We cannot stretch the tendons, or change the length of our fingers, but sometimes it's tight palmar fascia that limits our hand span. There are exercises and massage techniques that can help release it.
@@ValkyRiver Except they wouldnt make it more readily available around the world. The standard piano size is always found in recital halls and competitions 😢
Dear online piano teacher, thank you so much! Thank you for preparing this content with such a great explanation. I pray for you and your family’s health and happiness. 🌻🌻🙏
Thanks for this info. I have had 2 operations for trigger finger in my left hand (ring and thumb). And I am now faced with a 3rd condition (index). One doctor recently indicated that it is related to my playing of the keyboard. I do tend to stretch the left hand much more than the right. My normal stretch is an octave but have been trying to push it to a tenth. I now realize that it is not a good practice. Much appreciated.
Unfortunately, there are still teachers recommending unhealthy techniques. You are absolutely right here. And it never helps to stretch beyond the natural limits of your hand. Only occasionaly you may need to do it, but releasing the tension immediately after is a must.
Thank goodness my piano teacher never told me to stretch my hand or my fingers! Changing the fingering, rolling chords, inverting chords, or even changing the hand that plays certain notes, in order to play a piece more fluently is the best way.
Do you see that shifting more frequent (in order to reduce stretching) the finger is no longer present to absorb the recoy force, thus the piano key will come to rest position abruptly. The sound results could be louder than the music? If yes, how do you overcome the problem?
Violinists and cellists are known to have left fingers longer than their right, especially the 4th and 5th finger. I know a violinist whose left ring and pinky are about .5 cm longer than right.
@@epichdsheep I Don’t think so! I have been playing classical music my entire life. I’m now 60-something years old and my hands are still small. I know how to work around it, though, because my piano teacher taught me how. Most teachers either don’t know how to teach what I know, or they don’t care to.
@@RUT812 Well I can guarantee that your hands are more developed than they would have been if you didn't play. Me personally, I could reach a 10th after 15 years of playing. Since I started training (rice bucket, dead hangs, plate pinch) and stretching my hands months ago I can do 11ths now and hold most chord voicings up to 10ths comfortably. On the issue of small hands, I think it's criminal that there is still no interest in manufacturing smaller keyboards.
@@epichdsheep Even if smaller keys were an option, I have been playing on regular keys for 54 years and don’t look down at my hands. I think it would be quite an adjustment at my age to switch to smaller keys. That said, I don’t believe it’s a good practice to try to increase one’s hand span or finger length. Learning to adapt repertoire to smaller hands is a wiser approach, as it would not cause any injuries. I’m all for learning piano techniques that prevent injuries.
I dont think its a good idea to purposefully expand your hand. But my span has definitely gotten much larger since playing things like chopin etude op 10 no.1 ( I only learned a few bars at tempo just to see if it would give me a larger reach). I went from being able to stretch a 9th to be able to comfortably play 10ths. Although i already have larger hands, I guess they just weren't used to big chords.
The last time I remember actually something about my handspan was a 9th and possibly barely an octave cause I could not do the left hand octave run in Mozart K283 Sonata 1st Movement. The next time I found out I could reach a 9th with my right hand and left hand and of course soon both go up to 10th (currently). Now my left hand and right are barely able to reach an 11th.
One is fortunate to have larger hands for some repertoire but small hands have been able to play the most demanding repertoire. About average here. Often asked about issue.
Hi! I loved your video about Yuja Wang but I’m not sure about this one. I don’t know if you are a professional pianist, but I did study piano in a conservatory, and we did stretching exercises. Exercise improves the function of any body part, including hands, and even alters its size and shape. Just take a look at gymnastics or bodybuilders. The problem is when we take exercise to the extreme or doing it without warming up THEN YOU ARE RIGHT, is NOT GOOD or even we can get physical damage. Thank you 👍🏻😃🎹🎹🎹
This is the best answer. I do hand stretching and strength training for wrist health and my span has gone from barely a 10th to an 11th and my playing is so much more relaxed and in control. Like any excercise, there is a risk of injury if you overdo it, but I think there is a bigger risk of injury when you’re not training your hand for good health. So I really wish there was more focus on this in the piano community.
