YURIY GUSEV PIANO
PIANO HAND POSTURE
Some General Ideas
Music is a language of transmitting information to listeners. The task of a performer is to produce sounds with which he can express himself to listeners and to himself. All other actions, including hand positioning, are subordinated to this. It is important to understand this, since all the recommendations given on positioning are only a school of the most convenient ways of using one's own body for the benefit of the purpose of music, developed over centuries, and are in no way an end in itself. However, it is obvious that the problem is dialectical (i.e. dual): on the one hand, the more understandable and clear the musical goal is to us - the artistic image of the composition, the easier it is for us to select the appropriate movements, but at the same time, the more effective our movements are, the easier it is for us to create a beautiful sound (it is almost always impossible to create the desired sound without the necessary motor skills). Therefore, in the words of G. Neuhaus, you need to "dig a tunnel from both ends."
How to train and use the information below? First of all, you need to monitor the quality of the sound of the instrument, because this is the purpose of your hand positioning! And then, without putting too much stress on your head, try to choose movements that are suitable for the music.
How to train and use the information below? First of all, you need to monitor the quality of the sound of the instrument, because this is the purpose of your hand positioning! And then, without putting too much stress on your head, try to choose movements that are suitable for the music.
Position of the Hand and Fingers
I recommend placing your wrist at the level of the white keys (with slight deviations depending on technical difficulties).
Each finger, except the thumb, has three joints (see photo below), the thumb has two. All these joints should be bent so that the outer side of the joint "looks" outward. Your wrist is almost always slightly below the level of the first knuckles (see photo).
General position of the fingers and hand: as if you put your palm on a small ball. The fingers do not stick together, but are slightly open and wait for their turn to press the desired key. This position of the hand and fingers is maintained both when playing with any technique and when the hand is in the air before pressing.
The finger is placed (especially at the beginning) at almost 90 degrees (as in the photo) or 80. We press with the tip of the finger (the harder part), and not with the pad. The first finger touches with the tip, corner, partially with the nail. It does not lie on the key, but stands at an angle of about 30 degrees.
We place our fingers closer to the black keys so that when they appear in the piece you do not have to swing your hand back and forth to reach them - we get used to it right away.
The elbows are slightly moved to the side when playing to use the weight of the hand.
Each finger, except the thumb, has three joints (see photo below), the thumb has two. All these joints should be bent so that the outer side of the joint "looks" outward. Your wrist is almost always slightly below the level of the first knuckles (see photo).
General position of the fingers and hand: as if you put your palm on a small ball. The fingers do not stick together, but are slightly open and wait for their turn to press the desired key. This position of the hand and fingers is maintained both when playing with any technique and when the hand is in the air before pressing.
The finger is placed (especially at the beginning) at almost 90 degrees (as in the photo) or 80. We press with the tip of the finger (the harder part), and not with the pad. The first finger touches with the tip, corner, partially with the nail. It does not lie on the key, but stands at an angle of about 30 degrees.
We place our fingers closer to the black keys so that when they appear in the piece you do not have to swing your hand back and forth to reach them - we get used to it right away.
The elbows are slightly moved to the side when playing to use the weight of the hand.
Иллюстрации
Photo 1
Fingers joints
Photo 2
Correct positioning of the hand
Photo 3
Incorrect positioning of fingers and hand
Photo 4
Correct positioning of fingers and hand
Photo 5
Correct position of the shoulders. They lie without any upward movement.
Photo 6
Elbows are pulled to the side
Photo 7
Elbows should not be pressed to the body.
Fingers joints
Photo 2
Correct positioning of the hand
Photo 3
Incorrect positioning of fingers and hand
Photo 4
Correct positioning of fingers and hand
Photo 5
Correct position of the shoulders. They lie without any upward movement.
Photo 6
Elbows are pulled to the side
Photo 7
Elbows should not be pressed to the body.
About Muscle Freedom and Finger Sensations
Make sure that when playing with your favorite techniques, no muscle groups are clamped (fixed in a single position). Pay special attention to the wrist, which often tends to be fixed in this way.
Of course, playing an instrument is a series of tensions and relaxations, but the tension should be in moderation. The muscles take an active position.
Each finger, immersed in the key, to a slightly greater extent "rests" on 1 joint that it has. Distributed evenly, it is still the one that takes the greatest load, and the support can also be felt in the palm. The finger presses and plays as a whole, like a kind of "semi-arch", less often we use other techniques, in the beginning only this way mainly.
It is necessary to maintain a rounded arch of the fingers. That is, it should not be such that your wrist has failed and you are hanging on the keys already on the 2nd joint (with the exception of complex wide chords) and especially on the first.
Of course, playing an instrument is a series of tensions and relaxations, but the tension should be in moderation. The muscles take an active position.
Each finger, immersed in the key, to a slightly greater extent "rests" on 1 joint that it has. Distributed evenly, it is still the one that takes the greatest load, and the support can also be felt in the palm. The finger presses and plays as a whole, like a kind of "semi-arch", less often we use other techniques, in the beginning only this way mainly.
It is necessary to maintain a rounded arch of the fingers. That is, it should not be such that your wrist has failed and you are hanging on the keys already on the 2nd joint (with the exception of complex wide chords) and especially on the first.
