Teacher Dreamaurora - Piano Q&A

[Chattyirena]

Hello music teachers!


Could you give some advice on how to help my 4 year old to play the piano with curved fingers rather than flat fingers? I don’t remember having this problem when I was learning to play piano as a child…

Thank you.

[Dreamaurora]

Chattyirena:

Hello music teachers!


Could you give some advice on how to help my 4 year old to play the piano with curved fingers rather than flat fingers? I don't remember having this problem when I was learning to play piano as a child...

Thank you.

There are some common factors that may cause children to play with flat fingers; you would want to check if your 4 year old is currently experiencing any of this now:
- Sitting position too low (wrists needs to be above the keyboard to curve comfortably)
- Keys too heavy
- Bad habits from other activities (such as pressing fingers too hard on IPad screens or PC keyboard, getting more common among children now)

After you check above factors and your child is still playing with flat fingers, you may need to assist your child in practice and help correct until the habit is gone. I recommend buying one of those fake decoration fruits (either apple or tomato) and put it near the piano so your child can grab it to regain the curve in case he/she starts playing with flat fingers again.

[Chattyirena]

Thank you Dream Aurora


I will try the fake decoration fruits to help him get the curve back....I'm not sure if the U1 keys are too heavy for him or whether it's the ipad. I don't think it's height...

BTW, I really appreciate your free PDF books - have been slowly trying out as it's been many years since I played the piano...thanks for posting those books online.

Cheers!

[Dreamaurora]

Chattyirena:

Thank you Dream Aurora


I will try the fake decoration fruits to help him get the curve back....I'm not sure if the U1 keys are too heavy for him or whether it's the ipad. I don't think it's height...

BTW, I really appreciate your free PDF books - have been slowly trying out as it's been many years since I played the piano...thanks for posting those books online.

Cheers!

Well there are also other possible causes other than those I listed above. If your child's fingers are rather small and the piece have some big spans the fingers can go flat also. Anyway it is an uphill battle to make children play with curved fingers and it may take quite some time for them to get used to play with curved fingers, so don't expect overnight change.

Do you know us pianists curve our fingers naturally also when using our smartphones and tablets? One of the ways to identify if a person is a pianist. Anyway, glad you find the books useful. I am trying to find time to revise them and add new ones to collection, but with various concerts I am trying to organise and new commercial stuff I am working on now I am kind of overwhelmed now. :sad:

[Chattyirena]

Dreamaurora:

Chattyirena:

Thank you Dream Aurora


I will try the fake decoration fruits to help him get the curve back....I'm not sure if the U1 keys are too heavy for him or whether it's the ipad. I don't think it's height...

BTW, I really appreciate your free PDF books - have been slowly trying out as it's been many years since I played the piano...thanks for posting those books online.

Cheers!

Well there are also other possible causes other than those I listed above. If your child's fingers are rather small and the piece have some big spans the fingers can go flat also. Anyway it is an uphill battle to make children play with curved fingers and it may take quite some time for them to get used to play with curved fingers, so don't expect overnight change.

Do you know us pianists curve our fingers naturally also when using our smartphones and tablets? One of the ways to identify if a person is a pianist. Anyway, glad you find the books useful. I am trying to find time to revise them and add new ones to collection, but with various concerts I am trying to organise and new commercial stuff I am working on now I am kind of overwhelmed now. :sad:

Hi Dream Aurora,

My ds is only in the middle of Book 1 of JMC - he's currently learning to join notes together (as opposed to \"staccato-like\" movements). After some practice, he's more or less able to join doh and mi (c & e) together, but not mi & sol (e & g) together. His fourth finger always hits fa (f) when trying to join mi & sol together. Part of this is due to flat fingers, but I'm also wondering if it because he hasn't yet learnt to separate the movement of fifth finger from fourth, or it's merely a finger span issue? Incidentally, he doesn't have problems joining notes when playing all five notes (c to g) one after another...

Your observation on how pianists use smart phones and tablets with curved fingers is interesting...

[Dreamaurora]

Chattyirena:

Hi Dream Aurora,

My ds is only in the middle of Book 1 of JMC - he's currently learning to join notes together (as opposed to \"staccato-like\" movements). After some practice, he's more or less able to join doh and mi (c & e) together, but not mi & sol (e & g) together. His fourth finger always hits fa (f) when trying to join mi & sol together. Part of this is due to flat fingers, but I'm also wondering if it because he hasn't yet learnt to separate the movement of fifth finger from fourth, or it's merely a finger span issue? Incidentally, he doesn't have problems joining notes when playing all five notes (c to g) one after another...