@@eun-jaehwang3061 Sure! I can definitely recommend these excercises: 1. Close your hand to a fist and then open it as wide as possible with 1. straight fingers and no arch, 2. slight arch, 3. full arch. You will feel the stretch slightly differently each time. Hold for up to a minute or do it for reps. 2. only using the 2-5 fingers, curl your fingers, and set them as wide apart as possible, like duck feet. The goal is to set these fingers wider over time. 3. With your hands submerged in a bucket of rice for resistance, just kinda grab and squeeze the hell out of the rice for many minutes on end, you will really feel the burn. 4. Pinching a thick bumper plate with both hands by the top, rotate it by making new grips to the right/left as if you were steering. 5. Isolating each finger, pull gently at the base of the finger using the other hand. 6. Dead hangs, farmers carry, etc, and other gym excercises. Well, I don't do this strictly for the hands, but part of my routine is doing these excercises and eating in a surplus, which definitely does something in the way of thickening up my hands and increasing strength. 7. All the other options: hand grippers, bands, and so on... There are more ways to excercise your hands than I can mention in a youtube comment, so I recommend doing some research on your own and doing what appeals to you! Just keep in mind that the hands need a lot of volume with low weight in order to grow! Combined with stretching it will definitely open up your hand and make it easier to play.
Well, I don't know if what you said is based on scientific evidences but I can talk about my own experience. When I started the piano, playing the octave was uncomfortable for me and was the maximum I could reach. I did stretching exercises, I didn't focus on that at all but more on actually playing the piano, learning songs etc. but I still did them tho. From my own experience, it's a fact that my hand span got bigger. I can now play a 9th comfortably and I can even reach a 10th... It might be useful to add that I have small hands for my size. Most people that I know are smaller than me but have either the same hand size as me or bigger... For exemple, my little brother is 14 and has the same hand size as me and I'm really taller. Edit : I can pretty much easily arpeggiate a 10th while keeping my fingers on every notes I'm pressing. I'm also really really close to being able to do a 10th chord, ( presing all the notes simultaneously ).
maybe your hand size just grew with age? or are you talking about a really short time interval from when you could only reach an octave to being able to reach a 10th?
@@seeitall8921 I so wish my hands had grew up but that's unfortunately not the case. My left hand is just really flexible now especially my pinky, which really helps to reach the tenth... So I could only reach an octave when I started the piano so it was more or less than 4 years ago. But, from the time where I could barely reach a tenth to now where I can easily arpeggiate it, it's been a year.
I have some "2 sided opinions" on this. u can stretch your hands while playing the piano. but not too much. I did notice that my hands tends to grow overtime while I play the piano. your hands have its own limits don't force it. but well... you're not wrong if u want to stretch your fingers, little by little, but its unnecessary. let your hand adapt by its own. like for example, since I started playing La Campanella, my hands now can do from barely 10ths to barely 11ths. because it adapts with the fingering on the piece. but its very rare to find pieces that has weird and far fingerings. I also think this is why we try to put fingerings as comfortable as possible so it doesn't injure your fingers. and the misunderstanding of stretching your fingers makes your fingers longer, is that it only makes your hands more flexible not longer. I'm not an expert at this, this is just what i think. so please do correct me if I'm wrong. :)
No need for me to increase my span... I can already comfortably hit a 4th above octave and grab the 5th above octave... I have many many more things to worry about while learning the piano than span. =) The being said, one can increase the flexibility of the hand, especially in the fascia in the palm. My left hand looks like it has longer fingers than my right because of all the guitar I play... but if I shift and stretch the hands are actually the same size and length... it is just my right hand is more "tight" than my left... so over time usage will limber up the hands naturally.
I'm not sure about this. I was able to expand my span from a 9th to an 11th in around a year. I know it works because in my right hand I can only go to a 9th comfortably.
