Anatomy

Hi Alan! Lately I read a short but very wellwritten book about pianoplaying by Knut Wiggen a norveigian/swedish (electronic) composer. It's a modern approach with regards to factual anatomy and scientific thinking. He emphazises the role of the first joint (the joint with the nail) and states that this joint is connected with very strong muscels in the forearm.So according to him the highest level of power is gained with a fairly straight finger and "grasping" with this joint. Another nice thing in the book is the differenciation between "streching" and "lifting" the finger the latter being quite stressing for the hand.I beleive Horowitz so called flat finger technique is a lot of streching. (By the way the postures of Horowitz in the London recital (he sits in an for him unusual way) is pretty much the approach of Kemal Gekic?) I found that especially in sensitive (slow) passages the use of the first joint gives great tonal controll. Any comments? Eric

Could you give more information on the book, i.e. title, publisher etc.? Thanks, ocd

Hi ocd! Here is the title etc I'm afraid it was a very narrow publishing long time ago in scandinavia. Alans concept is much much more developped and I just wanted to check if using more of the joints might be harmful. Wiggen, Knut (1966). Att spela piano / Knut Wiggen ; översättning från det norska manuskriptet av Ove Nordwall. - Stockholm : Natur & kultur. -129, s. – (Natur och kulturs pocketserie) Eric

Hello Eric, I saw a CD in a music store in Heidelberg where you were one of the pianists. Congratulations! As for this book. The deep flexors indeed flex the distal phalange (first phalange) and this phalange give the most precise control over the key. However, overuse of this part can quickly lead to tendonitis. I found this out by carrying a computer box whose handle was so constructed that I couldn't grasp it with my whole hand but only hook under it with my distal phalanges. In just a few minutes my forearm was aching and I had a real illustration of what happens to people when they get tendonitis. Bach himself said that is the technique he used. Yet many get tendonitis. My feeling is that when that phalange is used in isolation it can lead to problems. Most likely, Bach's lumbricals and interosseous were not totally inactive. Their role was so much supportive, and so little primary, that he his distal phalange as doing the whole job. But if that had actually been the case, I think there would have been problems. Make sense? AFF

Thankyou Alan! It does make sense I've had some bad carrying experiences to:-) I guess these ideas came from Wiggens teacher Prof Boon (Hans Leygraf was his pupil) known for his ideosyncrasies. Still one piece in the big puzzle. Eric

That's it - a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, but each piece of knowledge is a valuable part of the whole - once put into context. Thanks again, AFF