Injury Prevention

I just received the book, "The Craft of Piano Playing." I read the first couple of chapters. I'm a bit concerned it doesn't address my specific situation, which is that I'm a beginner (or advanced beginner) concerned primarily with injury prevention. I took five years of piano as a kid. The teacher never said anything about technique, or musicality for that matter. We just had to hit the right notes; that's it. Now I'm just starting to relearn piano as part of a Bachelor of Music degree in composition (they make composers develop performance skills, which I'm happy with). I've struggled for years with muscle soreness from fibromyalgia. To a lesser extent I've had tendinitis. So the number one priority for me is injury prevention. I will go slowly; play easy things, and gradually ramp up practice time. I've started to do this, and it's going well so far. But I wonder if this forum has more specific advice. I have extensive Feldenkrais experience--- I did three years of the professional training program. It may be that I have enough skill to adapt the book to my situation even without needing advice. I will keep reading.

Although I've yet to finish it, I'm currently working on a blog post with regard to injury issues, that you may find interesting. Hopefully it will be finished within a few days. Basically, my theory is that most injuries are not about "finger isolation" in itself- but rather caused by too much impact and pressure at the keybed. The means of avoiding impact has a lot to do with the whole arm- although pressure from the whole arm is actually one of the easiest ways to pile too much force behind the hand and crush everything together. When momentum is directed in a path away from the bed (as opposed to the tension/release approach that claims you can supposedly just relax in the split second after it happens) I believe it's inherently more healthy. However- you need to interact with the keybed properly for stability and legato. There's fine line to be found- as insufficient use of the keybed for balance can be a problem too. Not that I'm claiming a magic get out of jail free card, or anything- but I do have a very strong suspicion that hard landings and excessive pressures are the underlying root of most injuries. I'm going to detail ways of thinking about the movement that can keep these to a minimum. I think that the overwhelming majority of strain and effort in piano playing occurs not when moving the key, but when it stops. Personally, I'd definitely make this the main point of focus.

Hello Mike and welcome to the Forum. Sorry for my delayed response, I have been busy with other things. If you have done 3 years of a Feldenkrais training program you should be in good shape to help yourself with my materials, but if you take into account the following you'll be in even better shape. My first book, although based on Feldenkrais principles, has many exercises that require more effort than your typical ATM. Feldenkrais aims to improve actions that we already know, but I found that many pianists have never learned to 'walk' on the keyboard at all! Thus I had to create exercises to help them acquire the basic ability before going on to refine it. If you have been dealing with pain issues these first exercises might not be the best for you. Read them and understand them in the light of what I've just said, then use your Feldenkrais experience to apply them in a wise way. Tailor them to your own situation. My second book is much more overtly in the Feldenkrais spirit, and you might do well to start there instead. Read and you should make real progress! For instance, all the really gentle, sensory-rich and effortless exercises in the first chapter of my DVD actually comes from my second book: any of the DVD sub-chapters that don't have a number beside them are from ... That's about 1/3 of the DVD altogether. Let us know how you make out! Best wishes, AFF

Thanks, Alan. I'll look into getting your second book. I've done some practicing on my own in the past few weeks. I haven't specifically tried to apply your book yet. But I do see the need for strength, conditioning, and a deep level of training in the action of the hand and fingers. This might not be something you address in your books, but one thing about my hips, is that my hips are very flexible in the direction of abduction and external rotation, but very inflexible in the direction of adduction and internal rotation. So when I sit, I am most comfortable with my legs wide apart. If I bring my legs together, which is necessary for using the pedal, it throws my pelvis backward and I can't balance on my sitz bones. I hope I can improve this, but it's quite a huge amount of imbalance in me. For instance, in the flexible direction, I can pick up my foot while I stand on the other, and with my hands raise it up to my chest. That's how much external rotation I have. But I have to struggle to bring my legs together while I sit, and if I bend over while standing, I can't even touch my hands to my knees (with my legs straight).

You do need the strength. But if you already have a pain problem, please be very careful w.r.t. how you go about acquiring it. In my first book I advise as such, telling the reader to do several of the exercises at 5% the usual strength, turning them into sensory ATM's instead of 'exercise.' And my second book doesn't even have the 'strength' exercises but focuses more overtly on 'sensory' work instead of basic strength building. Book II also focuses more on the body, not just on the hand and arm, which may be very relevant for you given what you write below. Fascinating! I used to have a similar pattern. It reminds me of an FI I received where the practitioner brought my knees closer together in sitting. But she set it up so that when she did it, my pelvis actually RELAXED and allowed me to balance BETTER on my sitz bones, instead throwing it backward as had been the case earlier. I would suspect that there is a strong link between your hip organization and what's going on in your hands. This is another reason for me to advise against 'strength building' but instead favour a Feldenkrais approach that investigates hand/body organization. Thanks for an intriguing post! AFF

One way to recover balance over my pelvis when it is rolled backwards is to flex my spine; i.e., slouch forward until balanced over the hips. This actually feels like an improvement to me vis a vis balance, but looks terrible. No teacher but Glenn Gould would approve.

Remember, Feldenkrais never looked for perfect posture but functional for him! Gould had amazing technique, one of the best, and his posture was an integral part of that. As for bringing about change in your hip joints, I think a series of pelvic clock lessons would help you eventually experience what I describe above. Give it a try! All best, AFF