I had to go into Physical Therapy for a serious injury, due to bad long-term posture in my left hip, sciatica and adductor nerve inflammation and muscle weakness. I learned a lot about this subject, don't claim to be an expert. Tendons are the connective tissue that connects muscles to the bone; in a way not that different from the muscle themselves, more or less continuous flow into the muscles. My Ph. D. PT made virtually no distinction between them for practical purposes. They are "made" to stretch and contract, retract lengthwise to move muscles, with and then opposing. Their design is not meant to have them stretching side to side very much. Trying to stretch the fingers/hand side to side is sort of going against nature, although loosening them up to their maximum capacity is possible if not held in static positions but very momentarily, for the vast majority without large hands. By adopting Craig's broader teachings, I completely re-worked my technique, which was holding me back on several accounts. I was trying to reach intervals by stretching fingers, hands, from static positions, even faster, and it took its toll. Very stiff hands and fingers, wrist twisting, elbows flying out, lots of wasted energy and diminishing returns for the amount of time I was investing at the keyboard. I discovered lateral forearm movement as the seminal technique for moving from position to position and it changed everything, comfort, relaxation, tension in other parts of body, ease of brain function, simplified fingering choices. It took a little while but learned new calibration of interval distances by moving forearm. My jazz scores have some pretty big intervals in both hands-Craig has a good tutorial on just that, "scissors" and all. It's my experience without having to be educated deeply in anatomy and physiology. Craig is uniquely prepared for this teaching because he also re-worked his technique when he finally came upon really good teachers, who can spot the stuff, point it out clearly and support it with explanations, and demonstrate a better way. One cannot go wrong watching Martha Argerich as to these very considerations. Emmet Cohen, who has great cameras and mics set up in his home studio, Emmet's Place, shows him doing all manner of keyboard acrobatics and I don't make out that his hands are, in any way, large. So, thank you Craig as leader, and to all followers and commenters of good will.
Hello, @DavidMiller, I was also having the same problem having pain in the left hip, and sometimes numbness in the leg and sole/sciatica after playing piano for more than 20 minutes. But when I am not playing and just sitting using the computer or reading, I won't have such issue. I suspect it had to do with my posture during playing, or even the way I played or exert force with my left hand/fingers or left side of the body. i wonder if you could share your experience how you corrected your posture, and briefly what type of PT exercises you did to alleviate and cure it. Thank you
@@dominichuang5484 Sure. I have shared it on various of Craig's lessons in, some might figure too much, detail. I was sitting at my keyboard for over 5 years with bad posture. Too close to the keyboard, to low, also. My left started to hurt so bad I had to seek medical intervention. First stop was my local Doc who referred me to Physical Therapy which I did for about 10 weeks. The analysis was tight sciatica involving eventually the entire left hip. Also, part of the syndrome was inflamed adductor nerves and muscles, which branch off the sciatica, ending on the muscles on the inside of the thigh. At first I just stretched the affected areas. After about 8 weeks, the stretches turned into specific exercises designed to strengthen the areas which had become weak, they were sore and inflamed because they had become weak, any use is overuse until the muscles became strong enough. If I play too much, the area can tighten up again if my posture is not plumb and relaxed, rather than veering off to the left. I had a very bad patio chair and replaced it with the old fashioned screw type stool. Easy to adjust height and it gives a little leeway swing when moving your body. If I tighten up, I stop and do my stretches, exercises and walking. This has been over a year now and I can play for longer. Before the stabbing pain was so intense, I couldn't concentrate on the music, constantly distracting. The Pianonote gal, who is kind of overly dramatic, has a couple good videos on it. www.youtube.com/watch? v=0NGR4WaWcJA I ended up with a much higher seat and a little higher forearms coming down to the fingers. Much more relaxed and in command. I then went through all Craig's turtorials, paying special attention to his posture lessons, which plays into his emphasis on technique. Best posture is the foundation of best technique. We should be talking amongst ourselves, speaking to our experience.
@@DavidMiller-bp7et Hi @DavidMiller, Thank you for sharing your experience, it is very helpful! I am having having the exact situation you described and will be on physical therapy and strengthening/stretch exercises, and hope to continue playing, both injury and pain free. This aspect in learning to play the piano has been overlooked in general, which is essential, and I am glad that you have been addressing it. I appreciate your advice!
@@dominichuang5484 Thanks, Mike. Always happy to share my experiences, in some depth. You are exactly right: Most talk about injury is re: the hands and forearms, carpal tunnel, and all. This business of posture, proper and strong sitting foundation is neglected about as much as anything, until one becomes incapacitated to some degree. Many quit, but I did not. Found the solutions instead. Before the injury became so painful I could barely play for more than 10 minutes, my practice was 4-5 hours/day, 7 days/week for like 5 years, with minimal breaks. I was sitting in a card table chair too low and was sitting too close to the keys. Lots of repetitive stress from that posture. I moved back about 6 " and raised my stool about 4"; from this change, marvelous results came into my playing, with less pain of course. But, technically, my playing became, over a few months, on, literally, a higher plane. PT gave me the tools to address pain starting to creep in; I can stop it right off and should have been taking more breaks anyway; another thing I've learned. Often, less is more, when carefully pursued. Great stuff; thanks for sharing your experience of something that is not well followed. Even Craig's tech tutorials don't address it enough, others never deal with it more than 2 minutes. I studied his overall tutorials for nearly a year, repeating many, immediately applying his technical suggestions in my playing. Made a lot of difference; former teachers, with shining resumes, never talked any about technique. All about interpretation, which can only be improved by better technique-read efficient, relaxed, strong, minimal stress. All the best to you, send up a flare any time. Check out Lisa's overly dramatic tutorials on posture, esp the one where she has a chiropractor in studio. The flavor is too flowery for me, but the info is valuable. It is the most extensive posture treatment I've seen.
