How do we play without tension? I think answer to this lies in deconstructing the question a little. First we must understand that if we had no tension, our hands and muscles would flop uncontrolled in a muddle of limbs all over the keyboard - we actually need tension in order to be able to play the piano.
Note this article will deal in very general terms, you may find you have more questions at the end of this article than answers, but I hope your understanding will have deepened.
The question should really be - how do I play with the appropriate level of tension? We need a level of tension that will produce tone, but at a level that doesn’t interfere with the action of playing the piano. To answer this we need to understand a little bit about the mechanics of how the piano works.
The question should really be - how do I play with the appropriate level of tension?
The piano is a percussion instrument
The piano is a percussion instrument?!! I hear some of you ask. Percussion instruments are instruments that bang and clank and clonk!! When I look inside the piano it's full of strings!
As pianists we produce tone from striking those strings with hammers, and furthermore once those hammers have struck the string, they must immediately cease any contact with the string. If they didn’t cease this contact the sound would stop as the string needs to be free to vibrate and produce tone. Once the hammer has 'escaped' the string, crucially it has no ability to affect any change in tone. On a grand piano the hammers are underneath the strings and on an upright piano they are positioned in front of them, but the result is exactly the same. Anything you do to the key once the hammer has struck the string will not affect the tone.
Anything you do to the key once the hammer has struck the string will not affect the tone.
Tell me more..
Imagine we are a violinist - our finger has direct contact with the string which produces the pitch (open string notes aside). This contact can be modified to produce vibrato and colourful tone changes. Now try the same at the piano. Play a note and hold it down, now try to adjust the sound once the note has started, you have no control. The only action you have available is to release the key, which will cause the damper to return to the string and stop all vibration. In this lies the answer to the question how do I play with the appropriate level of tension?
How do I play with the appropriate level of tension?
The answer is to cease all unnecessary effort once the tone producing part of your technique action has been performed. If that doesn't make sense here is exercise to experiment with.
Sit normally at the piano and play a note and hold it down, maintaining the force you used once you have reached the bottom of the key bed. Turn your awareness to the tension in your finger, wrist and forearm, you might even feel it in your upper arm and back. You may find that you arm movement is constricted and doesn't feel as free as it could be, you are holding unnecessary tension. The amount of effort you are using is not appropriate for the tone you are now producing.
Now do the same, play a note at the piano and hold it down as before. Now keep the key depressed and turn your awareness to the muscles engaged. Tense your whole arm, holding the tension for 5 seconds and then release. You should be in a more relaxed state already. Now, try turn your awareness to your hand and finger that is holding the note down. Relax the muscles in your hand and fingers so that the piano key lifts your finger up. You are not lifting your finger up, you are relaxing so much that the piano key lifts the weight of your finger.
If you find it hard, remember you are dealing with sometimes imperceptible muscle movements and turning your awareness to these muscles takes practice. The amount of weight you need to hold the key down is tiny, but with practice it is possible to separate the act of playing the note and the act of holding the key down with the appropriate level of tension. This is just one example as we can hold tension in our whole body, not just our fingers, wrist, arms, shoulders and back but also our even our forehead and toes.
The amount of weight you need to hold the key down is tiny, but with practice it is possible to separate the act of playing the note and the act of consciously holding the key down with the appropriate level of tension.
But why is playing with too much tension bad?
When you play with too much tension, it is easy to take that level of tension into the next note and the next - it can compound and restrict your ability to control and grade tone, it will limit your speed and fluidity and the act of playing will feel like hard work. Playing with the appropriate level of tension will make it much easier to play with velocity, your fingers and arm will feel more responsive and you'll have a more consistent and subtle control over the tone of the instrument and will enjoy playing with a new found freedom.
I will go into more detail and offer more exercises in future blogs, but for now experiment, use your awareness and most of all have fun!