Why Technique Isn’t What You Think It Is
1. Technique
My aim with many of these articles is to challenge assumptions that many have about what learning the piano actually is. Many of the beliefs we hold about learning music aren’t true at all, and these can very much slow down progression as you inevitably go through the same journey I did of discovering that it’s actually easier and harder than you think at the same time.
Very much like if you had a goal to lose weight or build muscle, what you actually need to do is really quite simple. Yet doing that daily, as your mind tries to sabotage you, is much more difficult. This is true for music too. We have a tendency to overcomplicate what we need to do, yet doing that consistently over time is much more challenging.
The term “technique” gets thrown around a lot in the world of piano playing, and it’s one that fascinates me because it’s also a term that doesn’t really mean anything. The definition of technique is:
"“a way of carrying out a particular task, especially the execution or performance of an artistic work or a scientific procedure”.
Yet, what does this actually mean; “the way that you do something”?
Well, the trouble with this is that on the piano everyone does things differently depending on the context and anatomical differences. I happen to have hands that some might consider to resemble a spade. So reaching long distances on the piano for me is going to look different to the kind of hand gymnastics that someone with petit-hand syndrome might do.
Similarly, you may play some notes in one context in one way, but in another context play them very differently. For example, if the articulation changes (e.g. staccato) or if the notes that come before or after mean that you need to use different fingers.
So, this means that it’s next to impossible to suggest that there is a “way of carrying out a particular task”, because this can change.
2. Movement
Just for a second, let’s pretend you want to argue with me (only for a second though). Your argument might be something like; well, there are things that you should do on the piano and things that you shouldn’t do, and this can be considered good or bad technique.
This would mean that good technique in one piece of music is bad technique in another piece of music? Good technique for one person’s hands is bad technique for another person’s hands?
In the spirit of these questions, I actually agree!
Good technique in one situation or for one person will indeed be bad technique for another situation or another person. This is why it’s somewhat useless attempting to prescribe a generally and widely accepted “good technique”. So here are some examples of common, widely spread features of good technique that I don’t think are helpful.
Curved fingers
This comes from an anatomical truth, but is wildly misguided. If you have tiny hands and try to stretch a little on the piano, it will be difficult for you to keep your fingers curved without forcing them, whereas for me this would be much less of a problem.
This originates from the idea that our hands are naturally curved. If you drop your arms beside you and then lift your hands up (at the elbow), completely relaxed with your wrist still, you will notice that your hand’s natural position is to have your fingers curved when relaxed.
Yet the logic here is backwards. You don’t curve your fingers to be relaxed, you relax your fingers to be curved. When playing the piano, the aim is not to keep the fingers curved at all, it’s to keep them relaxed and therefore in some stretched situations this may involve not curving your fingers at all.
Keep your fingers close to the keys
Perhaps a less common belief, but a belief all the same. This one is particularly prescribed for playing scales in an attempt to create smoothness of touch and an equal sound.
The problem here is that it is completely useless and once again tries to put the cart before the horse. Let’s say you wanted to play fortissimo (very loud) and staccato (very short and spiky). Well, keeping your fingers close to the keys would very much hinder this and cause tension, as you try to exert force without moving.
The idea here comes from the fact that if you are playing something like a scale in a smooth way, your hands will naturally minimise movement in order to move quicker with predictable force. Trying to force this movement doesn’t create the desired sound - the desired sound, practiced enough, creates efficiency and therefore creates the movement.
Play with finger strength
Another one that is an unhelpful reverse engineering. The concept here is that those who are learning the piano have weak fingers (particularly the outer fingers), and to get better at the piano those fingers need to be strengthened, particularly because playing pieces well requires finger strength.
Unusually, this is actually an anatomically incorrect rendering of what is happening with your hands. For everyone (including elite professional pianists), we all have weaker outer fingers and we cannot fix this. The 4th and 5th fingers in particular share tendons and are weakly aligned with our arms, which reduces control and force. These are things that we cannot fix. Yet, there are still many exceptional pianists, right?
This is because it’s not about strengthening those fingers (mostly), it’s in fact about supporting them. So where did “play with finger strength” come from? Well, once again, this is one of those situations where in some contexts you are looking for a desired effect in a piece of music, and this may require using power in your fingers, but this is not a one size fits all idea, and it neglects the fact that much of the power we use on the piano comes from not only our fingers, but our wrist and arms as well.
3. Understanding
So if a generally “good technique” can’t be applied, then why is it discussed, and what should you do?
Well, the ultimate aim instead should be to remain relaxed where possible. To do this, there are some things that will make it easier for you, such as particular fingerings for chords or scales (for example). However, your version of relaxed might involve having slightly less curved fingers when playing those scales and chords, or it may involve moving your fingers a little more than me.
Throughout my years of teaching the piano, I have found that prescribing the “correct” way of moving the hand often results in trying to force the hand to do something unnatural, and therefore prevents the very thing we are looking for, which is relaxation.
If you focus on trying to perform movements in a way that feels relaxed, then you will find the technique that suits your hands best. This might mean slowing down fast runs of notes or scales to feel the fluidity of the movement, but it doesn’t mean forcing a movement that is “the correct way of playing”.
So next time you find yourself locking up at the piano, ask yourself if the movement feels natural or not, rather than if the movement is correct or not.
Matt
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