Not as expert as some but tendons stretch/relax lengthwise as fingers go up and down? They don't seem very much "designed," read, best used to stretch sideways.
This is really not open to debate, because, tendons are stretched every day in our lives indeed. When stretched, the entire structure, from muscles to bones, benefits themselves. Of course, what's out of debate is superpassing limits to get bigger hands. this will never happen but more flexible hands will help achieve some bigger intervals or smallers ones but with more confort
The context of the video is that I am saying that tendons do not stretch out, i.e become longer. Tendons have elasticity to them, or stretch in that sense. But they do not stretch out and become longer. Most people do not understand this in the context of " increasing hand span". Yes, you can gain a small amount of flexibility. But that's not what people are trying to accomplish when they try to increase their hand span. They're trying to essentially make their hands bigger, which is not possible. And ultimately pulling against tendons and ligaments is not going to be effective. If one was trying to stretch specific muscles to help them loosen up to gain flexibility, that would be one thing. Interestingly enough, I don't make this point quite as loudly in the video, but if you just watch professional pianists play, they don't play with their hands stretched out. And most of them will tell you that hand span is not really important.
Or how do people who do yoga manage to slowly increase their flexibility so that eventually they can get into positions that were completely impossible when they first started that process?
No, tendons do stretch, ligaments don’t which is what supposedly stops stretching side to side but the ligaments connecting pinky, ring, and middle finger have some room in them for stretching
Because they're not increasing the flexibility of tendons but muscles... Again, with the yoga analogy, it's stretching and lengthening muscles not tendons. Tendons have some elasticity to them but they do not stretch out and become longer. You can look this up if you don't believe me. Very simple to see who's right.
the real problem is that we are not telling these piano/keyboard manufactures to make piano notes/keys in different sizes!!!! Guitars come in different sizes. This is why people resort to weird pain inflicting exercises. The piano community needs to stand up and start speaking out. Too many piano/ digital keyboard channels but these youtubers (influencers) say nothing that is helpful to the piano community. Every adult should be able to play a 9th comfortably no matter your hand size.
6% ?? So you're saying that if you go a little bit too far with a "stretch" you can permanently injure yourself? Seems like a big risk of injury is not worth the "potential" upsides. I think that's the point that hes trying to make.. Also he talks quite a bit about how that's not how you build technique which I think is more to the point.
@@albanberg6905 i think anyone can gradually expand their hand span up to a certain point when they first start learning the piano. For example, pretty much every serious piano student and professional ends up learning chopin etude op 10 no.1, and it permanently increases the span of the hand without causing injury (if practiced correctly and gradually). Not saying you will be able to go from stretching an octave to a 12th. But I've gone from being able to stretch a 9th to comfortably play a 10th.
We cannot stretch the tendons, or change the length of our fingers, but sometimes it's tight palmar fascia that limits our hand span. There are exercises and massage techniques that can help release it.
Don't understand it completely but seems like a very good suggestion. Thank you.
If we can’t make our hands bigger…
Then let’s make the keyboard smaller
@@ValkyRiver Except they wouldnt make it more readily available around the world. The standard piano size is always found in recital halls and competitions 😢
@@phebi._. Unless we can get a revolution going… PASK has been trying for over 20 years now
Dear online piano teacher, thank you so much! Thank you for preparing this content with such a great explanation. I pray for you and your family’s health and happiness. 🌻🌻🙏
can you do a video on hand tension or wrist tension on fantaisie impromptu and how to fix that?
That's why narrow keyboards should be made for people who really need it!
Thanks for this info. I have had 2 operations for trigger finger in my left hand (ring and thumb). And I am now faced with a 3rd condition (index). One doctor recently indicated that it is related to my playing of the keyboard. I do tend to stretch the left hand much more than the right. My normal stretch is an octave but have been trying to push it to a tenth. I now realize that it is not a good practice. Much appreciated.
