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Hi,

This is my first posting. A year or so ago I decided to start playing the piano again. I first began playing for fun when I was young but put it aside for a couple of years to focus on my universty studies. Due to lack of schooling, I developed some bad habits which I am now trying to correct. I find that my left hand can play much faster than my right hand. It appears that my I have trouble playing reptitions notes using fingers patterns 1,2,3,2,1. I feel more comfortable playing 3,4,5,4,3. I figured it's to do with my second(index??) finger retracting excessively after hitting a note and not pressing deep enough. The problems amplifies when I am tense. I have been working on it for over a year now and progress is slow.

Any advice guys?

Without seeing what you're doing, it's very hard to say. Are you taking lessons? If not, find a teacher that can help you work on relaxing that finger. At the very worst case scenario, you have have a focal dystonia, which is an uncontrollable tightening in that finger. At best, it's just a technical thing that can be fixed. If it's the latter, you may be trying to play with finger weight as opposed to arm weight, which makes a HUGE difference in tension. But at any rate, a good teacher can help you wiht either of these problems.

I wanted to take lesson with a teacher but its very expensive. $70 per hour! The teacher is quite reputable in Melbourne. (google search Darryl Coote Team of Pianist) I was hoping to improve the right hand first to make the lessons more worthwhile.

That seems pretty pricey. If you are bound and determined to study with this person, I would find another teacher first who can help you with your technical issues (unless this person happens to be an expert in that, in which case, bite the bullet and have him help you with your problem).

you might want to try some etudes which focus on right hand. you might look for some piano major grad students from music school or conservatory nearby, who would be more than qualified to help you and would charge less for lessons.

I am currently trying to get Czerny's Op 849 under the belt and working through 299 at a slow tempo. I noticed considerable improvement this year. The previous year was the most frustrating period. There's less pressure on me now (ie I took a few lessons before with this guy) and this enables me to relax and play with more confidence. Funny thing. The less 'I care' when approaching diffcult passages the better chance of me playing it better. I guess piano playing is a process that can't be forced and needs to evolve naturally.

Shuo, I think I may have the same problem. Does my case sound similar to yours? I am right handed but LH is better and faster at most types of passages. RH index finger is slow to lift off the key and tends to curl back toward the palm when releasing the key. (Is that the same as the excessive retraction you mentioned?) Descending scales are uncomfortable unless index plays only black keys. Index wants to stick out straight when not in use, e.g. in tremolos.

I've been working on this problem for about 2 years and it's improved greatly. Don't give up! I'd like to hear more specifics about what you've found to be helpful.

What type of employment do you both work at professionally? Are you doing anything repetitive? Taxing on the hands or forearms?

Disciple, good question. My job involves a lot of computer use. It's more often programming than nonstop data entry, so I do get frequent rests from mouse and keyboard.
I commute by bicycle (road bike with drop handlebars.)
Another symptom I forgot to mention - in descending scales and arpeggios, when 2nd finger plays it pulls the wrist up and the arm forward, more severely if 2 plays white keys. This doesn't happen when ascending, and not at all with left hand.

This almost sounds like some kind of injury, in which case you may want to see a doctor or take a break from the piano to see if it improves.

Any chance you could be one of those left-handed people who was taught to be right-handed at an early age?

From the subject, I thought this was going to be about a monkey with behavioral issues.

Ferdinand, you problem sounds similar to mine. In my case, the index finger is more comfortable pressing on the black keys as opposed to the white keys. Are you taking lessons to fix the problem or just trying to figure it out youself? I also do some programming and play some tennis. I don't think its injury related. Maybe that particular finger is too flexible and has the tendency to collapse.

Shuo, same with me, RH 2 is more comfortable on black keys. I work with a teacher who is a superb musician but is available for lessons only infrequently. She is good at diagnosing and helping technical problems but during the long intervals between lessons I do a lot of trying to figure things out on my own, usng trial and (lots of) error.
Sometimes I've wondered if I am wasting my teacher's time because my faulty technique prevents me from implementing more than a fraction of the musical ideas she presents. But in the long run I think I'm right to stick with her and get as much exposure to her musical wisdom as possible. As the technique improves, things I heard in lessons long ago start to make sense.
I might try to find another teacher to help with technique between lessons with with my main teacher. I'm lucky in that I could afford to do this, which might not be your situation.

How long is 'long interval'? I used to take lessons every fortnight. Do you think play any Czerny excercises? You can also contact me on via email shuo.li@eng.monash.edu.au.

Do you get any stiffness or tingling in the fingers, hands, or wrists when playing. The computer work COULD be exacerbating this condition at the piano keyboard.