Vibrations at the keybed

Cziffra, the practice of using the finger of one hand under the knuckles of the other, is not quite clear to me. I have not found a description of it, so a clarification would be nice. As i understand it this is an exercise for checking and correcting the free movement of the fingers. I tried it, and could do it without sensing any downward movement. But I sensed another thing, a slight disturbance of the balance of the arm. It is still a useful exercise for me, but I am able to sense the the finger action and curve that gives the best effect with the minimum of effort, to the point that I have a useful method to work with. The method of fingertapping is not very useful for me either, since I am uncomfortably aware of the fact that this affects the balance of the inactive arm. There are many Feldenkreis and Aleander methods I find useful, and many I dont need. Same with Alans methods. If it aint broke dont fix it. That is of course what everybody does, or should do. Take what you need, and ignore the rest.

In Feldenkrais I myself for years made the mistake of getting caught up in the physical perception of the experience instead of 'doing,' and it was a major barrier to my advancing. Rather than "relax, relax," my distractive phrase was, "pay attention to this or that detail of sensation as you do this movement," and when it came time to it had the same deleterious effect as 'relax, relax.' I got caught up in the amazing physical changes that took place in a Feldenkrais lesson, and I was afraid that if I just forgot about them, I would lose all the benefits inherent therein. It took a long time for me to learn the next step in 'learning how to learn,' which was to use the changes in sensation to improve how I something, and then become so used to doing that action in the new way that it became second nature. This last is a completely different process from the initial experiences of sensory distinction we have in ATM and FI. AFF

In Feldenkrais I myself for years made the mistake of getting caught up in the physical perception of the experience instead of 'doing,' and it was a major barrier to my advancing. Rather than "relax, relax," my distractive phrase was, "pay attention to this or that detail of sensation as you do this movement," and when it came time to it had the same deleterious effect as 'relax, relax.' I got caught up in the amazing physical changes that took place in a Feldenkrais lesson, and I was afraid that if I just forgot about them, I would lose all the benefits inherent therein. It took a long time for me to learn the next step in 'learning how to learn,' which was to use the changes in sensation to improve how I something, and then become so used to doing that action in the new way that it became second nature. This last is a completely different process from the initial experiences of sensory distinction we have in ATM and FI. AFF

Do you mean that the arm started to feel slightly stiff, or excessively "held" in position, perhaps? To get the benefits from this, it's as important to keep the arm loose and hanging back, as to move the fingers the right way. I use it for checking the whole thing, not just the hand itself. If the hand gets pressed upwards, the arm's balance can easily be disturbed- so it's just basically just the faintest touch, to check no downward pressures are coming in. I find it especially useful for monitoring the weaker fingers in Chopin Etudes. It's relatively easy to avoid pressing through the 2nd finger, but I've been spending a lot of time checking under the 5th.

it had the same deleterious effect as 'relax, relax.' I got caught up in the amazing physical changes that took place in a Feldenkrais lesson, and I was afraid that if I just forgot about them, I would lose all the benefits inherent therein. It took a long time for me to learn the next step in 'learning how to learn,' which was to use the changes in sensation to improve how I something, and then become so used to doing that action in the new way that it became second nature. This last is a completely different process from the initial experiences of sensory distinction we have in ATM and FI. AFF Would you class looking for the vibrations in this category? It helps to get on with process of just doing it without having too much to think about. But maybe this is just a level beyond worrying about the details, rather than an end goal?

I would say feeling the actual vibrations of the key is more integrational than deconstructional. Rubinstein did it as he played, not only when he was practicing. Some pianos are better than others for this. Apart from the Steinway, the Steingraber has an amazing sense of actual vibration when you touch it. And Mason & Hamlyn are also good in this respect, something to do with a "tension resonator." AFF