Problems with right hand. Maybe video might clarify problem?

You know by now that I am more of a "Zen" guy, so you won't be surprised about what I'm going to say now. If you are 100% sure that your analysis is correct, then this would suggest you have to think of some action were the arm lengthening movement is the only way to do that action. I'm sure you have enough potential for abstraction to think of an exercise. Might be something in the gym, for example, as simple as one arm push-ups or something. Most importantly: practise the required movement in something that has NOTHING to do with piano playing. Very often, I require from my students that they do not touch the piano at all while solving this kind of things. Another element in doing such exercises away from the piano is that you have to "heat the kettle until the water really boils". It could also be, that the perceived requirement (the need) to "lengthen" the arm is actually the result of something else. Very often the right hand can learn from the left hand; I said that before on this forum. It may be something like level of pronation, supination, pinkie side or thumb weaknesses, lack of "grip" sensation in certain fingers, etc. that causes this. For example, I had this girl as a student who broke a bone on the pinkie-side of her right hand a couple of years ago. Until I started asking questions about what had ever happened to that hand, we were not able to solve her problems properly; her body had "learned" to avoid the sharp pain such old fractures can cause sometimes. A little more pronation in the right hand solved all her problems. Besides, I had her practise "forearm rotation in a Taubman fashion" (which is actually the study of angles) for six weeks in a row, VERY slowly, prohibiting playing. Paul Yeah, interesting ideas there. I think long term 5th finger weakness is a big part of it. The preparatory interaction between light weight and the finger pushing the knuckle back up against it (before the key starts to be moved) has been very useful- causing substantial improvement on this issue. I've also been finding it useful to hang my whole body back from grabbing onto something, to lengthen the right arm out better. There's something that gets stretched out that otherwise stays clenched forward. Also, I've been experimenting with many Feldenkrais style exercises. One very useful one is to stand in a doorway and immobile your shoulders in space, by very lightly pressing the elbows out into the doorway. This gives the chance to do some very interesting movements where the torso moves away from a static shoulder rather than vice versa. It's similar to the steadying role that the floor usually plays in Feldenkrais exercises, but gives a very interesting feeling that you cannot get a direct equivalent of from the floor. The thing I notice most though is that when I do even light press-ups against a wall, my right shoulder caves in almost instantly unless I focus on continuing to press back even as I'm moving inwards. Even in this situation (with little strength required) the habit is so strong, that my shoulder gives way and the left arm takes over virtually all of the workload. I've also been coming back to an old exercise I came up with which is essentially a press-up against the piano. I need to do a lot to even up the sides. I suppose the simplest way of summarising it is to say that the right shoulder is permanently rolled forwards. Picture if you bend forwards with your neck, how the shoulders rock forward. Imagine if you lift your head up again but the shoulder doesn't come with. My right should is permanently in that rolled foward position. It's like my left side is properly upright, but my right side is lazily slouching forwards- as would happen if you lean forwards and to the left. I'm getting improvements, but perhaps what I need is something vigorous to "yank" it back into place, like the massage Alan speaks of. From the way my shoulder blade often juts out from my torso when I practise moving it (in positions that nothing will ever put my left into) I'm even wondering whether it's dislocating itself altogether. I should stress that the idea of pulling back does not extend to the feeling of fulling back at the fingers (which would likely force them to "hook" into the keys with fair effort). At that end, I think forwards- so the arm is lengthened from both ends. My old version of the chain idea was based on the assumption that the fingers would be acting in an arc. This required something to pull back and stop the wrist getting tugged forwards. My current premise is based on the fingers extending out and aiming slightly forwards and almost never pulling back across the line of the keys. This means that, once in position, it's not necessary required to actively pull back. It's just a case of removing any slack and bunching up in the first place- but from then everything ought to be able sustain itself. It's just that my habit of allowing the shoulder to creep forwards screws up that basic position. There are times when I can forget it and things just settle- but much of the time my shoulder juts forwards and I have to make a conscious remind to pull it back again. For now, I have to make the lengthening concept conscious or the functional alignment gets completely lost. At the moment I'm really not sure how much of this is an everyday habit (that would be there even if I quit piano for a few weeks) and how much is pianistic. I think being right-handed may cause a tendency to reach out for things more on that side than the left. Even away from the piano, it does take a lot of very conscious effort to reach my hand out forwards without the whole shoulder not so much following but almost leading and "pushing" the hand out. This requires literally no thought at all on my left side. My shoulder naturally stays back. However, as soon as I start stretching my right arm out the whole shoulder blade comes forwards and the whole torso want to turn to the left a little to the left.

Just had an interesting thought after writing that. Although my right shoulder tends to go forward too much, maybe it's actually a good thing that the body turns through it a little? I'm wondering now whether it's actually the absence of this equivalent when my left reaches out that is the bigger problem? I just realised that if I consciously add a little whole body turning, it naturally draws my right shoulder backwards. I'm wondering now whether I need to work on bringing the shoulder back in association with work on turning my whole body to the right more often, to trigger the right habits- rather than concentrate on the shoulder itself.

