Pushing vs. pulling

Following on from the workshop I've been working on the action of straightening the thumb plenty, and I've been having a huge amount of success with the combination of simultaneous pushing and pulling for octaves and chord (where the thumb pushes forwards but the other fingers pull). Sometimes it's just the slightest flick from an already shaped hand resting on the keys, but sometime I've even tried deliberately emptying the arch out entirely (bringing the thumb level with the 2nd) and then flicking the thumb right back out into an arch while contact is made. This last one seems particularly good for a massive crack at the keys from above. The flick in the hand gives a huge acceleration through the key without any trace of collapse even being possible, but it also seems to absorb any remaining momentum that comes from the arms motion. I feel like I knock the hell out of the piano with this one, yet land without impact. If the thumb squeezes in too (as if against the side of the keys), it stops a bit more abruptly. Is this what Gekic does maybe- when he does those curious looking whacks from a great height in the Totentanz? I've been taking it from the clamped thumb to a very pronounced arch, but maybe he uses a slightly smaller version of such an action to stop collapse? What do you think of this as the standard hand action for chords and octaves? It's working great for all dynamic levels. I'm also finding it spectacularly stable yet easy to maintain for long contact. Rather than have to worry about whether I'm lining up behind the thumb or the 5th, the rotational element actually seems to cover both. In a sense, I'm a lot more aligned to the thumb than normal, although it also gets a tremendous feeling of being behind the 5th (with no slack at all in the knuckle). Somehow, the more you pull the more it seems to converge on alignment for both sides of the hand, almost as if by magic. The metacarpals in my 4th and fifth fingers have been massively freed up. When the thumb and fingers operate in different directions, I think that any excess action is more easily absorbed into slight rotary movements- whereas if the thumb acts inwards it reaches a more abrupt stop. While various muscles have been worked very hard today, they feel vastly more flexible than before I started. Also, because of the opposite directions, even when done with pronounced sliding across the surface of keys it remains surprisingly stable. I think it makes it a very easy action to do confidently and without resort to stiffening.

I see what you mean but I'm more confused than ever about the thumb. Developping muscles around the thumb is of course a sine qua non (like Kemals mountain) and doing what you describe (collapsing the arch) works wonders but it seems to me that you just can't put continous strain on the thumb (read speed) unless you do get it into a position like Cziffra. When I watch Kemal I get the impression that even if he can stand with all his weight on the thumb he is relaxing it as much as possible and more than often has a completely relaxed and loosely hanging thumb that he uses as a whip. I'm reworking the Grieg Ballade and there the thumb is really the big problem I think Grieg always played with bent thumbs. Can you really use your thumbs as you describe without building up tension?

Ah, I think you misunderstand what I mean. I'm doing most from a starting point of an arch, that extends to a more extreme arch, through the action of playing. However, I've also been experimenting with a very small release of the arch that finishes in a more normal arch and an ultra-collapsed one that uses the action of forming the arch to move through the key. In the latter, I actually find it useful to cock the thumb as high as possible and bend the end joint a little and slant the hand down towards the fifth while raising it. Then the thumb is thrown very abruptly at the key and straightens and forms the arch. Strangely, the 5th seems to work very well- even though it seems heavily oriented towards the thumb. This one would definitely be a less normal one though- just when you want to whack the hell out of the piano but land softly. Alan talked about keeping the thumb pretty much straight, but I have been finding that just a slight bend (which is straightened out during the action) can add a little more action still to the movement. I think a very faint drop of the arch and a small bend gives scope to produce something via the action of removing it again- although don't worry Alan, I'm practising maintaining it more consistently most of the time Regarding tension, I can't believe how loose this makes everything. Even the most violent cracks at the piano actually serve to loosen things rather than compress anything.

I tried this out on a few students yesterday, mostly with very good results. One younger student couldn't quite grasp it, so I'll just carry on with individual straightening actions of the thumb and pulling of the fingers as a separate thing for now and try combining the two again later. In particular I had one student starting up on the minute waltz yesterday and it seemed especially useful for the left hand. Students almost always seem to go for an overly collapsed hand, or a formed hand coupled with a tense arm. This worked superbly, to get a hand action while keeping the arm loose. Although the student is quite advanced, I had to work on the actions separately first. First I got him to flick lightly across the surface of the keys from the finger's knuckle alone (minus the thumb), without landing into any stopping point at the keybed. Then I got him to bend the end of his thumb and practise flicking the thumb straight down the line of a few notes (again without landing into a stopping point but sliding on). After this, he seemed to pick it up pretty much immediately. It gave an incredible clarity yet lightness to those chords. It's just the slightest flick in the hand, but I think it can be done with a tremendous amount of confidence- because if you overdo it there's no feeling of the action stopping against anything. Although literally slipping across keys would probably not be a positive in the final product, it's not something you need to be particularly scared about. I've also been practising with the thumb plus each individual finger, one by one. If I start ultra collapsed (and bend the end of the thumb at 90 degrees, ready to be extended again) and form the arch through these contrary actions (again by slipping across the keys) it makes a spectacularly stable arch and gets the individual fingers standing up tremendously well from the knuckle. It's like the feeling of turning a tiny volume control knob between the thumb and finger. I'd been thinking mostly about actions of moving the thumb away from the palm before, or grasping inwards. However, this straightening aspect that Alan showed me has made a huge difference very quickly. The arch shape is already starting to feel quite easy to maintain. This action of the hand feels more natural than anything I have ever used before.

