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Max Online: 15252 @ 03/21/10 11:39 PM
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#1291950 - 10/22/09 04:15 PM
Re: Playing Too Softly
[Re: keystring]
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2000 Post Club Member
Registered: 07/24/09
Posts: 2464
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Is it possible that on one side you have a concept of playing that involves some element of free-fall or momentum (as in the word "thrust"), while on the other you have a motion that is controlled and directed throughout? If our finger or hand is a projectile toward the keys then we will tense or pull back in order to not hit the wall, unless we can allow the motion to continue in following through. But if we're not doing that, then there is no need for this "follow-through". I don't think that really follows, to be honest. You're going to hit the keybed with plenty of force whether you move at constant speed or not (certainly in fortissimo, at least). Any attempts to 'brake' prior to this point are only going to prevent such a shock from being absorbed smoothly- thanks to added tensions. The 'follow through' is not so much about the being able to vary the intensity of contact with the keybed so much as moving in a way that is conducive to absorbing the impact. It's not necessarily an actual follow through, but merely a feeling of allowing pre-existing momentum to continue (and be absorbed rather than forcibly witheld). Any attempt to move at constant speed (rather than accelerate) sounds particularly likely to result in the kind of tensions that do not absorb a contact terribly well. However, when you move as though you do not expect to contact anything, you move with the looseness required. Our natural fear of contacting the keys is the very thing that makes such a contact unpleasant. You can't inhibit the actual contact, but only fear of making such a contact. It's like knocking on a door. You don't aim to stop at the point of the door. You aim through. If your arm is loose, it bounces back. If it's clenched (or you aim to stop AT the door), it impacts heavily and uncomfortably. The key is simply to respond to contact with release in the arm, not by adding extra tension. Adding tension only adds to the perception of impact.
Edited by Nyiregyhazi (10/22/09 04:32 PM)
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#1300554 - 11/06/09 02:24 PM
Re: Playing Too Softly
[Re: Nyiregyhazi]
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Yikes! 10000 Post Club Member
Registered: 05/21/07
Posts: 10856
Loc: London, UK (though if it's Aug...
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It's like knocking on a door... If your arm is loose, it bounces back.
 Has he finally gone? What utter crap! Physics of the universe? - I think not.
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#1301016 - 11/07/09 11:07 AM
Re: Playing Too Softly
[Re: keyboardklutz]
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6000 Post Club Member
Registered: 12/11/07
Posts: 6889
Loc: Canada
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Kbk, what happens between the down (or in?) and the up in the way you play?
What does a Sumo wrestler do after pushing an opponent? Didn't see this until now. I think: He controls the direction of the continuing momentum which changes as the opponent falls away, and he remains centred throughout with a low center of gravity. There is a release of pressure which I guess is like the key. Did I get close?
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#1301027 - 11/07/09 11:21 AM
Re: Playing Too Softly
[Re: keyboardklutz]
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6000 Post Club Member
Registered: 12/11/07
Posts: 6889
Loc: Canada
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Yes, but in the stop there can be tension depending on how it's done. I took Aikido as a young woman and also Tae Kwon Do. In either, you do not stop. You follow through, or bounce off, or direct, or change direction. That moment between up and down is where I'm not sure that I like what is happening which is why I asked.
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#1301028 - 11/07/09 11:22 AM
Re: Playing Too Softly
[Re: keystring]
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Yikes! 10000 Post Club Member
Registered: 05/21/07
Posts: 10856
Loc: London, UK (though if it's Aug...
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#1301030 - 11/07/09 11:24 AM
Re: Playing Too Softly
[Re: Nyiregyhazi]
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6000 Post Club Member
Registered: 12/11/07
Posts: 6889
Loc: Canada
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Nyi, thanks for the response. No questions. I didn't notice it until my attention was drawn to it today.
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#1301032 - 11/07/09 11:26 AM
Re: Playing Too Softly
[Re: keyboardklutz]
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6000 Post Club Member
Registered: 12/11/07
Posts: 6889
Loc: Canada
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I haven't figured that out yet. I'm sorry, this isn't helping me. I don't know what to do with it. Thanks for trying.
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#1301034 - 11/07/09 11:30 AM
Re: Playing Too Softly
[Re: keystring]
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Yikes! 10000 Post Club Member
Registered: 05/21/07
Posts: 10856
Loc: London, UK (though if it's Aug...
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I haven't figured that out yet. I'm sorry, this isn't helping me. I don't know what to do with it. Thanks for trying. Come back when you've got it figured then.
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#1301043 - 11/07/09 11:44 AM
Re: Playing Too Softly
[Re: keyboardklutz]
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6000 Post Club Member
Registered: 12/11/07
Posts: 6889
Loc: Canada
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#1307952 - 11/18/09 05:46 PM
Re: Playing Too Softly
[Re: keyboardklutz]
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500 Post Club Member
Registered: 05/30/07
Posts: 670
Loc: Middle England
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It's like knocking on a door... If your arm is loose, it bounces back.
 Has he finally gone? What utter crap! Physics of the universe? - I think not. Come on Nyiregyhazi, are you going to stand for that? I'm bored.  -
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#1308020 - 11/18/09 07:31 PM
Re: Playing Too Softly
[Re: keyboardklutz]
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2000 Post Club Member
Registered: 11/11/09
Posts: 2881
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That it takes effort to not do something is a new one on me. I shouldn't worry about the mechanics just stop what you're doing. Think of a Sumo wrestler pushing an opponent out of the ring, do they fall over themselves? Very occasionally. Stopping a motion does not compare to simply not having done anything in the first place. Run as fast as you can, and while doing so try to imitate the effect of blindly crashing into a brick wall. Please don't try it with a real wall for purposes of comparison. 
_________________________
(I'm a piano teacher.)
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