What's the right place of his hands at his piano?
Round hand, firm yolks, leveled wrist and bench at fair height. We explain the posture of the body to his fingers with digitation and daily exercises.
The right place of the hands at the piano is round and relaxed: slightly curved fingers that play with the yolk close to the tip, firm knuckles that do not sink, wrist more or less at the height of the keyboard and thumb supported onto its side. It all starts before touching the first key: the height of the bench and the distance to the piano decide if the hand can be so without tension.
In this guide you go from body to finger: posture, bench, hand shape, digitation, weight use and errors that a teacher fixes more often.
To sum up
- With his hands on his keyboard, his forearms have to be more or less parallel to his ground.
- The curve of his hand is the same as that of his while hung relaxed with his body: round and non-crispada.
- The yolks with his face and his thumb with his face.
- Fingers are numbered from 1 (thumb) to 5 (pinky) in both hands.
- The key goes down with the arm's weight and once you get down we don't have to tighten up.
Position and height of the bench
- Just sit at the front half of the bench, not at the whole seat.
- Support your feet on the ground with the right close to the pedal. If your feet do not come, as with many children, use a backrest or a firm box.
- Put your hands onto the keys and check height: forearms have to be more or less parallel to the ground with elbows at keyboard height or a little above.
- A clear distance: elbows have to be put a little ahead of the torso. If they stick to the body, you are very close. If arms are stretched, you are far away.
- Located in front of the centre of the keyboard, about to the height of the central do.
- Keep your back upright without rigidity, with a slight inclination forward and your shoulders loose.
| Signal | probable cause | Ajuste |
|---|---|---|
| elbows under the keyboard and broken up dolls | That's low. | Pull up or add a firm cushion |
| Moulds up and forearms tipped up | Ground or close bench | Put up the bench or put it back a little. |
| Stretch arms and leaning back | Banking far | Just get her up till the elbows get loose. |
| elbows far above the keyboard and back clawed | That's high. | Put it down till the forearms are leveled |
The shape of the hand: round but natural
For years we have been taught how to play "as if you held a ball." The image helps but exaggerated creates tension. Today many teachers prefer another reference: they drop their arm at the side of their body, completely loose, and watch the curve that takes their hand. That's how you look about the keyboard.
- Yema: Do you touch with the fleshy part about the end, with your fingernail or with your finger flat. Keep your fingernails short.
- Nudillas: they form an arch or "bridge" and do not sink onto the keyboard.
- Last Fallange: firm, if you turn inside while you play, your finger's collapsing.
- Push: He plays with his face, close to his fingernail corner, and keeps his face loose, without stick to his hand.
- Meñique: curved and supported on its side end, and not flat or stretched.
- Fairy: leveled with the back of his hand, neither fall nor rise.
Trick: from knee to keyboard
Put your hands relaxed onto your knees and watch their shape: round and effortless. Then put them up and put them onto the keyboard without changing anything. Do them every time you start practising.
Digitation: finger numbers
At piano, fingers are numbered equally at both hands: 1 is thumb, 2 index, 3 mean, 4 nullifying and 5 pinique. Those numbers appear on the notes of the score and should be respected from the start: good digitation makes the passages come out by themselves later.
| Note | Right hand | Left hand |
|---|---|---|
| Do | 1 | 5 |
| Re | 2 | 4 |
| Mi | 3 | 3 |
| Fa | 4 | 2 |
| Sol | 5 | 1 |
To play more than five straight notes, the thumb goes under his hand. On the scale of an ascending high do, his right hand plays 1-3-3-3-3-4-5 (the thumb goes after me) and the left 5-4-3-3-1 (finger 3 crosses above his thumb after the sun). At his lower, his path goes upside down. If you have yet to read with fluidity, put his back into our guide to read scores)..
Weighting arm and tension: how to play without squeezing
The piano's sound doesn't come from pushing with his finger but from letting his arm's weight get to his key through a firm but non-rigid hand. Once his key came down and sounded, his finger doesn't have to press and his finger holds his finger with his best.
Pressure signalling
- The shoulders come up while you play.
- That's how you put your breath up at the rough passages.
- The thumb remains rigid or glued to the side of his hand.
- Fingers that do not touch get up high or stretch.
- Intent appears with his forearm or wrist after his practice.
When you notice some, stop and let your arms fall to your sides, gently remove them and start again slower. [piano]](/clases/piano)The teacher looks at these details from the outside, something difficult to do while you play.
Exercises to fix the position
Five minutes at the start of every practice are enough. Do them slow, with the [metronome]](/herramientas/metronomo) at about 60 BPM and one note per click.
| Ejercicio | How To Do It | What's up? |
|---|---|---|
| Drop his arm | Lift up your arm and drop it onto a key with his finger 3 firmly. | Touch with weight, but not with force |
| Five fingers | Do-Re@-@ My-Fa-Solo-Fa-Reo-Reo legato, first every hand alone and then together. | Round shape and finger matching |
| Retirement notes | Each finger plays four times the same key. | That last falange doesn't double |
| thumb step | Doc.re.mi.fa with 1-2-3-1, back and forth, right hand. | Loose thumb and stable wrist |
| wrist staccato | Shortcuts letting the wrist bounce gently. | Loosen wrist tension |
Common errors in the place of the hands
| Error | What's that look like? | Corrigendum |
|---|---|---|
| Fingers, flat | It's his best play with all the phalanx | Reforms his hand onto his knee |
| Fallange broken | The finger tiptoe bends inwards | Retiring slow notes with attention to that finger |
| Falling doll | The wrist remains under the keyboard | Check the height of the bench |
| High and rigid wrist | The "hang" hand onto the keys | wrist staccato and arm fall |
| Thumb hanging | The thumb's out of the keyboard. | Loan him onto his face above a key |
| Stretch | Finger 5 touches flat and without force | Touch him onto his tiptoe, more curved |
The posture is the same with an acoustic piano and with a digital piano. What changes is the weight of the keys: with a keyboard with light keys, it's more difficult to develop weight control. We explain the differences with [digital piano or keyboard]](/blog/piano-digital-o-teclado-diferencias).
Frequently asked questions
What height should piano bench have been?
No single measure, because it depends on your height and that of the piano. The reference is the body: with his hands above his keys, his forearms have to be more or less parallel to his ground. That's why a adjustable bench is a good investment, especially if at home they touch several people.
Do children have to use the same place as adults?
Yes, with the same principles but adapting the environment: backrest so that your feet don't hang up, firm cushion or adjustable bench and short sessions. We give you more details in our [children's piano] guide](/blog/piano-para-ninos-guia-para-padres).
Is it normal for nullifying and pinching to be the weakest?
That's how they're connected with their tendons, and they're less independent than them and they have less control at first. They're strengthening with slow and with the repertoire, without forcing them.
Do we have to get his fingers up a lot before we play?
No. Lift them up with excessive energy and generate tension. Fingers should be held close to keys, ready to come down with a short move.