Problems with right hand. Maybe video might clarify problem?

I already mentioned some of the reasons I'm really interested in this extensors thing. I'll just repeat and add something: 1) great pianists do it and advise it (even Rachmaninoff with a stretch of a 13th did it and even Franz Liszt instructs to "lift the fingers and strike with precision" while doing his Technical Exercises) 2) I feel that my sounds become more crisp, my movements more free and balanced after a "lift-and-let-drop" (or maybe better a "lift-and-gently-swing-into-the-key") session, lifting the finger from the knuckle joint or lifting the hand from the wrist (octaves and chords) 3) benefits for memory: three repetitions and ANY new material that goes through my hands in such a "lifting/dropping" fashion is (and stays) in memory. Of course I UNDERSTAND the material in more than one way, but still... Maybe it's just "religious ecstasy", huh? Be it so, I'd be a fool if I changed anything about it for the sake of working more in accordance with scientific rules (ergonomics and stuff) or to silent those who say I'll surely get RSI, carpal tunnel trouble, etc... Scientists may have a very hard time explaining some or any of this. I had to go off on and carry on teaching, before I finished what I was going to write yesterday but, just coming back to this, I agree with the value in all of the above things. The reason I believe objectivity and analysis is of value is that it helps us distinguish the good things from the bad. Personally, I find Prokop's idea of playing quietly by strengthening up the extensors in preparation to be fighting against your own muscles (rather than merely apply less energy, but with confidence and positivity of intent) absolutely shocking. If we get to grips with the reason why the above things work, I think we're in a much better place to understand what is effective in general. Most methods will contain at least something of practical value and I think Prokop is definitely on to something, in some of his ideas. However, only objectivity can help us distinguish between the elements that are potentially destructive and those that are genuinely a good thing. I get the feeling that he develop his extensors theory from a number of practical observations about things that are effective- but then got so lost in wanting his connecting theory to be true that he constructed a whole lot of nonsense to further that premise (much of which is not likely to be effective in a practical context). Personally, I'm constantly becoming more and more convinced that 99% of finger lifting is about the finger that is not actually lifting but which is keeping the previous key down. I had a student playing chromatic scales yesterday and found her hand was drooping and having to stiffen. By getting her to lift the fingers (but not as an end in itself, but in combination with an intent to use the lengthening action to open the hand up better) she soon started to get into a decent balance, where she was no longer fighting not to collapse. I'm just curious- have you ever tried doing the lifting practise- but then always returning to the key to play from contact? I tend to find I get all the same benefits from this that I do when I actually play the finger from a height. After working this way, I can dispense with the lifting altogether- as I long as I'm feeling how fingers need to act to stabilise well at the keybeds (although I always need to remember to return to it from time to time). By putting the lifting into a bigger picture (which I am increasingly sure is objectively accurate, rather than a mere subjective viewpoint) in which the finger lifting is but a trigger to a more important action, I've found that I get overwhelmingly more out of this style of practise, of late, compared to when finger-lifting was merely something that I did because it was supposed to help in a way that I did not directly understand. Also, I don't think Scientists would necessarily have a hard time with number 3. Lifting helps refine the overall muscular actions, to the point where smaller focussed efforts create balance- rather than larger generic efforts that hinder the sensitivity of perception. Also, because the remaining activity is primarily in the finger that plays (not only while sounds the key but also both before and after), it focuses the awareness much more directly than when a wealth of muscular activities are spread around all over the place and when the finger is only felt at the very last moment. I couldn't portray what I just described there as proven "fact", but it makes plenty of logical sense. I don't think anyone need be bemused about how what you describe might possibly work- as there are extremely rational explanations that could account for the effect.

Do you mean: lift - drop (no sound yet) - and then press through the resistance of the key? Yes, I have done that too to focus on touch more than on synchronization of movements, but "my way" (simultaneous lift and drop with no other movements in between) was to address another problem actually. I was a late starter (started when I was 20) and used to have rather serious problems with finger coordination in fast Alberti patterns. The finger lifting regimen was meant to eliminate these problems, which it did in the end, but only VERY, very gradually. I really practised like a madman and it was hell. I never liked Hanon (which didn't solve this particular problem anyway), so I devised very short neurologically "difficult" combinations for myself, which could be trained on virtually any surface: 1-3-2-3 (repeat) 3-1-2-1 (repeat) 2-4-3-4 (repeat) 4-2-3-2 (repeat) 3-5-4-5 (repeat) 5-3-4-3 (repeat) etc. with very strong accents, either in groups of 3 or 4. In the end, it turned out that training on a dumb keyboard in this fashion worked best of all. Go figure, when all established methods and teachers will tell you that you are supposed to listen to yourself... Paul

