Hand Exercises for Pianists

Tomoko knows that playing the piano requires healthy hands. The amount of pressure that is exerted on hands when playing, the amount of stretching and bending, and even the fatigue of practice can impact a pianist’s hands. Here are some handy exercises to take care of your pianist hands.

Starting to play the piano? Try these hand exercises to help you warm up. (These exercises work to veteran players too…)

• Soak your hands in warm water to increase your blood flow. Then gently dry your hands. It’s good to massage your fingers and hands then, especially around the joints.
• Press your palms and fingers together.
• Press your hands flat on a flat surface such as a table or desk, then lift each finger (and thumb) one at a time.
• With your hand palm down against a flat surface, stretch the area between your thumb and index finger. Then stretch the area between your thumb and each remaining finger, one at a time.

Having strong hands also helps in playing the piano; strength helps dexterity, flexibility, and control. Try some of these exercises to make your hands stronger. Note that you can do these exercises almost anywhere.

• Curl your fingers (starting with your first knuckle) around a stress ball, and squeeze it slowly, controlling your finger movement. This curved ball position is optimum when playing the piano.
• Try practicing playing the piano on your lap or other flat surface.
• Wave your hands as if you were British royalty, rotating your wrist with your arm at a right angle to your body and your fingers together pointing up.
• Move your arms and wrists as if you were revving up a motorcycle.

Your hands can get tired and even painful from practicing – or using them in general.  These tips can reduce aches.

• Break every 20 minutes to do 10+ slow, controlled shoulder raises and rolls. Then extend your arms to your sides to shoulder height, and push them back to squeeze your shoulder blades.
• Position your hands as loose fists as if you were driving a car. Tilt your wrists up and down, then side to side, and move them in a circle.  
• Stand up, and shift your weight from one leg to the other while letting your arms and wrists rela and flop around like a jellyfish.

With these exercises, you will play better – and your hands will thank you.

 

The Physical Side of Playing the Piano

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.”

Tomoko encourages young pianists to stretch themselves, developing their physical techniques by the time they are adults.  Tomoko also associates learning to play the piano to mountain climbing. “You need to go up lots of small mountains. If the road is right, you will reach up. So practice daily, and step nicely.”

Exercising the Piano

Mastering the piano requires exercise, both physical or mental. So asserts Tomoko Hagiwara: “That is why I keep in shape.”

Tomoko states, “Every performance has to be completely controlled. Simple, clean, comfortable.” That level of competence requires hours and months of exercise, both to play well technically as well as to lend meaning to the piece. “Musical form can be challenging. Tomoko remarks, “Artistry is hard to memorize.” In addition, different pieces require additional expertise; Tomoko explains, “Schumann is hard to perform – you need a lot of spirit and imagination.”

Musical playing can start at any age, but its exercise has to be sensitive of developmental issues. “Technical skill is basic, like math,” says Tomoko, “and it grows as the body does.” For instance, some of Liszt’s pieces require a wide hand spread so should be played when the fingers are longer. Bach is easier to play because of his use of chords. “Technique never goes away. Experience gets it together,” Tomoko asserts. “Behind each professional is experience.”

Likewise, interpretation develops as the learner grows emotionally and experiences life.  Tomoko compares musical interpretation to reading: “When you grow up you have a different experience reading the same passage than when you are younger.” So too will the same musical passage take on different meaning as an adult. Mozart is a prime example of that belief: “He is easy for children, but hard for adults,” says Tomoko.

Tomoko links other types of bodily exercise to music. “A music teacher sent a student of hers to ballet school for two weeks, and the student came back with a greater perspective and appreciation of the physicality of music.” Tomoko also believes that music can help other areas of exercise. “Jog with music to escape,” she says, ”Choose music by its rhythm in order to center yourself.”

As a teacher, Tomoko exercises her students mentally in order for them to perform better. “Challenge is good. I tell them don’t start at beginning – start with the hardest.  Then the rest comes easily.  You can’t be sloppy.” She is reminded of a student who practiced at his teacher’s house four hours at a time. “He knew that he must play the piece correctly.”

Listening is another part of the exercise experience. Students should play together, and listen to each other,” says Tomoko. You can stretch your mind – and spirit – by listening to Tomoko’s performance, which is the result of many years of dedicated physical, mental and emotional exercise. Try her take on Liszt: https://www.cdbaby.com/cd/tomokohagiwara3