strictly speaking, you don't need strength to make this movement if your fingers are well-prepped against the key, resting with just enough weight of the hand/arm to keep the fingers down but not press the key yet). At speed, there is probably a sleight arm weight pressure involved to keep the wheels on the road. Also, at speed, grouping becomes more important (one arm movement "creates" 3-4 finger movements). I have noticed that training this movement with the help of a clothespin (heavier than a key) works wonders. I have also noticed that the THUMB may interfere at speed in finger passages. My default principle for the thumb in finger technique is now that it should NEVER touch the key when it is not playing. Instead, I simply let it dangle somewhere along the keyboard edge until it is time to play a note. If I have to play deep into the black keys, the thumb hangs just over the keys, but it doesn't touch them until it has to play its note. Believe it or not, but students who used to suffer from wrist pain on the pinky side report that the pain goes away by doing this and that they feel that the pinky finally starts using its own power. Paul I forget the details, but I think I saw some anatomical paper that suggests Beauchamp is either wrong on that point or arguably a little careless with this wording. I'd have to find the source, but it seems that the two actions make sense separately but that it wouldn't work as lumbricals plus Interosseous in tandem. The source was from that clown keyboard class on the other forum, but it looked credible. I agree almost entirely with your thumb idea, but just a few subtle differences here. I often like to actively point the thumb down very slightly. if I strive to dangle, my thumb is likely to come up. when it comes back and points down, it can have a huge effect on the poise of the 5th finger. also, it's possible to get the same effect on the keys, if it points down lightly against the key resistance. if freedom of the arm demands the thumb being dragged back, I have nothing against that at all and am regularly doing this. However, when this is just not possible, I can get equivalent effects as long as it's aiming slightly down. for me this downward lengthening is the key. someone once told me to stop pulling my thumb back. he was wrong about that - as the real problem was coming back AND lifting up into alan's inversion. trying to keep the thumb on a key really can help with that- as it can create a goal of pointing down, in order to stay on the key. however, best of all, if the thumb knows to point down then you can stay in the keys or come back as you please. I think the concept of dangling is something that becomes possible in the later stages of development. however, if the hand encounters even mild instability, a relaxed thumb tends to reach up in order to (try to) aid balance. if you ensure that it reaches down a touch instead, this harmful instinct can be avoided. In my next blog post on effortless balance virtually every exercise will be related to triggering this style of thumb activity, in order to get another finger stable. I've found quite a few different tricks, since Alan showed me an exercise of taking the thumb across and touching it to the playing finger. I think it takes a fair amount of training the thumb to actively perform useful activities through this style of exercise, before intent for the thumb to be passive stops allowing it to rise up. my suspicion is that a dangling thumb may be an illusion that hides a tiny but vital action of lengthening out downwards, but even if literal, I think there's an important stage of activity before getting there. I'm still under doing it much of the time.

What I said is not a dogma, of course. I just have to show a lot to students from a standing position and noticed that often, playing from a standing position (where the thumb does not touch the keys) makes passages a lot easier, that is: if the knuckle bridge of the hand is high up, of course. P.S.: Artur Rubinstein also uses the principle, perhaps unconsciously. It can be seen very well throughout his performance of Beethoven 4. Paul

What I said is not a dogma, of course. I just have to show a lot to students from a standing position and noticed that often, playing from a standing position (where the thumb does not touch the keys) makes passages a lot easier, that is: if the knuckle bridge of the hand is high up, of course. P.S.: Artur Rubinstein also uses the principle, perhaps unconsciously. It can be seen very well throughout his performance of Beethoven 4. Paul absolutely- I just add the thing about pointing the thumb slightly down as extra insurance. for some pianists, trying to keep the thumb on a particular key may be the thing that saves them from going into massive inversion (I especially like trill exercises where the thumb is always keeping a key depressed throughout). However, as long as they associate letting the thumb come back with lengthening a little downwards, they will also become free to bring the thumb away from the keys without destabilising the rest of the hand (and should end up actively helping it become more stable, when bringing it back). There was a time when drawing my thumb back necessarily tended to mean inverting the hand too- but this downward lengthening has almost eradicated that habit- and made the moments where the thumb comes back my securest moments, where they had often been my weakest. What I find hardest now is keeping the thumb pointing down enough when there's no chance to come back. it's very tricky not to raise the thumb in a harmful way in the campanella trills. I'm trying to use rotation - so the thumb does get higher in space as a run-up, but without any chance to go above the knuckle.

I enjoyed this post and got much knowledge and useful tricks from here. A rapid fix for buckling joints technique is new for me and I never noticed it before.

I think a word of caution is due here. what you are talking about is good, but only for a "normal" hand. If the person has "lax" ligaments, no amount of exercise will keep the knuckles from collapsing--either with or without resistance. It is a congenital problem--do a google/bing search for "Swan Neck deformity." Struggling against the way a person's hand/body is made may cause further injury. I speak from experience. I have laxity in my ligaments but never equated that with collapsing knuckles, especially in my case, the 5th finger. As a child, I used to walk or run and would fall because the ankles would collapse inward. Or as an adult, have my knee cap slide to the side because too much weight caused the ligaments to slip. I never knew why these things happened--just thought joints were weak and needed more exercise. Wrong! As a pianist, I noticed my pinky would collapse. I exacerbated the collapse by Hyper-extension to reach more than an octave (small hands). By extending, more than was prudent, I stressed the ligaments further than they could safely go. There is a ligament on each side of the finger that keeps the knuckles in line and holds the entire structure together. Exercise is good but only when the structure can withstand it. If the ligaments are over-taxed, or in some cases fingers extended without any stretch, there can be problems. The only cure for this is surgery, which I don't recommend, but in some cases it becomes necessary. So, please make sure you are not doing exercises that will cause lax ligaments to stretch even more.