Bro. I love your channel. Ir would be great if you make about fiscal implications of chopin etudes ir some technically demanding pieces.
Hugs
Your videos are a godsend. I'm going to start lessons but in the meantime I wanted to study theory but I don't want to injure myself
Wise course of action.
Thank you Sir You Saved me 🙂🙏 Coz i Was Gonna Straight my Finger and Hand
Unfortunately, there are still teachers recommending unhealthy techniques. You are absolutely right here. And it never helps to stretch beyond the natural limits of your hand. Only occasionaly you may need to do it, but releasing the tension immediately after is a must.
Amen 💯💯💯💯💯
💯
Thank goodness my piano teacher never told me to stretch my hand or my fingers! Changing the fingering, rolling chords, inverting chords, or even changing the hand that plays certain notes, in order to play a piece more fluently is the best way.
Do you see that shifting more frequent (in order to reduce stretching) the finger is no longer present to absorb the recoy force, thus the piano key will come to rest position abruptly. The sound results could be louder than the music?
If yes, how do you overcome the problem?
The best way to overcome this “small hands” problem is narrow keys, of course
Violinists and cellists are known to have left fingers longer than their right, especially the 4th and 5th finger. I know a violinist whose left ring and pinky are about .5 cm longer than right.
My left foot is a little longer than my right foot. What’s the point you’re making?
@@RUT812 that your hands, just like any part of your body, will adapt to how you use it
@@epichdsheep I Don’t think so! I have been playing classical music my entire life. I’m now 60-something years old and my hands are still small. I know how to work around it, though, because my piano teacher taught me how. Most teachers either don’t know how to teach what I know, or they don’t care to.
@@RUT812 Well I can guarantee that your hands are more developed than they would have been if you didn't play. Me personally, I could reach a 10th after 15 years of playing. Since I started training (rice bucket, dead hangs, plate pinch) and stretching my hands months ago I can do 11ths now and hold most chord voicings up to 10ths comfortably. On the issue of small hands, I think it's criminal that there is still no interest in manufacturing smaller keyboards.
@@epichdsheep Even if smaller keys were an option, I have been playing on regular keys for 54 years and don’t look down at my hands. I think it would be quite an adjustment at my age to switch to smaller keys. That said, I don’t believe it’s a good practice to try to increase one’s hand span or finger length. Learning to adapt repertoire to smaller hands is a wiser approach, as it would not cause any injuries. I’m all for learning piano techniques that prevent injuries.
I dont think its a good idea to purposefully expand your hand. But my span has definitely gotten much larger since playing things like chopin etude op 10 no.1 ( I only learned a few bars at tempo just to see if it would give me a larger reach). I went from being able to stretch a 9th to be able to comfortably play 10ths. Although i already have larger hands, I guess they just weren't used to big chords.
The last time I remember actually something about my handspan was a 9th and possibly barely an octave cause I could not do the left hand octave run in Mozart K283 Sonata 1st Movement.
The next time I found out I could reach a 9th with my right hand and left hand and of course soon both go up to 10th (currently). Now my left hand and right are barely able to reach an 11th.
One is fortunate to have larger hands for some repertoire but small hands have been able to play the most demanding repertoire. About average here. Often asked about issue.
Hi! I loved your video about Yuja Wang but I’m not sure about this one. I don’t know if you are a professional pianist, but I did study piano in a conservatory, and we did stretching exercises. Exercise improves the function of any body part, including hands, and even alters its size and shape. Just take a look at gymnastics or bodybuilders. The problem is when we take exercise to the extreme or doing it without warming up THEN YOU ARE RIGHT, is NOT GOOD or even we can get physical damage.
Thank you 👍🏻😃🎹🎹🎹
This is the best answer. I do hand stretching and strength training for wrist health and my span has gone from barely a 10th to an 11th and my playing is so much more relaxed and in control. Like any excercise, there is a risk of injury if you overdo it, but I think there is a bigger risk of injury when you’re not training your hand for good health. So I really wish there was more focus on this in the piano community.
@@epichdsheep Can you give some recommendations on stretching.
@@eun-jaehwang3061 Sure! I can definitely recommend these excercises:
1. Close your hand to a fist and then open it as wide as possible with 1. straight fingers and no arch, 2. slight arch, 3. full arch. You will feel the stretch slightly differently each time. Hold for up to a minute or do it for reps.
