Playing the piano is not a spectator sport. It uses your
whole body. It strengthens your senses of eyesight, hearing, and touch. It
requires complex fine-motor and gross-motor coordination. Even your posture is
important in playing correctly.
In that respect, the piano is your “tool,” which you have to
handle physically. Tomoko explains, “The first year of piano starts the
learning process. Just as young children don’t know how to use pencil, so too
must they learn how to use the piano.” She continues the analogy, “Teachers will
say to the student: ’You can’t be sloppy. You can be neat and clear.’ Some
teachers mark the pencil where finger should be positioned. The same advice
applies to the piano. Even the finger placement and curve of the hand are important
physical skills.” Fine muscle development starts in primary grades, which is a
good time to start toning those muscles.
Just as different exercises help different parts of the
body, so too does each piano practice session and piece of music. Students warm
up with scales and other finger exercises that become automatic, which help in
later functions such as key modulations.
“Each piano piece has some kind of physical challenge,” says
Tomoko. It may be left- and right-hand coordination, the best finger to use
when playing a progression, or stretching the hand to span key distances. Tomoko
advises, “Look at each movement. There should be no guessing as to finger
motion.” Tomoko also says that memorizing a piano piece includes muscle memory.
“That’s why it is important to play the right notes; so your fingers will
remember correction.” She reminds the performer, “Exactness is not stiffness. The
muscles should be supple, not stressed.”
