Ergo 101 for Pianists & Almost Everyone Else

This post is in the same vein as yesterday’s, but will branch out into healthy use of the body throughout the day. Ergonomics is about using your body efficiently, in a manner that supports each action, in order to prevent injury.

Since we practice so much, we are already overusing our hands, arms, shoulders, & back. So paying attention to how we do things during the rest of the day makes sense, the idea being to avoid further stress (that leads to injury).

Let’s start w/breakfast. How heavy are your plates, glasses, silverware, pots, pans, & serving dishes? You may want to look at this & decide to lighten up. Plastic is a lot easier to carry, hand wash, & stack in the cabinets. It may be worth it to be a little (OK, a lot) less fashionable, save the fancy dishes for company, & save your upper body for your art.

After you’ve washed those dishes, they can air-dry. Less work, less gripping plates on the edge (creates stress because of the weight you’re holding, unsupported), more time to practice.

How do you pick up your coffee mug? Try using your whole hand around the mug, the way you hold a glass. The thumb + index finger approach is, again, a gripping hold at a less-than-friendly angle.

You could benefit every day by having a jar opener of some sort. There are several kinds. Maybe you could try a few out in the store before purchasing one.

When you slice food, how do you proceed? Are you holding an apple, say, in mid-air before slicing it in half? That apple should be on a hard surface (counter or table). Hold it firmly w/one hand & slice it, straight down, w/the other. Notice whether your entire arm, shoulder, & back are involved in the motion. They should be. Also, I’m not mechanical & my father had to tell me this: whatever you’re slicing should be close to your body. The further you reach forward, the less supported your arms will be. And I think he said something about leverage….

You’ve seen “fat” pens in stores. Are you using one? Try it! Your grip will open up & you’ll feel more comfortable. Again, notice your entire arm, shoulder, & back moving when you write. Whenever possible, writing should be done while seated at a table or desk. Your writing arm needs the support, w/your forearm on the desk.

Next on the hit parade: shopping! How do you carry packages/bags? Having your arms wrapped around a bag or a box, holding it in front of your body, is way too stressful. You can tell ~ your arms tire quickly. Try using bags w/handles. That way, you carry the weight in a straight line down from your shoulder. No funny angles. Also, try to balance the weight if you can ~ one bag in each hand, for instance.

Smaller-sized products are easier to carry, & to deal with later. (Pouring milk from a quart-sized container is easier to handle than a gallon w/a handle on one side.)

See if you can plan your errands so the heaviest weight you’ll be carrying is @ the end of your route. (If you’re shopping by car, this isn’t an issue.)

And now, everyone’s favorite: the PHONE. When you call a number or txt a message, you’ll be much happier a year from now if you hold the phone in one hand, then operate the keys w/your entire opposite hand. It works like this: put your fingers together, like you’re wearing a mitten. You know, the way your hands are when you walk around w/o holding anything. That’s your natural, least stressful position. From there, you can easily alternate fingers so you use several fingers, not just one. I use my phones like this every day, & I promise, no one will look @ you funny.

When I talk on my land phone, it’s so easy to lean my elbow on the arm of the couch. But that cuts off your circulation. You’ll get tendonitis very quickly that way. So try not to do that! Also, land line hand sets are heavy! Moving your arm from time to time helps.

Other possibilities: use the speaker phone, an earphone, or a headset.

Please don’t txt all the time w/only your thumbs! You need them to do everything else you use your hands for all day long. Just think, practicing is only one part of that. Also applies to video games & the remote.

Ride the bus & subway? Go for a pole rather than straphanging if you can. (You wanted me to assume you’re getting a seat?) If you plant your feet in 2 different directions, then hold onto the pole somewhere in the middle (not way over your head), you’ll be balanced for a long time, lurches & all.

Shrink wrap! Drives me NUTS! I now carry a small Swiss Army knife on my keyring, & use it to break into things almost every day. Keeps me from yelling. Besides the knife blade, the mini-scissors are great, too.

Other helpful things to have around: a stapler that operates w/a handle on the top (standard staplers can murder your wrist in 5 minutes); & a 3-hole punch you can operate w/your whole hand instead of your fingers.

