Thats a great advice-thanks. Probably good to start up like that always.
Like yourself worked for a very short time as a "guard" in a bar. The owner told me that what I needed was my mouth-not my fist. And that was precisely what worked best...
I'd like to add that when you lift the finger and let it drop, the "falling" finger actually performs the extension action Andrew writes about. The only difference is that you do not consciously interfere in the process of the finger going down. I guess our forefathers of the old finger school were not as stupid as modern teachers portray them...
Why the lifting? one may ask.
First of all, you can compare it to the "high knee lift" in the training runners do. Without going into the mechanics of running, when you train your body for speed, there must be perfect balance between extensors and flexors.
Second, here's a quote by George Kochevitsky, The Art of Piano Playing, p. 27:
P.S.: It is probably worth noting that Kochevitsky (later, in the chapter about speed development) also recommends "slight after-pressure" with the fingertips (no arm pressure!) into the keybed after the drop to strengthen the image of the movement in the brain. Whether one likes it or not, but that's again Andrew's extension movement, by the way.
Paul
Interesting. I'm not sure whether I necessarily agree or disagree, as I suspect this would be quite hard to prove either way. Regarding the idea of using this to trigger the extension action- personally I suspect that this is one of the big things that sets it off in those who have no awareness of it. However, the extending aspect is very much something that must be instigated still. It's just a case of whether it's conscious or not.
If I "drop" my finger there's very little sound produced. I think the brain senses the downward path and naturally tends to add the extension action, to finish the job and balance the knuckle. When starting from the key, I think people are far less inclined to get the action by instinct- and instead tend to press the whole arm down or retract the finger more.
I think there's great value in trying this action with very conscious extension activity though, by the way. Until it was conscious, personally I suffered rather unpleasant landings with high fingers. When I feel the finger deliberately straightens at the last moment, I get very little sense of impact. The reaction just runs straight back through the finger- without the wrist wanting to tighten to resist anything. Without the extending, I used to feel a bit of a jolt on landing.
Exactly right. One of my other favorite workout exercises that changed the world for many who had never moved in such a way before is the whole-finger slap (from the knuckle), but in a special fashion. Grab a hardcover book, not too thick (max. 2 inches) so that its spine conveniently fits between your thumb and the four fingers (thumb under, fingers on top, spine of the book against the skin under the knuckles). Find a convenient position to sit, for example in your armchair, so that you can support the weight of the book with your thighs or knees. The position of the book is not important; it should be convenient to hold it lightly in your hand as support, but its weight should lie on some surface. Now slap your fingers against the hard cover one by one. This is nothing forceful; just correctly timed. Don't rush; the sound of the slap is the most important. Also note that your finger has no choice but to move correctly from the knuckle; all knuckles are pronounced because you hold the book. As soon as you master this, alternate with different fingers on the cover of the book until you can "play" a whole-finger-slap trill. 3-2 (2-3), 2-5 (5-2) etc. is easy; 4-5 (5-4) presents a serious challenge, especially at the speed of a real trill. Avoid abnormal tension anywhere. After you have done this for some time, collapsing knuckles will be a thing of the past.
Paul
Yeah, I like it. I'd just add though- I think it's very important not to imagine moving a key, when doing these. By imagining what I'd do to a key, I used to add unnecessary resistance and stiffness to this kind of movement on tabletops. I'd gone against these kinds of exercises for a while before, before then found that if you treat it as something totally different (rather than imagine cutting through resistance that is not present), these are great for freeing up movement.
I recommended a book because you can hold it in a position under a certain angle for comfortable hand position. A tabletop reminds the piano too much and may cause tension in the wrists or arms if the initial positon is incorrect or unfomfortable.
I just didn't want to seem too cruel towards Eric, but when talking about freeing up movement, then, personally, you might prefer a whole-finger slap against the palm of the same hand (that's my favorite), which is even a better workout, especially with alternating finger combinations (not-too-fast trills). Actually, it's a movement with two components: you start the whole finger from the knuckle, but to reach your hand palm with your fingertip, the middle joint will have to do its part to finish the movement. 4-5/5-4 may turn out to be hell for you, so be careful and don't force anything!
After this workout, do not attempt to play the piano immediately. You have to give your hands a rest for some time.
P.S.: This is the ONLY exercise I know that works to bypass (and ultimately eliminate) negative tendon linkages. These tendon linkages cause building up of tension in the middle joints of the fingers, and are the reason one cannot make a trill with certain finger combinations, even after very extensive training, and even if one uses a technique based on forearm rotation (mainly 4-5, basically in all people without exception, and in some people also 2-3 or even 1-2 in the left hand). I wouldn't be surprised if they also play a role in the development of focal distonia and carpal tunnel trouble.
