Playing the Piano with Relaxation；Holistique Pianism (14)

From Release to Motion, and Back Again

When people talk about playing the piano “with relaxation,”

the question that comes up most often is this:

Where exactly am I supposed to relax?

When we sit naturally, the human spine no longer keeps the gentle S-curve it has when standing.

Instead, it settles into a softer, C-like curve.

In this state, the muscles of the back are released,

and the center of the body becomes stable.

If you place both hands naturally on your knees,

or simply let your arms hang freely by your sides,

you may notice that your arms are also relaxed.

This is what relaxation feels like.

Now, when you bring your hands from your knees to the keyboard,

can you sense how muscles that were relaxed begin to contract

in order to create movement?

Playing an instrument, like any physical activity,

always involves motion.

Movement occurs by leaving a still state behind.

This is the transition from relaxation to motionfrom release to muscular contraction,

and sometimes to tension.

Next, try hovering your hands above the keyboard

and keeping them there without playing.

You will likely begin to feel fatigue in the arm muscles,

and depending on how you are holding your arms,

perhaps around the shoulders as well.

At that point, try letting go of the effort

of holding your hand above the keys.

Your hand will naturally fall onto the keyboard.

Because a piano produces sound when a key goes down,

this falling motion is, in essence,

what it means to “play” the piano.

If the hand drops too quickly,

the sound becomes loud and harsh.

So instead, allow the muscles to release gradually,

letting the hand descend slowly.

As the hand lowers,

the muscles that were contracted begin to soften,

and when the fingers reach the bottom of the key,

can you feel how the hand becomes completely relaxed?

In other words,

the moment the key is played

is the moment when the muscles can be most released.

Learning to use only the minimum amount

of muscular effort necessary to produce sound

this is what it meansto play the piano with relaxation.

Balancing on the Bones of the Fingers

Once this sense of release is established,

the next step in piano playing

is learning to balanceon the bones of the fingers.

Only when the finger bones are aligned

and stacked in balance

can they support the weight of the arm.

An easy image to understand this

is a ballerina standing on pointe shoes.

When the finger bones are balanced

and able to receive the arm’s weight,

that balance can then be transferred

to the next finge

rto play the next key.

Here, the student is exploring

the sensation of balancing on the fourth finger.

The wrist is held higher at firs

tbecause this makes the sense of balance

easier to recognize.

Once the body learns this coordination,

we then practice finding the same balance

with the wrist in a slightly lower position.