Double Thirds

Hi ALAN- after watching the videos of you teaching on the website i was trying to implie some of the things and I have two questions- whenever Im trying to play double thirds-what is the phisical difference playing with a high wrist and a low wrist? I have the feeling that when Im playing with a high wrist the sound automatically is p than with a low wrist.why is that? -on the same topic-when playing the double thirds for a long time there need to be some movement in the arm right? to aid the muscles not over contracting right? thank you so much

@Eti, this is something I would like to cover in Q&A. Are you member of PianoTechnique.org?

YES I AM....where will the answer be written and when? am i suppose to write something on the website?

Great! Yeah, use this form to submit it. It guarantees that the question will be answered since the questions submitted via the site get higher priority. All the member questions are covered here: As for when, it might take a few weeks since Alan is super busy but it will be covered 100%, I can promise you that! Thanks! Jovan

Playing double thirds with a high wrist is easier because you can just dangle the fingers lightly. Playing with a lower wrist increases elasticity and potential power. But you should get the light movement going first. The elasticity is more tricky. It is derived from really sophisticated skeletal support. And of course the arm must breathe in a very subtle way to help the fingers move freely. AFF

why is it though that when the wrist is down there seem to be more power and sound than when the wrist is up? ALSO -about arm weight-if the fingers are not really suppose to carry all the weight of the arm so where does all of that weight goes to?how can the hand be loose but not feeling heavy from all that weight? thanks

First question: it's a multi-stage process to develop the hand's capacity in double thirds. 1: Dangle from a high wrist for lightness and ease, freedom from compression 2: Lower wrist to invoke higher elasticity. 3: Again higher wrist to use that elasticity to generate even greater power due to the more direct skeletal alignments. Even that is incomplete. I mean, this forum is great but it is impossible to teach these things at a distance without seeing what your hand organization is already, and which one of these steps (or some other step) you need the most. AFF

Second question:y When you walk down the street, what is carrying your weight? Your legs? Are you aware of it? Can you sense it? No, it just happens. If you sense your fingers carrying the arm's weight, something is wrong. You are too dead. The way the legs carry your body weight is lithe and athletic. So should the fingers be. We let the arm go to release the triceps/biceps from holding contractions so that they may now engage in the vigorous high tonus contractions needed to support the action of the fingers and thumb. There's a lot of muscular activity involved in playing the piano. It is not just falling onto the keys. It is light years removed from just falling onto the keys. AFF