Last idea for now: if you take medications, you can request easy-open caps. If you have children & need childproof caps, they are easier to open if you put your palm on top, then push down & twist.

Hope some of this is useful. Happy trails!

Practiced in this incredible humidity. 2 Bach preludes & fugues, 4 Messiaen preludes, 2 Liszt pieces, & a Gershwin. Total time: 2 hrs.

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Musicians’ Longevity

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Lately I’ve been thinking about how I want to be able to perform for the rest of my (hopefully long) life. After all, Horszowski played a recital @ Carnegie Hall when he was 99!

Maintaining the facility to be able to play for life requires awareness now. A lack of information can lead to habits that cause injury or exacerbate arthritis. Everyone who practices w/repetitive motions as often as we do is at greater risk for injury than others. We are all overusing vulnerable muscles & tendons, & it’s not a given that we can continue doing that forever.

So, what’s important?

The way you sit or stand when practicing is easily taken for granted, but awareness is crucial to your future health. Is your lower body supporting your back, shoulders, arms, & hands? Are your feet planted on the floor? No crossing legs or resting feet on chair rungs. No heads on hands w/elbows on knees, either. It’s more fun, but also takes essential support away from your upper body, putting much greater strain on the small muscles that are working so hard.

Angles are important. (The more bends there are, the less efficient the playing.) Are your arms supported? If your elbows are splaying out, they’re not supported. The way you approach the instrument needs to be comfortable. You could be too far away from the keyboard, or too close, too high or too low. It is entirely possible that you still have the posture you learned as a child. (A violinist I know was not aware of this. His teacher @ Juilliard opened everything up ~ consider that he was playing a larger instrument now ~ and, in addition to him becoming more aware & more comfortable, his whole sound changed.)

Incorporating a variety of tempi, dynamics, & stretches into your practicing can help avoid injury. In other words, don’t do all your most difficult pieces one after the other. Try for a balanced approach. If you’ve been playing double octaves for an hour, it might be prudent to switch to triads or scales.

And I know you have a computer. You’re reading this! Do you have a healthy setup? Try looking at OSHA’s recommendations here.

Maintaining good circulation to your fingers prevents injury. The small muscles aren’t made for all that work. With that in mind, it’s best to keep the computer keyboard flat (or use an ergo keyboard) & skip the wrist rest (cuts off circulation). Also, make sure not to rest your wrists on the edge of the desk (same reason). And experiment w/the way you type. Do you use your whole arm, shoulders & back? Or are you reaching w/your fingers instead? Remember the old typewriters w/rows of keys in tiers? You had to move in order to type. And you had to STOP to use the carriage return! Throughout the rest of the day, you do things like open doors w/your hand, arm, shoulder & back. So why should typing be any different?

How many hours do you practice w/o taking a break? Do you lose track of time, working on a passage til you “get it” or feel determined to finish a piece before you stop? Taking a break is more important! It’s even more important than that deadline. The muscles & tendons need to relax. I know it’s hard to stop ~ I have the same problem. You’ll be an active musician a lot longer if you listen to your body.

If anything hurts, tingles, or becomes numb while you’re practicing, STOP immediately! After you’ve figured out whether you were doing something at a bad angle, or were sitting there for hours, or may be coming down w/a cold, then you can go back, carefully.

If any of those things happen after your practice session, they are all signals that something needs to be addressed. Get a massage. Use ice on the spots that feel uncomfortable. Practice the other hand for a while. Slow down.

If you are wearing a wrist support, something is wrong. Please don’t let that go. The problem doesn’t magically go away. The support may feel like it’s helping, but the muscles are not working on their own or becoming stronger when you wear it.

A few thoughts about not getting to the point of pain in the first place: do you warm up every day? After you’ve practiced, do something different. Not computer work ~ that’s still repetitive. Maybe do the dishes first, take a walk, take a shower, make a phone call, do some reading.

Stretching helps a great deal. Two stretches in particular are useful to counteract using your hands in the same direction all the time. Click here, then scroll down to see “Forearm stretch with pronation” and “forearm stretch with supination.” Stretching to 85% of capacity is plenty ~ don’t force it. I also stretch w/my hands & arms behind my back, head back too. The reason stretching is so important is that, when playing an instrument or using a computer, your hands work in one direction. The result is that the tendons shorten on one side of the arm, & need to be returned to their normal state.

