Personally, I initially came to piano playing with a rather reckless enthusiasm, rather than via a disciplined approach. I viewed technique as something that ought to magic itself up chiefly via commitment to artistic ideals. However, owing to the lack of anything close to a prodigious talent, I eventually realised that this wasn’t proving terribly effective- either on a mechanical level or in terms of fine control over sound. Except for a true genius, wishful artistic spirit can only go so far in producing a technical foundation. I particularly enjoy working with students who have enthusiasm, but who might feel that they have hit any kind of a wall in their progress that is stopping them from making the ongoing improvement desired.

It was particularly when I discovered the work of Alan Fraser that I realised that how much physical processes might assist in achieving a desired sound, compared to willpower alone. Through various sessions, I came to realise how much I had misunderstood the relationship between the hand and arm. By also starting my own rational analysis via basics of physics, I was able to develop a simple model of how they can most easily work together. The most old-fashioned methods tended to stress extreme finger independence, with minimal relationship to the arm. However, in modern methodology it then became extremely popular to portray the arm/weight as literally being the primary source of energy for moving the keys.

In the following video, I show that both models are equally extreme distortions of the truth. I demonstrate how either may easily cause sluggishness and excess effort, for anyone who makes the mistake of taking them literally…

In my teaching, I stress the role of genuine movement in the hand and fingers, in association with smooth sideways arm motion/rotation. The arm’s freedom is earned via fingers that actively engage with the keys to produce precision of contact- rather than by literal heaviness into the fingers. Although I do use weight exercises to teach a foundational freedom of the arm, I would never portray gravity as literally moving whole chains of individual keys. Many opposing methods have fought between claims that weight must be supported fully at the shoulder, or that full arm weight must be directed into the hand. However, the truth is of a shared support system- in which comfortable stabilising forces are involved at both ends.

The following video demonstrates how sluggishness and stress may easily be caused, should we take ideas of resting on the hand too literally for chords. At the end, I present what I believe is a far more accurate model of the hand and arm connection. By thinking of using the hand to subtly push back away from the piano, confident motion becomes possible without jamming hard into the keys. This allows clear support for the arm, as well as scope for tremendous dynamic power (without heavy collisions). Important as it is to link the body to the hand, a healthy connection is one you can easily push yourself back away from. There is a world of difference between an alert sense of poise and a slump of genuine weight.