Teaching Piano Students to Play with Their Whole Arm
One of the most important concepts a teacher should be focussing on in the first lesson with a new piano student is helping them to establish healthy playing posture. This involves relaxed necks and shoulders so he or she can play with their whole arm, and not just the wrists and fingers. To help with this, I use a strategy that is both effective and comforting that I learned about from my own teacher. This strategy, which uses a small object, like a cute stuffed animal (see above), is instilled in Piano Pedagogy research and practice.
As mentioned above, sometimes beginner (or even intermediate and advanced) players have trouble with relaxing their wrists and fingers. That’s where this little fur ball comes in! Simply place a stuffed animal or soft object - preferably ones that are small and lay flat like the one in the image above - on the student’s dorsal (a.k.a. top of the hand). Explain that the stuffed animal is meant help relax their fingers onto the keys.
Rather than just explaining the concept, I have found it to be much more effective to use a physical object to instill the idea in the beginning. Once students have the concept down they can continue playing without the object while still being encouraged to play with their “whole arm.” This strategy also helps to establish long-term playing health for beginner players.
Below I have linked some suggestions of where to find size and weight appropriate furry friends. 🐧 🐱 🐶
It is important to take each student’s hand size into consideration when choosing the right object.
Wildlife Tree Small Stuffed Elephant (they have many other animal options)
Plush Monkey (technically a dog toy, but why not use it for this as well?)
I would love to hear your thoughts on this strategy and others you use in your own studio in the comments below!
Cheers and happy playing!
- Lauren D’Ottavio