Grasping And Extending

There are medical experiments which prove that the lumbricals are grasping in the MP-joint and the fingers in the nail- and middle-joints. This is also obvious from looking at the hand/finger anatomy. As this can be experienced in moving the fingers from the (knuckel-)MP-joint, I think only emphasizing grasping as a pedagogical concept is not enough. The potential to extend the fingers into the key is very important too.

ABSOLUTELY RIGHT! Richard Prokop, at his website, Piano Power, emphasizes the importance of "strengthening the extensors" in order to improve one's piano technique. Although in some ways this is an oversimplification, it does point to an important part of the overall physiological picture. Then the other day I was watching again Seymour Fink's film, Mastering Piano Technique, and I noticed an important detail that had previously escaped my attention. He shows a finger stroke that I call the 'hammer stroke,' and lo and behold, you can see clearly that as the MP joint flexes, both the proximal-medial joint and the medial distal joint EXTEND as the finger goes into the key! This is what keeps the distal joint vertical from the beginning of the stroke when the finger is lifted high above the key, to the completion when fingertip is buried in the keybed. The reason I place so much (obsessive?) emphasis on grasping is that it is so absent in the techniques of so many people. But you rightly point out, it is not the whole story. I would be interested to know what you think of Michael Furstner's depiction of the physiology of the piano playing mechanism. I have posted it at . In his diagrams I cannot find the detail you mention about the lumbricals extending the medial and distal phalanges - is there any Website where I might find such a diagram? Best, AFF