Posture at the piano

When you first started piano lesson, your teacher would most likely start with introducing you how to sit. Interesting enough, I bet you would say, "I know how to sit since baby!". Yes, of course. However, I wonder if you sit the same way when you are watching TV on the couch or when you are waiting for your doctor appointment at the office?

Posture is important as this would affect how you play the piano, the tone and sound and the most significantly your health. When we play on the piano, we do not only use our fingers, we actually use our whole body. Can you imagine that? Yes, we use our fingers, wrist, forearm, elbow, shoulder, back, spine, legs and feet. I am not going to do a biology or kinesiology lesson here, but yes, it is the whole body exercise!

Sitting properly

Let's talk about how to sit first. We hear teachers said "Sit straight, sit tall". Yes, that's probably a term I usually use, but what does that mean exactly? We need to sit tall, so that we can support our hands and body, but not to create tension on your back and spine. Therefore, you would sit tall, but not too tall, your back should still have the spine (S) shape slightly and you shouldn't feel tired easily while sitting in front of the piano. You should also only be sitting at maximum 2/3 of the bench. Occupying the whole bench will make your back too relaxed, sitting too much at the front will make you lose the balance. Therefore, you should always adjust the bench before you play no matter at home, in teacher's studio, or at your public performance. Talking about the bench, the height of the bench is crucial. Usually the bench comes with the piano because the height is set. If you have an unmatched bench and piano, make sure when you sit, your arm should form a 90-degree angle to your elbow, you are not forced to lower you back and neck and your wrists and hands can form a straight line.

Hands and fingers

Next let's talk about hands and fingers which we use mostly to play the piano. We were taught to keep a round hand shape, curve fingers etc. These are the basics. Everyone has a different hand structure, as long as you are playing with your fingertips and your hands are not collapsed. A lot of students would understand the round hand shape and play with fingertips, but sometimes they would forget, especially the 5th finger (little pinky). Beginner students would need to be reminded until they get that comfortably.

Arms and Shoulders

When you need to play dynamics (simply to say, loud and soft), most of the time you are using your forearm and shoulder. It is interesting to see that when you are in tense, your shoulder comes up. Your shoulder and forearm should not raise at all time when you are playing the piano. To start, relax your shoulders and keep an eye on whether they raise. Sometimes you don't even notice while the audiences can tell you during your practice session.

Legs and Feet

Lastly, our legs and feet should have the support for the whole body to get the balance. Ideally feet should be flat on the floor. If that is not possible, a stool would help for younger beginners to support the balance. Some musicians would suggest to have the right foot forward to be closer to the damper pedal and the left foot closer to the bench. It is just a preference. For better posture, you would like both feet to be on the floor, side by side, so that your spine or lower back is not shifted to one side at all time. However, some pianists still prefer to have the right foot more in front to be prepared to play the pedal.

Have a look at your posture today!

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