There will always be an element of stressin piano playing. Public performance, onany musical instrument, requires nervesof steel as well as complete focus,

discipline and concentration. However, this issubstantially different from the tension that arisesdue to technical problems and deficiencies.Some tension is very necessary, because withoutit, playing would be impossible, so it’s importantto be able to recognise the imperative tensionfrom the unnecessary, often detrimental type.Tension is a widespread problem in pianoplaying. Most professionals, amateurs andstudents suffer from this ailment at some time orother, and it can be very debilitating. Prolongedtension frequently causes pain which caneventually manifest as Tendonitis, RepetitiveStrain Injury and, at worse, can stop pianoplaying completely.

There are two differing types ofdisadvantageous tension. The first comes fromnegative thought processes or mental stress.Many pianists have suffered from this, and ittakes lots of positive mental work to alleviate.It’s quite startling just how much our externalthoughts can ruin a performance particularlyamongst those who have yet to learn how todeal with anxiety. Negative thoughts can arisefrom peer criticism, harsh, unhelpful teaching orjust self-doubt. The latter is a recurring problemand is all down to fear and the age-old question,‘will I be good enough?’.

The first line of defence when dealing withthis conundrum is to tame the negative ‘inner-voice’. Recognise the mental ‘chatter’ that goeson before a performance (or perhaps on thedays leading up to giving a performance). Thischatter or ‘little voice’ never stops (‘what willhappen if I make a mistake or my memory letsme down?’). We have all suffered. The mostobvious way to remove this problem is topractise playing in front of others; whether it beone person, a small audience or large gathering,it doesn’t really matter. The most crucial factor isto get out there and play. It will be painful at first

and mistakes will be made, but eventually withregular performance practice, pianists becomefamiliar with the performing experience and asthe fear subsides, so too will the tension. Inessence, this tension is associated with fear.

The second kind of tension is physical, and is

generally caused by technical issues, which arethat much harder to mitigate. Rather like mentaltension, technical issues can stop successfulpiano playing and solving them requiresprofessional help or regular coaching. Physical‘tightness’ or ‘tensing up’ is even morecommonplace than mental tension. It can occurfor many different reasons; the most obvious ispoor teaching or insufficient, sloppy practice,but physical restrictions and pain may happendue to the mental worries and negativity alreadymentioned above. Another possible reason isattempting to play pieces that are out of ourcomfort zone or technically too demanding.Challenging repertoire needs to be worked atcarefully, otherwise damage can easily be doneto hands, arms, wrists and fingers.

One interesting feature regarding tension isthat it can occur at any stage of musicaldevelopment; from beginners to advancedstudents. The latter are much more difficult tohelp because their unfortunate habits areingrained and therefore everything needs to bere-learnt which is very challenging for thestudent as well as the teacher, but it can bedone with hard work and perseverance.

Good piano playing all starts with properposture and free, flexible movement. This

seems very obvious but it’s frequently side-linedas playing becomes more advanced, and this iswhere problems often start. As we sit at thepiano, our whole body must feel free. Pupilsshould be encouraged to sit up straight near theedge of the stool, with their body weighttransferred to their feet (which are flat on thefloor) aiding stability. Hips can then be used as apivot allowing for free movement. As the handsare placed on the keyboard, the forearmsshould be parallel to the floor in order topromote relaxed, comfortable playing.

Raised shoulders are a real sign of stress andtension. One of the best ways to deal with this isfor hands to be placed on a student’s shouldersas they play, making them aware of theirmovements. They will then eventually startnoticing it themselves. Neck and shoulder acheare associated with this habit, so pupils will startto feel better once they begin to freethemselves. We are frequently unaware of ourposture because we are totally focused on themusic, so with this in mind a good teacher canbe extremely helpful.

The next issue is usually tight forearms; oftena ‘knock-on’ effect from the raised shoulders.Pupils are, again, unaware that they are playingin a tense fashion, so one way of illustrating thisis to help them relax their arms altogether. Agood idea is to encourage ‘heavy arms’. Askpupils to drop their arms down by their side (asthey sit at the piano) in a ‘floppy’ state (almostlike a ‘dead’ arm which should feel very‘heavy’); they will then know how to start‘freeing’ themselves. Unless students are madeaware of the ‘correct’ feeling, they will beunable to achieve this alone. Make no mistake,this is difficult to accomplish, but can be doneover time and with a good supportive teacher.Pupils may need regular prompting at everylesson for a while in order to get used to thiscompletely ‘relaxed’ posture, because it will feel‘strange’ and different at first; it is a habit thatmust encouraged regularly in order for it tobecome permanent.

As shoulders and arms become more supple,attention can turn to the real issue, which isusually weak fingers. Weak fingers provide somany physical problems and we find that tight

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it’s important torecognise theimperativetension from theunnecessary, oftendetrimental type

Melanie Spanswick identifies the various stresses of performance and explains how to combat them

Resolving tension in

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forearms and shoulders try to compensate forthis deficiency. In fact, many parts of thebody will try to counteract weak fingers andit’s probably the most problematic element inpiano playing.

