important.

Correct posture means sitting

shoulders

upright

loose, low and relaxed, and sitting

with a straight

back, keeping your

at the right height

and distance

the piano. Sit too low or close, and you'll restrict your freedom of movement
the keyboard.

Sit too high or far away, and you lose intimacy

from
across

and the ability

to

engage the weight of your body.

Everyone has a different
and distance,
horizontal

or sloping

hands while sitting

bottom

body shape and size, so there's no simple rule for height

but generally

in classical

slightly

music

downwards

at the keyboard,

your forearms

towards

should

the hands.

so the right

hand is some way towards

and the left cowards the top, If you have to lean backwards

instrument

to do this, you're sitting

aspect of this is hand shape.

they've

playing

music.

the hands

co position

is technique.

Look at your hands. All the fingers are a

size and shape, bur somehow

need

the

tOOclose.

different

We

your

away from the

The general term for the physical aspects of playing an instrument

An important

be roughly

Try crossing

all got co work equally

well when

on the keys to minimise

the

differences between fingers.

Place one hand on the white keys near the middle. Notice how the knuckles slope
down, away from the thumb,
the smaller,

weaker fingers

in the direction

of the smaller fingers. This means that

have no room co play. Twist

from the wrist (cowards the thumb)

the hand round slightly

until you have level knuckles;

note how the

fingers themselves

have co be less flat to continue

hand was cupped

co hold an object in the palm of the hand. You need both level

knuckles

and rounded

hand slightly

resting on the keys, as though

fingers. Observe how the thumb

the

has to curve in cowards the

co sit squarely on the key: don't let it stick our, or rest on the wood in

front of the keys.

Now take a look at your wrist. It should

be slightly

lower than the rest of the

hand, and should feel relaxed, but not so much that it causes the hand to collapse on
to the keys. It must support
knuckles

the hand but not constrain

may push downwards,

this problem,

forcing

it. If the hand tenses up, the

the wrist to rise. Most adult learners have

at least with their weaker hand. As soon as this happens, stop playing

and give your hand a good shake so the wrist goes floppy. Best to take a coffee break
before starting

again.

Now check your shoulders

again.

Are they still relaxed,

tensed up and risen since you stopped thinking

don't

or have they quietly

about them) Check your elbows tOO:

let them stick our sideways when the hands are on the keyboard,

arms hanging

loosely off the shoulders,

feel your

and let the elbows find their natural place

fairly close to the sides of your body.

Remember
on playing

to keep checking

Top: a good hand position means level knuckles

for signs of tension, and never force yourself to keep

when it occurs. Of course, some tension

is necessary for your body to

operate at all, and for you to control it.

The golden rule of piano technique

Hand shapes
and rounded fingers. Centre: letting your knuckles
slope ro me right leaves no room for your shorter
fingers to play. Bottom: (he high wrist is a sign of

is: maximum

relaxation

+ maximum

control.

a tense hand. Ti me ro rake a break.

READING MUSIC: PITCH

With

classical music, we normally

learn to play from written

that was not the case with jazz and other non-classical
people who only want to play non-classical

music. Until recently,

styles. Bur these days even

music are learning

to read music notation

because it really helps.

This should not diminish

the importance

where players tend to study recordings

music.

What's

more,

hearing performances

classical

musicians

of learning

by ear in jazz, for example,

and live performances

rather

also learn 'by ear', through

than written
seeing

and

by other musicians.

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