problems with technique

[fzong]

I have a rather advanced student who recently attended a music camp. Although he has never had problems with tendonitis, after this 3 week camp he talks about pains in his wrist after just ten minutes of playing. he did a lot of playing at the camp, about five to seven hours a day when he was previously only playing about an hour to two hours a day. I was just wondering if there was anything we could do to solve this problem before it gets too bad.

[Gill the Piano]

A good osteopath or chiropractor will work wonders. Or try Bowen Technique. For prevention rather than cure, an Alexander Technique teacher would be invaluable, particularly one who specialises in musos and their specific problems.

[joseph]

first of all STOP him from playing for HOURS A DAY! He's overdone it and he's used a bad technique. So he must stop playing for a week and start again.

OK you need to get yourself a copy of mark westcotts technical regime from the october 1978 issue of piano magazine (I have a photocopy i might be able to email you one on PDF)

Here's what you must get him to do next time he sits at the piano:

Five finger position in each hand, 2 octaves apart. g to d is a good cluster to use. Depress the keys fully and silently going all the way to the keybed. Make sure that you are totally relaxed but don't hang off the keyboard. All your arm weight should be focused to the fingertips without a feeling of heaviness.

Now simultaneously bring up the second finger in each hand. The others remain down. VERY SLOWLY AND VERY RELAXED bring up the finger and then play the 2nd finger note as semibreves, ONLY PRESSING THE KEY HALF WAY DOWN. At the first sign of any tension, stop the exercise and relax fully again. Allow him time to relax. If it takes 10 mins it takes 10 mins. This relaxed feeling is how you should always feel when you play.

Repeat the exercise in this order: 2nd fingers, 3rd, 4th, 5th and thumb. What you are establishing here is the feel of the piano and the feel of the fingers upon the keys. From now on everything must be practised with this touch, every note must have the same quality and the same quantity of sound.

The exercises then progress to bedding the notes (playing them all the way down) but for a couple of weeks just do these exercises. Trust me, they work!

[fzong]

Thank you very much for the input. He seems to be recovering quickly. He takes breaks every hour of practicing and the problem seems to be getting better. I will try those finger exercises with him and see if it works.

However I noticed that his shoulders are very tense while he plays. This has never been a problem before but we are working on it.

[joseph]

ask him to concentrate on relaxing his shoulders before doing anything else.

I have had exactly the same problem with one of my students only a month or so ago, and after doing these exercises things have improved dramatically.

Hope things work out for him!