Aerobic exercise keeps circulation going. You don’t have to go to the gym for hours ~ taking a walk would be very effective. Weight lifting is good for staying in shape, too ~ and it isn’t necessary to be a body builder in order to benefit. 5 lb. dumbbells provide enough weight to strengthen the arm muscles. (But if you’re not used to it, start w/lighter weights, i.e., 2 or 3 lbs.)

What are you eating? I don’t want to sound like your mother, but that’s important, too. If you want to perform when you’re 99, first you’ll need to be alive. You will also feel better, practice better, & perform better along the way when you maintain your health to the extent that it’s under your control.

So, see if you can become aware of your stance while playing, know the warning signals for trouble & LISTEN to your body! Musicians tend to check out of reality & hunker down. But ignoring your body leads to problems, some surfacing years after the start of the causative factors. You don’t want to have to take months off from playing, so take care of things as they occur.

Be smart about ergonomic products (keyboards, chairs, desks, mice, mouse pads, & on & on). There are lots of catalogs out there. Just because a product says it’s “ergonomic” doesn’t mean that it is. It’s a hot word that sells products. Physical therapists are good people to talk to about this (& so am I!).

If you need a couple of great books on the subject of overuse, email me. And if you are currently in pain and need to see a doctor, email me too. By all means, see someone who has treated musicians! Going to a large city would be well worth it, even if you could only afford one or two visits.

‘Nuff said. Happy practicing!

Oh! Today I practiced 2 Bach preludes & fugues, 4 Messiaen preludes, & Gershwin’s “Sleepless Night” (true). Total time: 2 hrs. And I took a break in the middle!

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Expressing the Music

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This topic encompases an enormous spectrum, of which I’ll attempt to scratch the surface.

In practicing the music of Bach, Messiaen, & Liszt today, all different styles, it came to mind that there are many ways to express the composer’s intentions. And that’s a wonderful thing ~ every interpretation & each performance is different.

Some aspects of expression to consider:

Can you hear the melody? Are there inner parts that are interesting/important? What about the bass line?

Are there dissonances that need to be brought out?

Is there a part added to the original theme after the first statement?

Various ways to emphasize something might include accents, a ritard, or delaying a note.

Are the markings in the score those of the composer? If not, are they stylistically valid? (If they aren’t, ignore them/buy a better edition!)

Are the markings in the spot where they belong, or should the cresc., rit., subito forte, etc. move forward or back?

Do your decisions about expression fit the composer’s style? (i.e., some composers are most often performed w/rubato, others are not; some would have more pedal than others; sfz means different things to Beethoven & Schumann, etc.)

How about the character depicted in the song, or the scene described? (In songs/instrumental pieces about water, what is the water doing? Lots of choices here. A flood is going to sound completely different from a rippling stream or a flowing fountain. And fountains can bubble, too. From time to time, you’ll encounter an icy landscape! A song describing a little flower isn’t going to be sung or played fortissimo. Your character could be wearing boots while dancing on cobblestones.)

To get to the story & make it come alive, of course, you’ll need to translate the text & all the written instructions.

Does the piece express a child’s wish, an adult’s remembrance of things past, or raw grief that’s happening right now? Each of these would require a different sound.

A few anecdotes might be appropriate: when I was a fellowship student @ Aspen, the Juilliard String Quartet was in residence, holding open rehearsals, coaching, & performing often. One rehearsal was of a Brahms quartet. Each player in one particular movement had something unique in their part, so a discussion about interpretation ensued. One player said he was emphasizing the long notes, another the off-beats, & the third the hemeola. The first violinist, who spoke last, said he just wanted to fit in w/everyone else. The other 3 responded immediately with, “No! You have to make a decision!” He did, & the performance was spectacular w/everyone earnestly doing something different.

Expression can be overdone, too, ending up w/everything sounding the same. Four yrs. after Aspen, I was a fellowship student @ Tanglewood. One concert was presented by a singer, all Brahms. The singer was being soooooooooo expressive that every syllable was special. That included the words “the” & “and.” The result of all this attention to everything was that every tempo was extremely slow, making the recital interminably long &, I’m afraid, boring. It is possible to lose track of the big picture, such as sentences & paragraphs.

