‘Eagle-grabbing’ hands and fingers by Piano Comics

How 1 example made my young piano beginners bend all the joints of their fingers and keep them bent.

It’s much simpler for piano beginners to understand and be able to keep their hands round. It’s another story though, if they have to keep all the joints of their fingers bent all the time. This takes practice and because it’s actual muscle practice , their joints have not done that before, it takes time. But how to remind them to keep all of the joints , or bridges as I like to call them – bridges that unite each small part of our finger- bent/ rounded?

Instead of taking their fingers and mold them with your hands – which is also needed – try and give them this example:

Imagine an eagle trying to catch a fish in the sea. If his fingers/claws are not bent/rounded it will not be able to penetrate the flesh and therefore keep its’ prey inside the claws. But as we all have seen, eagles’ claws are always bent, you can even see it from far away in documentaries or photos of an eagle flying. That’s how pianists’ fingers should be. Grabbing the piano keyboard like an eagle. Not just pressing the keys with a round hand. The gravity is enough for itself to press a key. But HOW you press it counts. And evolves a very basic, vital pianistic technique. Tell your students to have patience with the 5th finger since it’s the weakest, smallest and it will take time for it to be able to lift and keep round the rest of the hand while it plays. The 1st is playing sideways so we don’t have this bending problem. Now for the 2nd, 3rd and 4rth fingers we need to pay attention. Not just pressing while the last joint/bridge is sinking down into the piano key but making sure we bend it.

Kids react much more effectively when you give them examples they can relate to or imagine. So instead of just me trying to bend their last joint every time it sinks I will now say ‘Grab like an eagle’, ‘Grab the piano keys, don’t just press them’, ‘You won’t be able to catch a fish with these claws’ . They adjust immediately. And this example also helps me teach them the magnetic field pianists must have between the piano keyboard and their hand. By grabbing, by staying focused bending all those joints, the fingers activate a different kind of energy. An energy that will build their sound and touche into a sound that is alive.

Another tip I like to use is to teach them the mistaken fingers and hands. When they are not afraid to make a mistake – since the teacher asked to do it – they gladly, with a smile on their face , present the ‘wrong’ sank fingers or melting hands like a pancake on the piano keyboard. This also reminds them visually what not to do. And kids love to play ‘teacher teaching’ when they understood an assignment.

So, no pancake hands but ‘grab like an eagle’ fingers!

In this video I talk about this example ( for visual learners ). Here are photos of my students with wrong and right  hand and fingers positions ( the red arrows show sank down joints, the green ones the properly bent ones ) :