This is all very exciting, but I am worried readers won't have a clue as to what this new thumb motion is exactly. I suggest you reading my most recent blog post where (among other things) I try to describe it in more detail.

Andrew, I'll also take the liberty of posting here the explanation you sent to me privately, because it is a little more detailed than the ones above and so may be useful to our members... "What do you think of the idea of slightly bending the end of the thumb and then using the straightening action for through the process of sounding the key and generating the last portion of the arch? I've been starting to use this as the standard action for pretty much everything. I think it's even lower effort than the standard grasp, but produces a remarkably stable arch without any feeling of digging in. I can't detect many pianists on film doing this movement in any pronounced way. However, I'm wondering if they use the slightest trace of it- even if the thumb simply appears to go straight down? Even without using it in the final product, it's been spectacularly useful for settling into the feel for a decent alignment where every finger contributes something to the balance, without any collapse. As well as opening out the arch the reaction seems to push things across in a way that naturally helps to inflate the knuckles on the weaker side of the hand. Strangely, the weaker fingers feel like they're grabbing hold of the keys even more securely than when I do an exaggerated grasp where the thumb squeezes into the side of the key." thanks Andrew! This is all really great and completely on the ball. I love it when someone takes an idea and, instead of dogmatically grinding it into the ground, uses it as a springboard to even newer insights and improvements. AFF

With the weight issue, my goal has very much been to feel how to keep the hand arm stable in this way- not to be dropping any weight down through the fingers at all or to be trying to replace their work. However, I've now got a very clear feeling for just how much I had been letting the knuckles fall without realising and only activating them against the keybed. It's surprised me just how much of a difference this has made very quickly. By changing the way I think of the basic thumb movement, it already feels "normal" to play this way (although I'm taking care to make it especially willful in the slow work). My standard thumb movement was in an arc away from the palm before. I think that's okay but it doesn't quite hold the knuckles straight up, even when at the keybed. Also, while not playing it can easily drag the shape down unless it starts behaving differently. Straightening the thumb seems to work equally well for all three roles of playing the key supporting at the keybed and for stabilising the other fingers without contacting anything. There's no need to shift between roles in any drastic way. I'll see if I can post a video sometime fairly soon. I found another exercise, by the way, that's quite interesting. If you start with the thumb tucked up by the second and then extend it as far as possible (at 90 degrees to the fingers) while grasping inward from all the knuckles, it's interesting just how clearly it makes the 5th work. Somehow it seems to make it impossible for the 5th finger knuckle to droop- giving an extremely clear feeling for its pull. Whenever I draw my thumb directly towards the palm while grasping, my 5th finger droops quite severely and is limited. The movement of the thumb and 5th somehow feel especially related when I do this (even more than the other fingers ). I'm not sure if this is a habit that I've already acquired from practising a lot of octaves with this movement, or something that naturall occurs?

just doing that more as I walk to the station and the difference is even more spectacularly vivid than I realised. Is this the same for others? I think there must be something physiological? Grasping in with the thumb seems to activate the strong fingers more, but extending the thumb sideways seems to awaken a very powerful action in the fifth almost as a reflex. Is this just me or is this one of those odd things the body does?

Just tried it on my desk and it is the same for me. I think what happens is that when the thumb is 90 degrees to the hand it is pushing the entire arm sideways so we instinctively rely on more 5th finger support. when the thum is inward it the arm is more or less balanced and can stand mostly on the 3 inner fingers. Thanks for these posts - it has been quite interesting to read them and Alan's latest blog post as well. Is there any video available for that master class?

Just tried it on my desk and it is the same for me. I think what happens is that when the thumb is 90 degrees to the hand it is pushing the entire arm sideways so we instinctively rely on more 5th finger support. when the thum is inward it the arm is more or less balanced and can stand mostly on the 3 inner fingers. Have you tried doing it in the air as well? It definitely adds the to the feeling of the 5th being made to act like a pillar against the table, but I also feel vastly more free and movable when I do it in the air. Even with nothing to act against there's a tremendous feeling in the knuckle. If you use the other hand to draw the thumb a little bit further (without straining, of course) it seems to empower the knuckle of the 5th even more. The knuckles move into a near perfect straight line and the 5th can then move very freely and easily. While in this position, it almost seems to feel powerful than any other finger, or at least equal. I'm not sure if this activates muscles (perhaps the ones that run down the outside of the hand) or whether it frees some of them up or perhaps both. However, the difference in what my fifth fingers can do has been remarkable.