Another possibility is to use no expression at all for a brief period. Once I was lucky enough to hear Janet Baker in recital @ Carnegie Hall. In one song, she sang with a sound that, to me, mimicked white noise. For that one measure, she sang in a way that no voice teacher I have ever met would recommend to a student. By being inexpressive, she was expressive! She also had 7 or 8 other tone colors in her voice. All that after having someone announce that she was sick & had cancelled the previous evening’s recital!

Being inexpressive is a great way to set up something extremely expressive, by way of contrast.

A word about notation of articulation marks: when you see an accent, staccato dot, or tenuto marking, what does it mean? Is every accent that looks the same, the same for every composer? (No!) In addition, when collaborating w/string players, I have found that identical markings in both our parts mean different things to each player. For example, bowing indications in string parts are something pianists don’t see in their music. But the parts have identical markings. So sometimes it’s necessary, and fun, to match the other player’s articulation (phrasing, lengths of notes, etc.)

Those small cresc.-dim. markings of Schumann’s on ONE note in piano music ~ something to think about, being that a literal interpretation would be impossible…. (Shaking your hands on the keyboard doesn’t count!)

One more thought ~ it’s a good idea to find the dynamic range of the piano you’ll be performing on before the concert, as well as its capabilities for articulation (staccato, repeated notes, how quickly the sound fades, etc.) & check the regulation of the pedals.

OK, those are my thoughts for now. Today I practiced 2 Bach preludes & fugues, 4 Messiaen preludes, & a Liszt waltz. Total time: 2 hrs.

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Hang the tempo!

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Call it inner rhythm, inner pulse, back beat, or subdivision ~ sound familiar? No matter what your name for it is, there is more than one beat going on at all times. And being aware of more than one can help in many ways!

Here are several situations in which I’ve found this to be important:

Having trouble finding a tempo? Maybe the inner rhythm can help.

It is much easier to make an even accel. or rit., or to make no rit. at all (i.e., most French songs end w/o one) when you subdivide the beat.

When making a cresc., the smaller beat, getting louder & louder w/each increment, makes the music live!

In fact, reiterating the smaller increments of the beat is an excellent way to sustain pitches w/o allowing the vitality to sag. Robert Shaw’s recording of the “Dies Irae” from the Verdi Requiem provides a stunning example. Listen to a clip here. You don’t need to pay for a download ~ just click the “play” arrow.

During a house accompanist gig I had for oratorio solo auditions, someone started w/a Bach aria. He had the back beat going strong! We had never seen each other, yet both had a wonderful time.

When a passage is unsteady for whatever reason, hanging the tempo on either the smaller or the larger pulse can help. In a Bach prelude I played in college, the first line was unsteady. (16ths in the right hand, 8ths in the left, then it switches.) I carried that information with me for 3 yrs. between teachers, when finally, Martin Katz said, “The first line is unsteady.” (and I was ready to give up) “Try listening to the 8th notes.” Instant success! That prelude got me into Tanglewood‘s fellowship program, and has been a reliable backup to pull out when needed, ever since. (Why no one could say something positive and/or helpful until Martin did remains a mystery. I think it’s called “bad teaching.”) Thanks again, Martin! 🙂

One more thought: have you ever performed when someone in the front row was swinging their foot, out of rhythm? Or opening a cough drop, oh soooooooo sloooooooowly, trying to be quiet? (And all you want to do is yell, “Hurry up! Get it over with!”) During one performance of mine, a land phone in an adjacent room rang something like 18 times, & no one ever answered it. And then there’s the page turner (different performance) who cracked his knuckles out of rhythm…. Concentrating on the smaller beat is one way to help your brain focus.

Enjoy the groove!

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Birdy update

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Tweety luvs chord clusters!

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Messiaen Rules!

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Olivier Messiaen, the French organist & composer, incorporated bird song into his music. Today I began practicing 2 Bach preludes & fugues, continuing w/2 Messiaen preludes (#’s 7 & 8). Several minutes into the Messiaen, I noticed a bird singing. I happened to stop playing, looking more closely @ the score for a minute. The bird stopped too!