When I once asked a very famous (and unfortunately very dead pianist X) what would be the most indispensible action in piano playing, he made a squeezing movement with his fingers inward toward each other and said: "This". Grip, that is, but not inward toward the palm only, but also sideways. You've probably seen some pianists of the old school "knead" the keys. I suggest you train a bit with one of those soft foam balls, squeezing it between your fingers (2-3, 3-4, 4-5). You can also use putty. Amazing what that does to your ability to stabilize your hand on that side of the arch. You can also hold a book or another convenient object between your fingers and let it just hang there. Between thumb and index finger you would call this "pinch grip", but the principle is the same. Pinch grip is a rather weak kind of grip and rather useless in life, but at the piano, it's just what we need for success. I used to train like this when I was young and restless for op. 10 no 1. Different objects for different finger combinations to cover the range of what you need in the piece (the width of a seventh for 1-2, for example, the width of a fourth for 4-5, a fifth for 3-5, etc.). At the moment I'm really not sure how much of this is an everyday habit (that would be there even if I quit piano for a few weeks) and how much is pianistic. Sitting too long at the computer handling your mouse in a not so ergonomic fashion may easily have caused this. I recommend my students to minimize computer usage, and not only because there is a risk for RSI. P.S.: I-phones and pocket computers are also quite harmful, but for other reasons. Paul

Trust your intuition and experiment. I stand by what I wrote above anyway and encourage you to try it. It will do you good... Paul

When I once asked a very famous (and unfortunately very dead pianist X) what would be the most indispensible action in piano playing, he made a squeezing movement with his fingers inward toward each other and said: "This". Grip, that is, but not inward toward the palm only, but also sideways. You've probably seen some pianists of the old school "knead" the keys. I suggest you train a bit with one of those soft foam balls, squeezing it between your fingers (2-3, 3-4, 4-5). You can also use putty. Amazing what that does to your ability to stabilize your hand on that side of the arch. You can also hold a book or another convenient object between your fingers and let it just hang there. Between thumb and index finger you would call this "pinch grip", but the principle is the same. Pinch grip is a rather weak kind of grip and rather useless in life, but at the piano, it's just what we need for success. I used to train like this when I was young and restless for op. 10 no 1. Different objects for different finger combinations to cover the range of what you need in the piece (the width of a seventh for 1-2, for example, the width of a fourth for 4-5, a fifth for 3-5, etc.). Not that I want to disagree altogether that this would be useful (and I like the idea of squeezing sideways between 2 and 3 etc very much- I'll definitely try that one) but I've recently been experimenting with something very different. If I squeeze between my thumb and 5th, my knuckle naturally droops down severely into what would have to be considered a collapsed position, if I went there while playing. What I've discovered recently is that it's very useful to rest on the nail joint of a curled up finger and then push your knuckle up- essentially it's the basic extension activity but from a more curled starting point than would be used in playing. I still have work to do, but this has made notable changes to my 5th knuckle. With this, it's almost impossible to droop. It gives you a very clear feeling of how to push the knuckle back up. Recently, I'm convinced this is far closer to the fundamental pianistic action than the grasping one- focusing everything into a useful line through the key without any extraneous inward movements or forces. Increasingly I'm thinking that anything inward between a finger and thumb must surely be cancelled with an equal and opposite force. Logically, that would have to imply that it would demand a muscular cocontraction to cancel it out- where you work against the inward grip. I think this version where you start on the nail is also very useful for anyone who has a habit of the joint doubling back. When you come from this side, it's far less likely to suddenly give way, compared to when you "pull" up a flatter finger purely from the knuckle. I've almost completed a new blog post, where I'll show exercises that demonstrate why I think this style of activity is the most important one. I'm convinced that it's getting a feel for this that lies underneath the "skeletal" balance that Alan speaks of- where you are well connected to the piano without a big effort. To give a taster of the post that is coming, if you put your thumb and second or third together (or even all of the fingers, as in Alan's bird beak) it gives enormous stability when you rest on a key- allowing the arm to find a very easy and relaxed position where there is little effort to balance. However, I think there's a risk of overtightening with activities that serve no direct function. If you feel every finger is lengthening slightly (ie. not closing any further inward but actually opening), nothing can be collapsed. All the same stability can come with an absolutely miniscule effort- rather than any notable feeling of clustering everything further together. I don't actually squeeze inwards at all any more- but focus just the right amount of intent to lengthen to match up against the key pushing back at you. All the effort is directly into the line required to keep the key down- not into actively clenching inward. From there, you can even open up the thumb and finger a millimeter or two apart, while still resting on one key. If the extension activity is right, this gives no loss of stability at all- compared to when the thumb is felt to "reinforce" the second. You can ultimately replace the feeling of the fingers propping each other up altogether, via extension alone and without any inward grip. I'm increasingly convinced that it's an essential step to learn how to make the grasping aspect purely optional and entirely dispensible- rather than an intrinsic part of the most basic activities.

