Managing Gravity

I haven't studied so intensely lately. However I'm starting to feel the pull of the gravity acting somewhere around the elbow more and more. As it is clear that the gravity factor doesn't change it's even more clear that my perception regarding arm weight suffered a significant change. I don't know if positive or negative but I surely hope someone will be able to clear it for me. As Andrew said this kind of force is more like diagonal than perpendicular on the floor. Now my question is whether I should focus myself on fighting this pull by activating the fingers more or should I just let go and consider that as long as the hand doesn't slip off the keyboard completely this is ok and it's just a tendence that I have to hold under control. I'm curious about Alan's point of view too.

It's a difficult one. I think noticing it is good, but you need to think of balancing it- not fighting it. If it feels "heavy" a slight sense of drifting out to side with the elbow and opening the space in the armpit can help. You need to find your own balance though. Have you read my post about vibrations? It's something that I've found very effective with students. I think it might help you to instinctively improve your connection with the keyboard and balance better.

Squat down on your heels and then stand up. How do you experience gravity in this action? Of course it requires some sort of effort to stand up, because of your weight. You have weight because of gravity. You feel heavy because of your interaction with the gravitational field, which pulls on you. But you don't walk around all day feeling your weight. Fish don't feel water. Water is the medium in which fish exist. So if you are feeling gravity more around your elbow, it could be a good thing, a sign that you are more sensitive to yourself. In this case, continue to move your fingers and feel how they help your hand soar, like your whole body standing up - creating a symbiotic, empowering relationship with the gravitational field. It could also be a sign that your fingers are pooping out, not doing their job, and so you're beginning to feel heavy in the sluggish sense. In this case the solution is the same - move your fingers more! AFF

I would like to ask you about your sensation of gravity at the elbow. Is it possible that the sensation you are describing is the result of pushing hard into the keys? Sometimes we can interpret and describe our subjective impressions in terms that differ from objective events. Someone actively pushing hard into the keys and compressing the hand into the keybed might describe the sensation of force at the elbow as "gravity" even though he isn't really just letting the arm hang freely. If that were the case, how you respond to gravity might be beside the point and there would be something else to consider. Just checking. Jai Jeffryes

I would like to ask you about your sensation of gravity at the elbow. Is it possible that the sensation you are describing is the result of pushing hard into the keys? Sometimes we can interpret and describe our subjective impressions in terms that differ from objective events. Someone actively pushing hard into the keys and compressing the hand into the keybed might describe the sensation of force at the elbow as "gravity" even though he isn't really just letting the arm hang freely. If that were the case, how you respond to gravity might be beside the point and there would be something else to consider. Just checking. Jai Jeffryes Actually that was the problem that prevented my senses from genuinely feeling the gravity. Now I feel the gravity but I don't know what to do with it. I resolved the problem with the compression after having lessons with Alan. Though I must admit that sometimes my left hand still causes me problems of this sort you are talking about. But as my technique progressed a little I guess this doesn't occur in melodic passages anymore but when I play chords. I have the same problem now with a little etude from Bastiens Piano Basics - Level 4. The piece is called "A Visit To The Royal Court". Anyway the problem is not so severe as I start to grasp when I'm playing chords, yet the staccato sometimes numbs my recently acquired sense of gravity. It is not nearly so hard to play chords as it was before 2010 when I met Alan but there is still some tension in there. One more thing regarding this false feeling of gravity that the body perceives when the hands are actually pushing into the keyboard. It becomes very perceptible when I use the thumb. I sometimes feel that no matter how much I would activate my thumb the action that the elbow makes will always remain pushing instead of letting go. However I'm making those "drop your hands into your lap" drills and things improved quite much. Anyway...I'm relatively satisfied with my progress. But there is much more work to do.

One more thing regarding this false feeling of gravity that the body perceives when the hands are actually pushing into the keyboard. It becomes very perceptible when I use the thumb. I sometimes feel that no matter how much I would activate my thumb the action that the elbow makes will always remain pushing instead of letting go. However I'm making those "drop your hands into your lap" drills and things improved quite much. Anyway...I'm relatively satisfied with my progress. But there is much more work to do. From looking at your most recent film, I'd personally say that you're suffering from the "on/off" approach to finger movement- where the fingers are thought of as having finished their job as soon as the key sounds. I think you need better contact while the notes continue to sound. It's interesting that you mention the thumb, as I think this is where it's most obvious of all. I think you need to feel much more continuation of the hand actions, in order to connect up with the arm. You just have to be very careful of the "keybedding" issue- which I believe is caused when the arm tries to press the fingers down, instead of the fingers continuing out enough to press the knuckles up and away. I think the traditional armweight explanation suggests that the arm is supposed to drop enough to become connected behind the finger. However, if the finger reaches out far enough from a balanced arm, you can achieve much the same effect, without the arm having to put stress on the finger. Quite simply, it's not about collapsing down from above and trying to get the fingers to brace into balance, but rather pressing up from below- and then feeling how the arm can loosen in response. At the moment, I'm discovering that I haven't been going anywhere near far enough with my finger movements. They don't necessarily need more power or speed, but they just need to be continued further and without intent to stop.

