Technique
Scott McBride Smith, Editor
A wise man once said that the child is the father of the man. My grandmother had an earthier way of putting it. "You better watch out, Scotty," she said, following some childish misdeed of mine involving teasing of sisters which started as a joke and ended in tears. "What goes around always comes around."
Both statements apply to piano technique. What we teach in the beginning has a big effect on the result we get at the end. This isn't quite as easy as it sounds when dealing with younger students. There are so many challenges in achieving a recognizable rendition of a piece that sometimes, the underlying principles of good technique are overlooked.
You will make
a good start to rectifying this situation by reading our three
articles and applying the writers' ideas in your own studio. Hand,
wrist and arm position, pronation and lordosis, imagery and problem-solving
- they're all here, and more. "If one is good, two is even
better," my grandmother used to say. "If you have three,
you're rich". A good description of this issue's Technique
column.
from Ronald Morgan's article
Awareness of natural functions of hand, wrist, arm, shoulders, neck, and back prevents undue tension
The hand
Hang your arm and hand at your side. Now place your hand on a surface while maintaining the initial position. The hand is relaxed, has a natural curve, the final joint of the thumb is in a natural position (which differs slightly depending on the student), and the teacher can see the fingernails when looking down from above. I call this playing on the pads. There are many times when we must leave this position, but I suggest returning to it as often as possible to minimize muscle contraction. This is also one of my guiding principles in determining fingering.
Often students are encouraged to hold a ball to find the basic hand position. I am not in favor of this approach because I believe that it creates excessive muscle contraction in the hand and fingers. Students who are taught this position will often experience a collapse in the final joint of the fingers when playing on the pads. To correct this, I try to create an awareness of firm finger joints away from the keyboard. An example would be to practice picking up and holding small objects with the thumb and one other finger with firm finger joints.
If the thumb is played exactly parallel to the keyboard, the student must lift it in order to move the thumb to another key. Effort is minimized if the thumb is played at a slight angle (a descending slope towards the keyboard). It is also much easier to pass the thumb under the other fingers when necessary.
Students with a tense thumb ("hitch-hiking" position) and the curled or raised 5th finger are attempting to stabilize their hand; it is a sensation similar to grasping a railing to avoid falling. The result is unevenness in articulation because the student inhibits the coordination of the fingers with the extremes of opposing motions (e.g., pulling up the 5th finger while pushing down the 4th). This is usually a sign of a bigger problem the student does not make a connection between the hand and the rest of the playing mechanism. Everything stops at the wrist, which is usually tight and immobile. . .
Ronald Morgan is currently Assistant Professor and Chair of Piano at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. He received his DMA, MM, and MA from the Eastman School of Music, and has given concerts and masterclasses internationally.
from Ronald Shinn's article
Monitoring posture and hand position is important in controlling tension
No violinist can produce a good tone without addressing relaxation of the bow arm. Unfortunately, pianists sometimes study for years with hidden tension and poor tone but the issue is not addressed because the relationship between tone and tension is not as immediately apparent in pianists. Pianists sometimes suffer from physical injuries that may be tension-related, so there are many reasons for us to deal with excessive tension.
Monitoring posture and hand position is an important step in eliminating tension. Frequently observed errors in students include: sitting too far back on the bench; having the bench too far forward which limits lateral torso and arm movement; elbows positioned too close to the body; back either overly rigid and straight or slouched; wrist level too high or too low which can cause tendonitis, and head and neck bent too far forward, which can cause excess tension in the back as well as future problems with vertebrae misalignment.
The elbows and arms
Particular attention should be paid to the elbow position.
If the elbow is drawn too far toward the body, the hand will be
sloped downward (supinated) and the weakest fingers of the hand
(4th and 5th) will be forced into positions that severely limit
mobility. Students should relax and float arms out and up slightly.
The arms should move into a position which draws the back of the
hands parallel to the key tops and the ensuing pronation allows
great freedom of movement in the weak 4th and 5th fingers. This
also allows the elbow and forearm to track along with the movement
of the hand during scales and arpeggios. Students often hold their
elbow in one position while executing scale and arpeggio patterns,
not realizing the strain that causes to their mechanism. Students
should be encouraged to keep their forearm, hand and arm in approximately
the same angle as they move higher or lower in pitch, and this
requires freedom of movement in the shoulder and arm. . .
Dr. Ronald Shinn currently holds the chair
Dowling Professor of Music at Huntingdon College in Montgomery,
Alabama, where he has been a member of the music faculty for twenty-five
years. His Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance is from The
University of New Mexico, his Master of Music in Piano Performance
is from The University of Wisconsin (Madison), and his Doctor
of Musical Arts (D.M.A.) in Piano Performance is from The University
of Alabama. Shinn's students are consistently winners in solo
and concerto competitions. He has judged many piano competitions
throughout the South. In addition to the college load, Shinn has
a number of talented pre-college and adult students, and was honored
as the recipient of the 1999 AMTA Teacher of the Year Award.
For the other Samplers from this issue