Paul
Just wondering whether others found this mindset to be of much use? I've found considerable improvement over the past couple of months. I feel like this way of thinking about the preparation to moving the key has almost completely eradicated the moments where the arm would bob around or have to be shoved down into the keys. I know that Alan doesn't like weight thinking, but I've found that by viewing it merely as a preparatory force (for the finger to already be pushing back up against) I've come close to eradicating most of the really significant holes in my technique. When I tried not think to about weight at all, my fingers were often in a position where they could not transfer energy effectively. They just weren't coming from the right set up- no matter how intensely they tried to move. By thinking about weight in this new way I've actually found a very direct means to correct many of the faults that Alan attributes to thinking about weight. By restricting weight to a preparatory action that serves to prime the fingers against a non-moving key (rather than as a replacement for finger activity during key movement) it's virtually impossible to end up slumping down. If anything, it actively encourages you to perceive what is necessary to avoid collapses. You're already engaging the action of the finger to push the knuckle up, before the key even moves. This creates a firmness that allows the finger to transfer energy very directly (quite startlingly so at times, compared to what I was used to) for a full tone with minimal expenditure of effort. It's simply impossible to overdo the weight side of things in this situation because, if you do, the key will go down and reveal the error. This simple and unmissable yardstick has been invaluable to the process of making refinements.
I think that generic intent for the arm to be heavy and for weight to replace the need for the fingers to act is almost always a bad thing that leads to drooping fingers and low efficiency of energy transfer. However, the much more sensitive balance of weight needed to prime the finger against the key (without depressing it) actively serves to aid the finger in perceiving what is needed to be certain to avoid that same collapse. For that reason, I've gone back to thinking of arm-weight as a very effective thing to bring into the awareness- but in a totally different way to most explanations. The way I'm looking at it only aids the ability to achieve the freely "floating" arm. I think many of the moments where my habit is to dig in were actually caused by failure to rest that tiny bit extra on the surface of the keys prior to starting key depression. It was at those moments that my arm would want to press- because the fingers weren't primed for effective energy transfer. By resting just a tiny bit more (and I stress, never enough to even depress the key by a mm!) before activating the finger, the arm can stay light and free, without ever feeling like it needs to press in. While the traditional idea of using more weight to depress the key would have been disastrous, the idea of resting the arm's weight more clearly against the tip of a finger that is trying to lengthen itself (as an act of preparation) has proved to be exactly what I needed. By thinking about weight in this specific way, I've almost cured my old "arm-weight" problems. I'll try to upload a new video soon.
It is a masterful description of something some pianists (me included) may do intuitively and most others may never discover themselves.
Paul
Cziffra wrote:
"I think that generic intent for the arm to be heavy and for weight to replace the need for the fingers to act is almost always a bad thing that leads to drooping fingers and low efficiency of energy transfer."
In "All thumbs" (which to me is the best book Alan have written so far) the "crusade" against armweight is considerably moderated. As I've always understood Alan this "crusade" is just a kind of unfocus- armweight can be learnt in one lesson while developping the hand/fingers takes years.
Funny enough the great tip in "All Thumbs" about using the pinky as a pencil positioned 90 degrees to the hand does indeed as Andrew writes "replace the need for the fingers to act".It demands great strength and it's not easy but it produces wonderful sounds.
Field was said to play melodies in his Nocturnes like that but with his third...
It is a masterful description of something some pianists (me included) may do intuitively and most others may never discover themselves.
Paul
Cheers, I feel convinced that this is the underlying objective issue behind how Frederic meinders achieves his rich tone despite such minimal effort. Did you see his left hand videos? Although his arms float beautifully, I'm certain that he rests enough as a preparatory act, for the finger to be pushing back against before the key starts moving. This sensitive balance readies the hand to make a big sound without any arm pressure or drop. I'm actually finding it quite startling how much deeper the tone is when I play this way. I'm pretty shocked at quite how poorly my fifth finger had still been performing before I introduced this.
Incidentally, I've been finding rotation very useful with this. When the finger is already extending against the key, rocking onto it encourages it to lengthen even more through the key- not to brace or give way.
Cziffra wrote:
"I think that generic intent for the arm to be heavy and for weight to replace the need for the fingers to act is almost always a bad thing that leads to drooping fingers and low efficiency of energy transfer."
In "All thumbs" (which to me is the best book Alan have written so far) the "crusade" against armweight is considerably moderated. As I've always understood Alan this "crusade" is just a kind of unfocus- armweight can be learnt in one lesson while developping the hand/fingers takes years.
Funny enough the great tip in "All Thumbs" about using the pinky as a pencil positioned 90 degrees to the hand does indeed as Andrew writes "replace the need for the fingers to act".It demands great strength and it's not easy but it produces wonderful sounds.
Field was said to play melodies in his Nocturnes like that but with his third...
Yeah, agreed. All thumbs has some excellent exercises. I need to come back to it soon and go through plenty of them. It was the point about starting the finger activity before the key moves that set me on this alternative way of thinking about weight, in a much more sensitive way.
I'm not sure if I can agree on the idea that the vertical finger replaces the need for it to act though, to be honest. I think this tends to be unnecessarily stiff and doesn't accelerate the key smoothly. Yesterday I came back to the second scherzo by Chopin. My film of a few months back still has many collapses and droops and moments of bobbing. What stood out was the different in the high F, just after the opening series of chords. Before, I was lengthening the finger out in advance and tightening my hand to stop it giving way. Now I'm only partially lengthening the finger against the key before sounding (resting a little weight on the surface as described here) and using the last bit of the lengthening movement to sound it. I find the difference to be phenomenal. Before I was stiffening a little to compensate for the reaction caused by arriving at the key. Now I'm just moving. I think that even the most prepared finger needs to activate in some way, for the most resonant sound. What I'd been doing before feels like a real thump now. I think the difference is subtle to look at, but the reaction is eradicated by intent to move the finger that last bit into the vertical position- not intent to fix it into the vertical position already.