I just came up with an interesting exercise, regarding release and weight. Try starting on a slumped thumb against the keybed and lighten the arm enough to push yourself away from it- until the thumb is fully extended. At this point, feel closer to the feeling that that the arm "floating"- but be sure that the elbow and shoulder are hanging back, to pull out any kinks in the chain eg. an angled wrist. The pressure between the thumb and keybed should now be fairly low. The shoulder supports quite a lot here, and it may even be perceived as if no weight is resting through the thumb. There's just a sense of thumb reaching all the way out from a "floating" arm. At this point, take your hand away and then place your thumb against the wood above the keys and push yourself away from it. Stay lightly in contact with the vertical surface, and try to relax (again letting the elbow hang back) Can you feel the difference between the two? In the latter, the shoulder has to support the arm 100%. Try to relax as much as you can- but you will likely perceive a very slight uneasiness due to the total absence of support at the thumb end. Try as you might, the arm must work harder. It wouldn't be a nice position to stay in for ages. If you go back to contacting a key at the keybed with the thumb, it's nowhere near the feeling of letting 100% of weight rest on the thumb and may well feel more like floating than "resting" weight downwards. However, there's a very significant difference in the sensation, compared to when you are necessarily supporting all of the arm's weight at the shoulder. Small as the sense of weight may be against the keybed, there are many key muscles (in the arm) that are able to release their level of supporting effort, when the thumb has an actual point of support. While the idea of "supporting the full weight of your arm" on the hand is a huge hyperbole, I think the difference between these two states helps to illustrate the significance of a vastly lesser "letting go". I think this is a very useful observation to make. While the arm may still be thought of as if floating while a finger is contacting the keybed (to promote a sense of lightness), it clarifies that there is indeed a notable difference between any illusion of actually supporting 100% at the shoulder and the reality of a state where the arm is allowed to spread balance between two points. The perception of the difference between the two states may sometimes be small to the point of being unnoticed, but the extra ease that comes from having even light contact with a keybed is extremely significant. I think this exercise reveals that level of significance. I don't think you're capitalising on this difference. Small as the release may be, it needs to happen for full comfort. I'd try spending quite a lot of time going back and forth and comparing these two states of balance, until the slight differences become clear.

Which brings up the interesting question, "Then why did you bother trying to feel it in the first place?" AFF

From looking at your most recent film, I'd personally say that you're suffering from the "on/off" approach to finger movement- where the fingers are thought of as having finished their job as soon as the key sounds. I think you need better contact while the notes continue to sound. It's interesting that you mention the thumb, as I think this is where it's most obvious of all. I think you need to feel much more continuation of the hand actions, in order to connect up with the arm. You just have to be very careful of the "keybedding" issue- which I believe is caused when the arm tries to press the fingers down, instead of the fingers continuing out enough to press the knuckles up and away. I think the traditional armweight explanation suggests that the arm is supposed to drop enough to become connected behind the finger. However, if the finger reaches out far enough from a balanced arm, you can achieve much the same effect, without the arm having to put stress on the finger. Quite simply, it's not about collapsing down from above and trying to get the fingers to brace into balance, but rather pressing up from below- and then feeling how the arm can loosen in response. At the moment, I'm discovering that I haven't been going anywhere near far enough with my finger movements. They don't necessarily need more power or speed, but they just need to be continued further and without intent to stop. Hear hear! I heartily concur... AFF

Which brings up the interesting question, "Then why did you bother trying to feel it in the first place?" AFF Surely this is a fundamental necessity of being in a position to understand whether you are adequately relaxed, though? As many people say, the worst tensions are those you don't know about. Noticing what gravity is trying to do (rather than being blind to muscular stiffness that prevents it moving the arm) strikes me as a key second step towards being able to improve upon such unnoticed tensions. By understanding the purpose that they are being used to serve (ie. preventing gravity slumping things down) it's possible to find a better alternative to them. I "float" much better after I explore how to only just work hard enough to stop gravity collapsing a joint, compared to when I start by just thinking of it being still. The balance becomes way more efficient- and I can start to just think of floating as a result. Recently, I've realised just how ignorant I had been about efforts around my elbows. I wasn't even vaguely aware what path my forearm would move in, if I truly relaxed my elbow! From a typical playing position, it surprised me tremendously to realise where my forearm will be pulled by gravity, if I release at the elbow. Basically, it either falls to the outside or in the opposite path to the inside, depending on the starter position. Neither path was remotely like what I expected. Observing that has given me a much clearer means of determining whether I'm balancing unwanted gravity movements with generic stiffness or with a sensitive application to purpose. I feel a far greater sense of matching muscular activity to what is required, compared to before I realised specifically how gravity really effects a released elbow. I think it's another case where the idea that weight is supposed act downward can completely screws up the senses. However, a better awareness of the thoroughly 3 dimensional results of relaxation has given me vastly more sensitivity. I've also found it very interesting to place the hand on different areas of the piano and sense which side my hand is pulled towards upon letting go. I think it's very interesting to see how different the path in which gravity pulls the arm is, depending on specifically where on the piano you start from. There are a lot of variations, depending on how far you are reaching out. These things give me vastly more awareness of how to make sure that when I'm balancing gravity, I'm not employing needless levels of effort to do so.