Beethoven-type Chair

For me, another very good experience is using a "beethoven-type" chair, so that I can lean back. I do not slouch in it, of course, but still sit on my sitbones. But my hips are freer and the supported back helps my arms tremendously. I now wonder, why these chairs are so rarely to be seen.....

Ashamed to admit that i don't even know what it is!

..these are built like this and I'm inclined to think that using plain benches with no back-support is more or less just a "traditional" thing. Back-less benches sure have their own merits, but except for making big circles with your whole torso, there is not one disadvantage compared to benches. The added value of having your back supported is such a simple thing, I wonder why these aren't being used more. As I said earlier, this does use it to "slouch".

Leaning on a chair back is one way of supporting your back. But it decouples the back's natural ability to support itself. If you feel you need support from the chair back, there are probably still co-contractions somewhere within your system preventing your spine from soaring up as it is wont to - it can't "make peace with gravity" as Moshe Feldenkrais expressed it. In my own case, for years I struggeled with co-contractions in my hip joints that prevented me from sitting comfortably without the support of the chair back.

I am thinking wether these chairs have a good use or not. I think they provide a kind of passive support.Proffesor's advices of having a good functional playing apparatus,one that works by functional compoments and not by brutal force i assume is better. "Passive" relaxization is not good.Letting the spine,torso and back muscles relax by sitting on a chair like this i think steals the functional element of our muscles and playing apparatus. They no longer function to provide support for our movements but instead they become passive and are only supported by the back of that chair. And i think this in fact would make our virtuoso moves more difficult assuming that when some muscles are not activated when needed other muscles stiffen elsewhere to assist. Of course i could be wrong Best regards

In my second book (not yet finished) I write of some weird experiences where a Feldenkrais practitioner leaned down on my pelvis as I played, virtually immobilizing it and clamping it to the piano bench. This freed my playing in an unbelievable way - my fingers were energized and my sound as well. Later we speculated that his intervention may have decoupled co-contractions in and around my pelvis that had prevented my whole body from participating in my actions at the keyboard. Perhaps something like this is going on with you, sparetime, when you sit on that Beethoven bench. I do agree with what Niko is saying, but I like to think that not only is every person's experience valid, but that there is something valuable to be learned from it. Do you feel that the support offered by the bench may be offering this kind of input to your sensory NS, neutralizing some contractions that serve no useful purpose? AFF

In my second book (not yet finished) I write of some weird experiences where a Feldenkrais practitioner leaned down on my pelvis as I played, virtually immobilizing it and clamping it to the piano bench. This freed my playing in an unbelievable way - my fingers were energized and my sound as well. Later we speculated that his intervention may have decoupled co-contractions in and around my pelvis that had prevented my whole body from participating in my actions at the keyboard. wow... very illuminating to read your post! This "leaning in on the pelvis" was something I experienced too, from my previous Alexander-Teacher (he is doing a lot of work with pianists). The result as far as I remember was very positive, although the 'strangeness' of this feeling initially irritated my playing. Meanwhile, I found out that a 'loose stability' in and around my area seems to 'trigger' the solution for most other problems when playing. Can someone please invent a piano-bench, with a pelvis-clampdown-mechanism.. having a teacher around all the time is too expensive Seriously though, I think using a Beethoven-type bench seat (with back) is a good (necessary?) experience, but using it exclusively may eventually be a hindrance, because it invites over-relaxation...?

Seriously though, I think using a Beethoven-type bench seat (with back) is a good (necessary?) experience, but using it exclusively may eventually be a hindrance, because it invites over-relaxation...? Now we're getting down to brass tacks - I think you've hit the nail on the head. As for your previous request, maybe we could just take a seatbelt off a car and bolt it to the bench somehow... AFF

Have you ever seen those exercise balls people use for pilates or in gyms? I figured that could be a nice piano "bench".Actually, i tried it and it felt great.Pelvis is completely free to navigate in any direction! It feels and looks so organic.