In an earlier post, “How to encourage your child to practice the piano,” I wrote about strategies parents can use to establish a routine of consistent practicing for their children.
There are many other things you can do to make sure your child gets the most out of their practice sessions, and I will share a bunch of these as I have time to type them out. I hope to explain these clearly and practically so that even if you have absolutely no musical background you will still have a good grasp on the concepts.
The first aspect we will look at is the student’s hand position. You can easily check this at home to make sure they are on the right track. Here is what to look for:
the happy, rounded hand
This is an example of a good hand position. Notice that the joints in the fingers are bent, and the hand has a rounded shape. The wrist should be up—at least level with the knuckles, not hanging down. Many students automatically raise their shoulders at the same time they raise their wrists, so check to make sure their shoulders are in a normal, relaxed position.
bad hand #1:
Check to make sure the fingers are not flat. This flat position results in the student exerting force from the wrong part of their fingers.
bad hand #2
Yuck! Notice how the joint is caved in—-it’s going in the opposite direction that joints were meant to go. Check to make sure your child’s finger joints are not pressing in or “caving” when they play a key.
bad hand #3
Rather than having the fingers splayed upward, the student should have a relaxed hand with the fingers resting on or very close to the keys. Sometimes the fingers will go up just a little when a different finger depresses a key, and that is fine.
bad hand #4
Don’t let the wrist slouch down low as in the above photo. Ouch!
It is important for piano students to have a good, healthy hand position for several reasons–to prevent injury and repetitive strain, to enable the hands and fingers to have a range of touch from soft to loud, to keep the fingers from tiring out, to have the most control over those tiny delicate muscles as possible, to have the ability to play fast without tension, etc. It may take time to correct bad habits, but it’s worth the effort!