Weak fingers (or fingers that don’t reallywork on their own, they are relying on otherextraneous parts of the body to ‘prop’ themup) are also related to stiff wrists. Oftenpianists will use their whole arm in one rigidmotion forgetting that a free, rotating wristcan not only really help with movement but isparamount for a good sound too. One way of

dealing with these issues is to address thewrists and finger shortcomings concurrently.There are so many ways of doing this, but itcan be particularly helpful to use simpleCzerny exercises. The simpler the better; the101 Exercises Op. 261 work well, for example.The first two exercises provide all thenecessary notes in fact.

The first exercise consists of groups of foursemiquavers in the right hand (which runs upand down the keyboard in C major) withaccompanying chords in the left (see Figure1). The aim here is not speed. On the

contrary, the slower the better to start withuntil the fingers and wrists are respondingcorrectly. Always use Czerny’s fingerings.Start with a good hand position; one usefulanalogy is to place your hands over yourknees whilst sitting down, you will find youhand forms a ‘cupped’ shape. It’s reallyimportant to make sure that knuckles are in anelevated position, i.e. the hand isn’t collapsing(see inset below), otherwise strong fingers areimpossible to achieve. Free or rotating wrists,which are not too high or low, are also crucial(illustrated above).

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Power and finger strength both come from asolid hand position which will then encourageeach finger to play on its tip (or pad) and, mostimportantly, on its own, i.e. without relying onother muscles from other fingers or parts of thehand to help out. The joints in each finger mustnot collapse either, but rather, they must helpthe fingers attain complete independence whichis the end goal.

Practise the right hand of the first Czernystudy alone for a while; each note must bedeliberately struck, slowly so that every fingerplays on its tips and produces a good, fullsound, i.e. reaching fully to the bottom of thekey bed. This is not the time to play pianissimo.It’s beneficial to learn these exercises frommemory, so that hand positions and movementscan be properly observed during practice.Between each note, encourage pupils to ‘free’their wrist of excess tension. An effective way ofdoing this is to make sure the wrist moves freelybetween each note so as to stop it ‘locking up’.Many site this as rotational wrist movement.

Encourage students to move their wrists(between every semiquaver at first) in acircular motion, making sure the wrist feelsrelaxed or floppy (the correct sensationshould be very similar to that when the armflops down by our side; nothing must feeltight or tense). This is all especially importantwhen dealing with the fourth and fifth fingers,which by nature are far weaker and thereforemore troublesome. A sure sign of tension inthe hand is when the fifth finger sticks uptowards heaven. This is symptomatic ofproblems, but will eventually be alleviatedduring this ‘freeing’ process as every fingergains control and independence. As thefingers and wrists become accustomed to thismotion between every note, so then thisrotational movement can be eventuallylengthened to every group of foursemiquavers allowing for more speed.

It’s a good idea to reiterate the main issueconcerning tension; whilst striking a note,tension is needed but as soon as the note hasbeen played, that is the time to relax the handfully. This coincides with freeing the wrist at theappropriate moment in the Czerny study asdescribed above. By doing this, fingers willeventually become not only much stronger butalso totally independent too, because theirmuscles are being perpetually strengthenedwith every practice session whilst the rest of theupper torso is learning to relax.

The second study focuses on the left handand should be practised as much, if not more so,than that for the right. The left hand by nature isweaker (for most pianists) and usually needsmore attention. Repeat the entire process withthis second study. About twenty minutes’practice per day on these exercises should besufficient to change basic technique.

Students must be encouraged to listen to thesound they produce and also to feel theconnection between each and every struck note(and to be sure that the whole arm and shoulderis responding freely). Always observe rhythm,and metronome practice is a good idea once thefingers start to move properly. All semiquavers(or whatever passagework is being negotiated)should be played absolutely equally, which is asign of secure strong finger motion. It will usuallytake a few months of slow practice before thestudent learns to feel relaxed playing in what isessentially a completely new and alien way. It’s atthis point that speed can slowly resume.

Once fingers are independent, examine handpositions for chords, arpeggios and scales asthese provide the bedrock of piano techniqueas well as most piano pieces. The perfect scalerequires constant free rotational motion in the

wrist which is all linked to the techniquestudied using these basic Czerny studies. Thesame applies to arpeggios, which demandmuch more movement; tense wrists stemmingfrom weak fingers are the overriding reasonwhy many struggle with rapid passageworksuch as arpeggios.

Once the fingers and wrists are working well,introduce arm weight. This should now be afairly straightforward process because fingersand wrists are already flexible, strong andindependent, so pupils will learn to harness theirbody weight to make not just a good, rich soundbut also a full, large one too. Harsh sounds areoften produced because of insufficient armweight which can lead to ‘hitting’ theinstrument, resulting in limited tonal colour.Once a pupil grasps the feel for a large, warmsonority, then they will be able to hone theirtonal palate accordingly.

Learning to resolve tension in piano playing isa challenge, but if taught correctly, it will lead toa confident, relaxed, comfortable technique anda much happier, contented pianist. �

www.melaniespanswick.comwww.soyouwanttoplaythepiano.com

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Figure1 – Exercise no. 1 in C major'

Figure 2 – Exercise no. 2 in C major'

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