10 years ago by
A Pianist
Hi Alan,
You have described the thumb in piano playing as something like an "outrigger strut" in relation to the hand. This image perhaps captures a general relationship but unfortunately it doesn't seems to tell us anything about how the thumb approaches the keys when it needs to play a specific note. "Thumb push-ups" highlight the importance for the arch of the muscle between the thumb and forefinger, but again, they don't address the question of how to bring the thumb into the keys.
I have been experimenting with playing the keys with the thumb turned slightly face downwards, as if I were trying to place the pad of the thumb flat on the key. (This approach is in contrast to my usual method of playing with the side of my thumb, partly on the nail, and partly on the side of the pad, with the pad itself at a 90 degree angle from the key.) The exact position is perhaps not so important as what I'm trying to accomplish with it, which is to contact each key in a sensitive, live way, actually feeling the contact with the thumb much the way a sensitive finger pad would feel it, rather than just knocking down the key in a mechanical fashion.
I remember seeing Jeanne Stark-Iochmanns, my first piano teacher as an adult, using her thumbs in this sensitive way, but I never actually tried it before. For her, it was such a long-standing habit that the area at the front corner of the her thumb pad, where the contact is made, was worn smooth from constant use. Watching her perform, one gets the impression that she is always attending with an extreme sensitivity to the interface of touch and sound, and that this way of touching with the thumb is a key part of her expressive ability. Wish I could point to a YouTube clip or at least an MP3 of her playing, but there are none. Instead here's a clip that shows Angela Hewitt playing Bach and using her thumb this way sometimes, (she has very muscular thumbs) It becomes visible starting at about 1:10 and later.
Also, here's a clip of Horowitz doing it too, playing Schumann (it starts to become visible at about 3:10)
By contrast, here is a clip of Boris Giltburg playing Bach. He clearly plays with the side of his thumb. Still, he plays quite nicely I think.
What I notice is that when I position my thumbs in the way I've described, it almost automatically opens up the arch in comparison to playing on the side of my thumbs. It also brings a clearer tone to whatever note the thumb plays. Of course, much of the time I don't really succeed in getting much of the flat of the pad on the key, but even the attempt to do so seems to help open the arch.
Your thoughts?
--Rush