2. only using the 2-5 fingers, curl your fingers, and set them as wide apart as possible, like duck feet. The goal is to set these fingers wider over time.
3. With your hands submerged in a bucket of rice for resistance, just kinda grab and squeeze the hell out of the rice for many minutes on end, you will really feel the burn.
4. Pinching a thick bumper plate with both hands by the top, rotate it by making new grips to the right/left as if you were steering.
5. Isolating each finger, pull gently at the base of the finger using the other hand.
6. Dead hangs, farmers carry, etc, and other gym excercises. Well, I don't do this strictly for the hands, but part of my routine is doing these excercises and eating in a surplus, which definitely does something in the way of thickening up my hands and increasing strength.
7. All the other options: hand grippers, bands, and so on...
There are more ways to excercise your hands than I can mention in a youtube comment, so I recommend doing some research on your own and doing what appeals to you! Just keep in mind that the hands need a lot of volume with low weight in order to grow!
Combined with stretching it will definitely open up your hand and make it easier to play.
@@epichdsheep Thanks. Very helpful.
Well, I don't know if what you said is based on scientific evidences but I can talk about my own experience.
When I started the piano, playing the octave was uncomfortable for me and was the maximum I could reach. I did stretching exercises, I didn't focus on that at all but more on actually playing the piano, learning songs etc. but I still did them tho.
From my own experience, it's a fact that my hand span got bigger. I can now play a 9th comfortably and I can even reach a 10th...
It might be useful to add that I have small hands for my size. Most people that I know are smaller than me but have either the same hand size as me or bigger... For exemple, my little brother is 14 and has the same hand size as me and I'm really taller.
Edit : I can pretty much easily arpeggiate a 10th while keeping my fingers on every notes I'm pressing. I'm also really really close to being able to do a 10th chord, ( presing all the notes simultaneously ).
maybe your hand size just grew with age? or are you talking about a really short time interval from when you could only reach an octave to being able to reach a 10th?
@@seeitall8921 I so wish my hands had grew up but that's unfortunately not the case. My left hand is just really flexible now especially my pinky, which really helps to reach the tenth...
So I could only reach an octave when I started the piano so it was more or less than 4 years ago. But, from the time where I could barely reach a tenth to now where I can easily arpeggiate it, it's been a year.
I have some "2 sided opinions" on this.
u can stretch your hands while playing the piano. but not too much. I did notice that my hands tends to grow overtime while I play the piano.
your hands have its own limits don't force it. but well... you're not wrong if u want to stretch your fingers, little by little, but its unnecessary. let your hand adapt by its own.
like for example, since I started playing La Campanella, my hands now can do from barely 10ths to barely 11ths. because it adapts with the fingering on the piece.
but its very rare to find pieces that has weird and far fingerings. I also think this is why we try to put fingerings as comfortable as possible so it doesn't injure your fingers.
and the misunderstanding of stretching your fingers makes your fingers longer, is that it only makes your hands more flexible not longer.
I'm not an expert at this, this is just what i think. so please do correct me if I'm wrong. :)
And yet the piano world is trying to hide the true solution…
Narrower keys.
There’s a term for a ligament that’s been stretched too far. It’s called a “sprain”, which is another way of saying: ligament tear.
No need for me to increase my span... I can already comfortably hit a 4th above octave and grab the 5th above octave... I have many many more things to worry about while learning the piano than span. =)
The being said, one can increase the flexibility of the hand, especially in the fascia in the palm. My left hand looks like it has longer fingers than my right because of all the guitar I play... but if I shift and stretch the hands are actually the same size and length... it is just my right hand is more "tight" than my left... so over time usage will limber up the hands naturally.
I'm not sure about this. I was able to expand my span from a 9th to an 11th in around a year. I know it works because in my right hand I can only go to a 9th comfortably.
I had to go into Physical Therapy for a serious injury, due to bad long-term posture in my left hip, sciatica and adductor nerve inflammation and muscle weakness. I learned a lot about this subject, don't claim to be an expert. Tendons are the connective tissue that connects muscles to the bone; in a way not that different from the muscle themselves, more or less continuous flow into the muscles. My Ph. D. PT made virtually no distinction between them for practical purposes. They are "made" to stretch and contract, retract lengthwise to move muscles, with and then opposing. Their design is not meant to have them stretching side to side very much. Trying to stretch the fingers/hand side to side is sort of going against nature, although loosening them up to their maximum capacity is possible if not held in static positions but very momentarily, for the vast majority without large hands.