Looking forward very much to your next article. The squeezing motion I suggest as a didactical exercise does not cancel out any other useful elements that occur in piano playing. I just think that it is a very significant part of one's development in "getting to grips" with healthy hand strength. By the way, it was Jorge Bolet who gave the hint. I asked the same question to Katsaris and he told me that for him the most essential movement in piano playing was lifting the finger from the knuckle, which is no surprise since he went through the French school. Lazar Berman did not single out any movements. For him convenience was the only factor, and he thought that stretching was paramount as preparation. As you see, they all focus on something different, but their wise words did not fall on deaf ears; I practised it all like a madman and may I say with very satisfying results... Paul

Looking forward very much to your next article. The squeezing motion I suggest as a didactical exercise does not cancel out any other useful elements that occur in piano playing. I just think that it is a very significant part of one's development in "getting to grips" with healthy hand strength. By the way, it was Jorge Bolet who gave the hint. I asked the same question to Katsaris and he told me that for him the most essential movement in piano playing was lifting the finger from the knuckle, which is no surprise since he went through the French school. Lazar Berman did not single out any movements. For him convenience was the only factor, and he thought that stretching was paramount as preparation. As you see, they all focus on something different, but their wise words did not fall on deaf ears; I practised it all like a madman and may I say with very satisfying results... Paul Yes, it definitely makes sense as a learning exercise. I'll try it out, as it's very different from any exercises I've used so far. I've heard people say that sprinters need to develop the opposing muscles to those that are worked most vigorously during running (to avoid injury)- so it makes sense to develop the inward actions even if not using them directly during playing. I'm actually convinced that the Katsaris approach of lifting is more about testing the balance of the finger that last played a key than that which comes next. I've been working on the Chopin 2nd sonata lately and find this very useful in the last movement. It focuses the effort into the right places and exposes any lazy contacts. After a while, by merely imagining fingers lifting it becomes possible to trigger most of the benefits without lifting the fingers away from the keys at all. I think it's more about what it triggers in the prior finger than the lifting itself.

This is very true, also for pianists. I always have a pair of elastic bands in my pocket. Whenever I have nothing to do, I work the extensors (for laymen: the muscles that open the hand) with them. Wrap part around the thumb, pull the rest around one finger and stretch the band. Repeat for the other fingers separately. Since one band is not much of a challenge anymore, I use a pair. There is this device called "handmaster" to work the extensors of all fingers simultaneously, but it seems to work the pinky under the wrong angle, so I cannot recommend it. Besides, it breaks easily after 4 to 5 sessions. I guess you are familiar with "Piano Power" by Richard Prokop? Piano playing is all in the extensors, even if you play close to the keys without lifting the fingers actively, so those muscles need special care to avoid "professional" diseases of all kinds... Paul

"Craft of Piano Method", for what it's worth, has already moved beyond this type of calisthenics - they are just too anti-functional. In my last master class, a very fine Dutch pianist told me he felt he needed more grip, but we worked on the of the thumb-forefinger assembly, not gripping strength. Increased gripping strength would have actually hindered the moveability he needed to subtly and capably manipulate the key... I myself did them for years but now am searching for a capacity in the hand that will better serve what it needs to do at the keyboard. My lobster claw thumb-forefingers are melting like never before, hurrah! AFF

@ I agree with you that this is not the alpha and omega of good piano technique. It's just a stage some people (the readers of this forum) may not have gone through, and should have. You cannot walk (or run) before you learn how to crawl, right? It's even worse: if a baby doesn't take its time to crawl around enough, he/she will be in for serious skeletal problems later in life. And then there is the missing link in the puzzle: rotational freedom. From my experience, although the student may perceive the forearm as "free" and "relaxed", rotational freedom should not be assumed and should be tested with the help of trills for ALL finger combinations with minimal interaction from the fingers. This is easy when the intervals are larger, but adjacent finger combinations on nearby keys cause trouble in many (even advanced) students when they do this the first time. This can be done on a table top. Just put two fingers flat and straight on the table (you can bunch the other fingers together or let them hang down the edge of the table, whatever you like and whatever is comfortable) and wiggle from left to right, first slowly, then speeding up. At slow tempo, the movement may be rather large, but with speed, it should become smaller. If you are not really free and you try to go faster, the body will try to make the movement large and block everything. Ideally, one should be able to do this at the speed of a trill (MM 176 - 4 movements per beat). I have seen this so often: students are able to tap the fingers separately at a certain speed, but they can't make a satisfactory trill with the sum of those fingers. Paul