When I started again, the bird sang. Then I stopped again, & so did the bird.

Well, that was too much fun to leave alone, so I conducted a brief experiment, playing & stopping, playing & stopping, 4 or 5 times in succession. The bird sang along, then stopped, every time.

Hysterical! I loved it. We’ll see if there’s a repeat performance tomorrow! : )

Total practice time ~ 2 hrs.

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Thinking about fingering

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How do you make your fingering decisions? I’ve been thinking about how I make mine ~ if you’d like to add your ideas, please leave them below in the comment section!

First, fingerings are an individual decision. They have to fit your hands, not the publisher’s, your teacher’s, or anyone else’s. Everyone’s hands are unique. They do different things well. Mine aren’t perfect ~ I’ve come to see this as reality, not a limitation. (Some of my teachers would disagree.) Of course, when studying it’s important to push your limits. After a while, though, you begin to realize that you’ve “been there” & can now use what works for you.

Practicing a fingering that doesn’t work for your hand is, for me, a total waste of time after a certain point. If you know your hands will never go there, wouldn’t it get the music to performance faster to use something friendly? The first thing I do in a piece I’ve never played (if I intend to perform it at some point) is to change the trill fingerings. There is one that just doesn’t work for me, & I’d rather sound good than feel required to use the numbers that someone I’ve never seen happened to write in the score. I can practice the fingering in question & play it @ home. Then, when performing the piece, it doesn’t work, so I change it.

For me, the intention of the composer is a guide. “Standard” fingering is useful, of course, but doesn’t meet all situations.

While practicing today, I found myself using organ technique in a Bach fugue ~ that is, switching fingers on a note while holding it. I have played organ for several years, so the finger switching happens on its own sometimes. It is useful for Messiaen (to get to a place you can’t reach otherwise) or in an on-stage emergency, to cite 2 examples. But its frequent use in playing melodic lines can be a liability ~ the ability to control the linear movement is seriously compromised. (“Bad” fingering will cause hesitations in the music & cause unwanted accents, among other things.) I have to say, though, that in chorus rehearsals I use it all the time. (It just happens ~ part of sightreading, most likely.)

For anyone who thinks that a keyboard is a keyboard, piano & organ are played very differently. Also, the harpsichord uses a completely different mechanism, in addition to having a smaller keyboard.

In my experience, no one who has come backstage has ever mentioned fingering.

Putting in fingerings backwards works like a charm. Decide what you need to use @ the end of the phrase, then decide how to get there. (This idea originated w/my former/most recent teacher, Martin Katz. Thanks, Martin!)

You may want to change your decisions along the way, as you get further into the piece. In my own work, I need to write in fingerings early on, so as not to stay in sightreading mode too long.

Listening to the sound as I practice, rather than only relying on my hands, solves most issues for me. I have been told I have good technique, but that is absolutely NOT what I think about most or listen for. (My love of music came way before technique, which is a big factor here. I’m not a prodigy. What I hear in my head has always run the show.)

Today I practiced 2 Bach fugues & a prelude, Liszt, 2 Messiaen preludes, & went back to Bach, for 2 hrs. total.

Last night the humidity was lower than in the daytime, so I tried opening the keyboard cover. It helped dry out the works a little.

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It’s practice time! Humidity be damned. In Iowa they say it’s good for the corn. : )

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Sightreading or practicing? What’s the difference?

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In considering what to blog about, a little light came on about what happened while practicing today.

It was very humid (has been for several days), which means that my hands (& foot) were complaining (swollen, achey). The piano keys were less responsive than usual (some were stuck, in fact). I slept fitfully last night (foot complained about carrying too much during errands earlier), went back to sleep this morning, & woke up again w/the alarm, feeling groggy. Mind over matter, w/caffeine. Didn’t want the entire day to slip away.

So I decided to practice hands alone for a while. I started w/2 Bach fugues.

In the process, I discovered some passages where I had reverted to sightreading ~ i.e., I was ignoring the “inconvenient” fingering & just playing instead.