By adopting Craig's broader teachings, I completely re-worked my technique, which was holding me back on several accounts. I was trying to reach intervals by stretching fingers, hands, from static positions, even faster, and it took its toll. Very stiff hands and fingers, wrist twisting, elbows flying out, lots of wasted energy and diminishing returns for the amount of time I was investing at the keyboard. I discovered lateral forearm movement as the seminal technique for moving from position to position and it changed everything, comfort, relaxation, tension in other parts of body, ease of brain function, simplified fingering choices. It took a little while but learned new calibration of interval distances by moving forearm. My jazz scores have some pretty big intervals in both hands-Craig has a good tutorial on just that, "scissors" and all.
It's my experience without having to be educated deeply in anatomy and physiology. Craig is uniquely prepared for this teaching because he also re-worked his technique when he finally came upon really good teachers, who can spot the stuff, point it out clearly and support it with explanations, and demonstrate a better way.
One cannot go wrong watching Martha Argerich as to these very considerations. Emmet Cohen, who has great cameras and mics set up in his home studio, Emmet's Place, shows him doing all manner of keyboard acrobatics and I don't make out that his hands are, in any way, large.
So, thank you Craig as leader, and to all followers and commenters of good will.
Hello, @DavidMiller, I was also having the same problem having pain in the left hip, and sometimes numbness in the leg and sole/sciatica after playing piano for more than 20 minutes. But when I am not playing and just sitting using the computer or reading, I won't have such issue. I suspect it had to do with my posture during playing, or even the way I played or exert force with my left hand/fingers or left side of the body. i wonder if you could share your experience how you corrected your posture, and briefly what type of PT exercises you did to alleviate and cure it. Thank you
@@dominichuang5484 Sure. I have shared it on various of Craig's lessons in, some might figure too much, detail.
I was sitting at my keyboard for over 5 years with bad posture. Too close to the keyboard, to low, also. My left started to hurt so bad I had to seek medical intervention. First stop was my local Doc who referred me to Physical Therapy which I did for about 10 weeks.
The analysis was tight sciatica involving eventually the entire left hip. Also, part of the syndrome was inflamed adductor nerves and muscles, which branch off the sciatica, ending on the muscles on the inside of the thigh.
At first I just stretched the affected areas. After about 8 weeks, the stretches turned into specific exercises designed to strengthen the areas which had become weak, they were sore and inflamed because they had become weak, any use is overuse until the muscles became strong enough.
If I play too much, the area can tighten up again if my posture is not plumb and relaxed, rather than veering off to the left. I had a very bad patio chair and replaced it with the old fashioned screw type stool. Easy to adjust height and it gives a little leeway swing when moving your body.
If I tighten up, I stop and do my stretches, exercises and walking. This has been over a year now and I can play for longer. Before the stabbing pain was so intense, I couldn't concentrate on the music, constantly distracting.
The Pianonote gal, who is kind of overly dramatic, has a couple good videos on it.
www.youtube.com/watch?
v=0NGR4WaWcJA
I ended up with a much higher seat and a little higher forearms coming down to the fingers. Much more relaxed and in command.
I then went through all Craig's turtorials, paying special attention to his posture lessons, which plays into his emphasis on technique. Best posture is the foundation of best technique.
We should be talking amongst ourselves, speaking to our experience.
@@DavidMiller-bp7et Hi @DavidMiller,
Thank you for sharing your experience, it is very helpful!
I am having having the exact situation you described and will be on physical therapy and strengthening/stretch exercises, and hope to continue playing, both injury and pain free.
This aspect in learning to play the piano has been overlooked in general, which is essential, and I am glad that you have been addressing it.
I appreciate your advice!
@@dominichuang5484 Thanks, Mike. Always happy to share my experiences, in some depth. You are exactly right: Most talk about injury is re: the hands and forearms, carpal tunnel, and all. This business of posture, proper and strong sitting foundation is neglected about as much as anything, until one becomes incapacitated to some degree. Many quit, but I did not. Found the solutions instead. Before the injury became so painful I could barely play for more than 10 minutes, my practice was 4-5 hours/day, 7 days/week for like 5 years, with minimal breaks. I was sitting in a card table chair too low and was sitting too close to the keys. Lots of repetitive stress from that posture. I moved back about 6 " and raised my stool about 4"; from this change, marvelous results came into my playing, with less pain of course. But, technically, my playing became, over a few months, on, literally, a higher plane.