Your observation on how pianists use smart phones and tablets with curved fingers is interesting...

Interestingly, I had the exact same problem on my right hand when I started learning piano at 17. My ex teacher last time was so puzzled why when I used my 3rd or 5th finger the 4th finger will go down as well. I later learnt after I studied the physical construction of hand (to put it simply, the 3rd, 4th, and 5th fingers' muscles are closely connected) that this was caused by repeatedly subjecting my right hand to prolonged strain (I was obsessed with playing games in arcades during my teenage years). After I learnt to relax my body and some specific technical exercises, I managed to overcome this problem, albeit much much later during my full time study.

For young children, I am not sure if strain is the cause. I always think nowadays children are exposed to tablets and phones so early; I see that many children have very poor hand shape when using these devices and as a result straining their hands, but like what you said it is entirely possible that your ds has not learnt to separate those last two fingers yet. I have not encountered this issue yet with any of my past or current students, so to be honest I am not sure. Perhaps I shall read up more to find out about this. Just curious, how old is your ds?

[Chattyirena]

Hi Dream Aurora,


My DS is 4.5 years old…

[MummyThreeStreams]

Dreamaurora,


I just realized I DO curve my fingers while using my iPad and iPhone!!!

My 7yo is not curving his fingers properly…he curves the middle part of the finger, but breaks the tip, so that it is flat. It’s such a challenge to get him to remember to curve. The piano teacher didn’t think it was a problem, and said he would get better. I’m not sure about that, as my 4yo has beautifully curved fingers… though I do recall that my curved fingers really only developed when I was about 10.

My 7yo has scored distinctions for his Grade 2 and 4 exams, so evidently it didn’t affect his playing. But I think it will make it hard to play more advanced pieces. What are your thoughts?

Thanks.

[Dreamaurora]

MummyThreeStreams:

Dreamaurora,


I just realized I DO curve my fingers while using my iPad and iPhone!!!

My 7yo is not curving his fingers properly...he curves the middle part of the finger, but breaks the tip, so that it is flat. It's such a challenge to get him to remember to curve. The piano teacher didn't think it was a problem, and said he would get better. I'm not sure about that, as my 4yo has beautifully curved fingers... though I do recall that my curved fingers really only developed when I was about 10.

My 7yo has scored distinctions for his Grade 2 and 4 exams, so evidently it didn't affect his playing. But I think it will make it hard to play more advanced pieces. What are your thoughts?

Thanks.

Yes, you are correct that not being able to vary finger curvature will be quite a big disadvantage when it comes to play advanced pieces. Off the top of my head some of problems students may encounter include dull and uneven notes especially in passageworks such as scale runs, inability to voice chords, and more limited dynamic range.

The pieces for grade 1-4 and to some extent grade 5 are more or less musically straightforward(not all though). And also exam boards vary their assessment criteria for different grades to reflect the growing maturity of the candidates as they progress through grades. For ABRSM, grades 1-5 and grades 6-8 have different marking criteria. For Trinity, grade 1-3, grade 4-5, and grade 6-8 have their own sets. All these can be found easily in their websites.

For ABRSM lower grades, they are quite forgiving in terms of giving marks. As long the pieces sounds well prepared and all the components are secure, more or less distinctions or merit is a given. I will not say that your son's habit not to curve does not affect his playing; it definitely does but the effect is not that apparent in the pieces he played for exam. That is why I said to parents just because your children score distinction for lower grades they won't automatically do well for the higher grades. So you are correct that you do not wish the gloss over the problem. But children being children, they prefer not to curve as it may feel unnatural for them. My young students also often forget to curve and check their hand positions; they need to be reminded. I also continually emphasize to them why they should curve. So normally I will play a section of their pieces with their style of flat fingers and then correctly with the curved fingers. Most of time they can definitely tell the differences and they will try to curve to get the correct sound. So rather than keep chastising them for not curving, it's better to show them the possibilities that may arise from proper hand and finger technique. Anyway, like what I said, it is not going to be overnight change, can take some time, even more than one year to internalise the curve.

[Dreamaurora]

Chattyirena:

Hi Dream Aurora,


My DS is 4.5 years old...

Still very young; fingers can still grow a lot more. Anyway an exercise that normally teachers use to determine if you can move your fingers independently is this: put your hands on a table and curve it like how you play piano. Then try to lift each finger one by one while maintaining the curves on other fingers. Not all fingers will be raised equal heights, but you should be able to lift all the fingers independently.