I thought I'd chip in with my recent experiment with the ideas that Andrew talks about on his blog (finger extension et al). As you may remember from previous posts, I've had pain issues on and off for about 4 years, with the most recent being both the most fascinating and the most disconcerting. Recently I've made a lot of progress towards being free of pain - an ATM called "Working with the Dominant Hand" has been particularly useful in revealing just how riddled with parasitic contractions my movements really are. However, since I'm playing much more comfortably I've had a chance to try out some of the ideas from Andrew's blog. Most useful has been the post on positive and negative movements - this converged with some advice that Alan gave me recently when I noticed just how much of a jolt my wrist was getting when my fingers hit the keybed. Currently I'm exaggerating it and doing an upwards movement of my hand/arm on every key depression, but I'm working on fitting it more to the phrases within the music. Also, I've had a chance to explore the finger extension action to play the key. It's amazing just how persistent my habits are, but when I really get the extension action working with the right alignment it's incredible! At any dynamic level (or with no sound at all) I can put the key down lightning fast, with great precision and connect to the keybed. At the moment I'm still reverting to older habits more often than not, but the potential I sense from this movement is almost overwhelming. I have to be really careful with double notes because most of the time I'm sure I'm not really extending. I did notice today, though, that I'm employing a load of unnecessary muscles when I play more than one note, because I was paying far more attention to the finger action.

These days I am leaning towards exactly the opposite solution. Learn to roll forward instead of bunching forward if you want to lengthen your arm. This has a number of important advantages. Pulling back can turn into another sort of limitation. In rolling forward there's a continuous sense of expansion. Plus as you roll forward, the hand's arch is mobilized into self-generation. It's a wonderfully empowering experience.

I think I should probably clarify some of the differences between my old model of the "chain" concept, compared to my newer version. In the newer version, any pulling back is purely about keeping the whole shoulder girdle from getting locked into a forward position and keeping a sense of length from the shoulder end of things- not about transmitting a literal backward pull all the way to the finger. I don't see this type of subtle pulling as a limitation but simply a means to the end of avoiding my old problem of getting trapped into a dysfunctional forward position with no easy means of escape. Basically, the idea was initially intended to cancel out the inherent problem of circular finger actions .Pulling in an arc from the finger (in my old "norm" for the fingers) was constantly pulling my wrist forward and up, the more I activated my fingers. For this reason, I aimed to pull back and counter that pull- otherwise my wrist would end up locked into the forward and up position. In continuous fast notes, there was no opportunity for it to reset itself- so it was essential to have some means of trying to counter that position. Also, with the circular path, the further the wrist gets pulled up (making circular actions all the more indirect across the path of the key) the more further actions are inclined to pull you further still- making it a vicious circle. With this style of action, I could never previously make the floating arm idea work- as the lighter the arm became and the more the fingers activated, the further my wrist was dragged forward and up, without any chance to recover alignment. With the extension activity of fingers, the chain concept is much more subtle. It's not the kind of pull back where you'd have to "hook" the fingers into the keys to balance it out. It's simply a sense that the arm can create length behind a simple contact (where the key is kept down with very low effort by the extending action of the finger). It's not a terribly active pull at all but simply whatever it takes not to end up in a forward position that you get locked into. From here, I can now understand the value of the floating arm concept- as the fingers no longer create reactions that are trying to tug me out of alignment. I couldn't float before, as my fingers would not allow it, without pulling my wrist into an impossible position to work from. I'm using the roll over the top plenty as part of the bigger picture too (I use this as the means for shock absorption in octaves and chords, as detailed in one my blog posts). I just think it's essential to also have the means of countering that forward position (once there's no room to go any further with it) and being able to reset yourself into a standard alignment. My old means was the abrupt arm flip mentioned in another thread, during long notes. However, I had nothing for continuous fast notes. This is something that I still have some work to go on- but the extending action has been a big eye-opener here. The problem had always been how to seamlessly go back to an aligned position after having gone forward and up with the wrist. With the circular finger action, it's very hard to carry on playing without being hugely affected by a drop of the wrist- which meant that once there in rapid notes, I was basically locked into being there. I've recently discovered that it's possible to drop the wrist through depression- as long as there is a very significant extension action from the fingers themselves. I'd previously though of the wrist drop as a "negative" movement- but as long as the finger is doing a quality extension, then it can function in a way that I had never realised was possible before. I've been using this sense of releasing back in the Schubert G flat impromptu for the melody. It's not a replacement for the finger squeezing out sound at all, but something that complements it. I've been pretty stunned how much depth of sound I can squeeze out with this sense of freely letting the wrist drop a touch, but using extreme finger action. Anyway, I hope that doesn't sound too complicated, but in short, I'm totally behind what you described above. What I've been looking at it is essentially ensuring the means that you never have to get locked into the forward position (which was my problem with my right hand) but that you have a basic style of action which can function either with the wrist rolling over the top or dropping back into standard alignment- while the fingers get on with using the lengthening action to produce tone. I feel I've hit on a much more balanced approach that gives a means of alternating smoothly between ups and downs- rather than struggling to reset myself whenever I find myself forwards and up.

I'll take your word for it. AFF