PT gave me the tools to address pain starting to creep in; I can stop it right off and should have been taking more breaks anyway; another thing I've learned. Often, less is more, when carefully pursued. Great stuff; thanks for sharing your experience of something that is not well followed. Even Craig's tech tutorials don't address it enough, others never deal with it more than 2 minutes. I studied his overall tutorials for nearly a year, repeating many, immediately applying his technical suggestions in my playing. Made a lot of difference; former teachers, with shining resumes, never talked any about technique. All about interpretation, which can only be improved by better technique-read efficient, relaxed, strong, minimal stress.
All the best to you, send up a flare any time. Check out Lisa's overly dramatic tutorials on posture, esp the one where she has a chiropractor in studio. The flavor is too flowery for me, but the info is valuable. It is the most extensive posture treatment I've seen.
While they don’t “stretch” in the conventional sense they do get increased mobility with training as well as strength.
Do you have any scientic evidences or knowledge of any scientific studies that support your statement that tendons don't stretch?
The tendons kinda look like string cheese.
Not as expert as some but tendons stretch/relax lengthwise as fingers go up and down? They don't seem very much "designed," read, best used to stretch sideways.
@@larnorc7424 Great analogy; that is helpful.
This is really not open to debate, because, tendons are stretched every day in our lives indeed. When stretched, the entire structure, from muscles to bones, benefits themselves. Of course, what's out of debate is superpassing limits to get bigger hands. this will never happen but more flexible hands will help achieve some bigger intervals or smallers ones but with more confort
The context of the video is that I am saying that tendons do not stretch out, i.e become longer. Tendons have elasticity to them, or stretch in that sense. But they do not stretch out and become longer. Most people do not understand this in the context of " increasing hand span". Yes, you can gain a small amount of flexibility. But that's not what people are trying to accomplish when they try to increase their hand span. They're trying to essentially make their hands bigger, which is not possible. And ultimately pulling against tendons and ligaments is not going to be effective. If one was trying to stretch specific muscles to help them loosen up to gain flexibility, that would be one thing. Interestingly enough, I don't make this point quite as loudly in the video, but if you just watch professional pianists play, they don't play with their hands stretched out. And most of them will tell you that hand span is not really important.
Is there any scientific study that proves this? If tendons don't lengthen, then how does a ballerina perform Spacate?
Or how do people who do yoga manage to slowly increase their flexibility so that eventually they can get into positions that were completely impossible when they first started that process?
Again, they stretch and retract lengthwise, not much side to side. Important distinction and clarification.
No, tendons do stretch, ligaments don’t which is what supposedly stops stretching side to side but the ligaments connecting pinky, ring, and middle finger have some room in them for stretching
@@joeray8854 Right on. I appreciate it. Nice catch.
Because they're not increasing the flexibility of tendons but muscles... Again, with the yoga analogy, it's stretching and lengthening muscles not tendons. Tendons have some elasticity to them but they do not stretch out and become longer. You can look this up if you don't believe me. Very simple to see who's right.
the real problem is that we are not telling these piano/keyboard manufactures to make piano notes/keys in different sizes!!!!
Guitars come in different sizes.
This is why people resort to weird pain inflicting exercises.
The piano community needs to stand up and start speaking out.
Too many piano/ digital keyboard channels but these youtubers (influencers) say nothing that is helpful to the piano community.
Every adult should be able to play a 9th comfortably no matter your hand size.
well if youre still growing, i think stretching and eating healthy will help.
So... you're telling me that I can't play most of Chopin? 😞
🖋📖 Ty
One word: mini-keys 😁
Looks like a 6% ligament stretch is the limit without long term damage. Not a lot But enough to give this presentation a pinocchio.
6% ?? So you're saying that if you go a little bit too far with a "stretch" you can permanently injure yourself? Seems like a big risk of injury is not worth the "potential" upsides. I think that's the point that hes trying to make.. Also he talks quite a bit about how that's not how you build technique which I think is more to the point.
@@albanberg6905 i think anyone can gradually expand their hand span up to a certain point when they first start learning the piano. For example, pretty much every serious piano student and professional ends up learning chopin etude op 10 no.1, and it permanently increases the span of the hand without causing injury (if practiced correctly and gradually). Not saying you will be able to go from stretching an octave to a 12th. But I've gone from being able to stretch a 9th to comfortably play a 10th.
@@albanberg6905 Yeah, exactly.