For me, it’s sightreading v. practicing fairly often. I don’t mean that the two are in conflict, and they’re not quite polar opposites. But I morph into sightreading mode because it’s more fun, easier, feels good, seems to get faster results (not really), & means I can “perform” the piece w/o going through all that pesky work.

I think people who are good sightreaders tend to think, “Oh, look at this! How does this go? What does this sound like?” So they read through it, and voila! Instant results.

Sightreading is a valuable skill for chorus rehearsals, especially, in my life. In that situation, I can read almost anything. People are singing, there’s a conductor, & I don’t have time to think about making mistakes. So I play, & it works.

However, putting fingerings in music for performance is crucial for me. Today I found a much better line, consistently longer arcs, & elimination of unwanted accents, all from actually using the fingerings I’d put in weeks ago.

When sightreading in public, I’ve been aware of ending up one finger short while playing a scale ~ using “good” fingering would have resulted in a more legato line. My playing also tends to sound chordal rather than melodic ~ more like a hymn people don’t know, playing it more percussively so people can hear their parts clearly.

Big difference!

In the long run, it would take even more work to continually sightread a piece than to learn it properly. When I want a sound to be soft, for example, I wouldn’t use my thumb unless there is no other choice. So finding a way to lighten up the thumb would be a waste of time! Why not use a fingering that works on its own? Problem solved.

So that’s what happened today. 2 Bach fugues, a Liszt waltz, 2 Messiaen preludes, 2 Gershwin pieces, & repeat of a Bach fugue ~ over 2 hrs. practice time.

Happy practicing!

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Tempi and Acoustics: some considerations

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My thoughts on this subject are by no means exhaustive… however, I have had reason to think about tempi very recently and often ever since I’ve been working.

There was a fascinating interview on NPR not long ago with Yo-Yo Ma, in which he talked about his discovery that the performance tempo in his head, which sounded right to him on stage, was not necessarily the whole story. He had been experimenting with recording, placing the mic various distances from the stage. By the time the sound reaches the middle rows of the auditorium, the back, or the balcony, things change. I would love to hear him speak further about this.

My most recent experience with tempo ambiguity was this past weekend. There are, of course, many different types of singing voices. This particular concert included a song with a metronome marking at the beginning. For the singer’s voice in this song, the indicated tempo was too fast.

During rehearsal experimentation and discussion, we decided that we would try a slower tempo. For me, that meant playing longer 8th notes. The whole thing then sounded way too lugubrious ~ it was a “wave” song, w/lapping waves in the piano part. The rocking boat was sinking fast!

Next, the singer tried lightening up. That allowed the tempo to move forward. Problem solved! We had a slower tempo than indicated, but it fit the singer’s voice and still depicted the composer’s intentions.

Which leads me to mention songs and arias sung by many different types of voices. “Rejoice greatly” is certainly on that list. A coloratura can handle a much faster tempo than a lyric here. Something that would be very helpful in this case, if you audition with a piece with many tempo options, would be to write in a metronome marking at the beginning for the pianist, thus eliminating a lurching tempo change between the introduction and the singer’s entrance.

On occasion, metronome markings indicated by the composer are impossible to sing! Poulenc’s “Air vif” comes to mind. (Too fast!) Singers need time to get the words out.

More about words: consonant clusters and double consonants need time (think Italian, German, & English).

In addition, a metronome marking could be a composer’s error (I know of a case where this happened ~ her metronome was broken for a month or so before she realized it) or a publisher’s misprint.

A thought about piano reductions w/very slow harmonic progress (i.e., Wagner): when played on the piano, sounds held for a long time fade out. In performance w/piano, you’ll need a slightly faster tempo so the sound can be continuous.

In a live hall, fast tempos will most likely sound blurred. Try going a little slower!

A good (extreme) example of a live hall is The Cathedral of St. John the Divine in NY. It’s enormous, and has a 7-second reverb time. Someone I know directed the cathedral choir for several years. There is a NY Times review praising his placement of the singers! Placement of the performers in any situation is important, but with that much reverb, it’s that much more of a challenge.

So, as I stated at the beginning of this post, my thoughts are not all-inclusive pertaining to this topic. But I hope they are helpful. Just try to remain flexible, listen, experiment, & make the performance as clear to the audience as possible.

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