The drooping of one’s wrists below a sensible height
Low wrists are far from the optimal position for piano playing, as they limit the range of movement available to the pianist. To play piano efficiently the wrist should be roughly level with the keys, depending on the student and the repertoire. This logical argument doesn’t stop many young pianists from drooping their wrists down, sometimes enough to rest on the wooden ledge below the keys. These lazy wrists should be cured as soon as possible before the student develops unhealthy finger technique to compensate or sustains a pianistic injury due to the unnecessary strain.
Symptoms
Prescriptions
River of Doom
In lesson
Tell your student that there is a river running underneath the piano keys, and place your hand at the level of this imaginary river. Ask your student to begin playing her piece, and tell her that if she falls in the ‘River of Doom’ (touches your hand with her wrist) she’ll have to start again. The aim of the game is to get to the end of the piece without falling in once. Persist until this goal is achieved but do take breaks if she is becoming frustrated with the exercise. She may find it very difficult to hold her concentration for this long.
At home
Assign practice with the imaginary ‘River of Doom’ and tell her you’re going to start with the ‘River of Doom’ first thing next week. Make sure you follow through on this promise and she will learn to practice with the imaginary river to prepare.
Bounce
In lesson
Place a large rubber band or hair elastic around your student’s wrist and hold up one end so that the elastic is a little taut. Ask her to push down with her wrist and, while she is doing this, pull up your end gently so that she can only drop it a little before bouncing back up. Allow her to experiment with the different ways she can move her wrist within this setup.
Discuss with her how she can move her wrist up and to the sides as much as she likes, but only ‘Bounce’ downwards a tiny bit before she springs back up. This is the type of movement she should have at the piano.
Take this elastic wrist setup to the piano. Instruct your student to play her piece/scale (one hand at a time is best) with you still holding the top of the elastic. You won’t need to do much to control her wrist movements other than hold it at the right height. Once she has experimented with this in each hand, remove the elastics and ask her to play with the same feeling she had when the elastics were around her wrists. You can prompt her with questions, such as: “Would your wrist be able to go down that far?” or “How did it feel when you did that with the elastic in place?”
At home
Before practicing at home she should do the same elastic exercise, one hand at a time, now holding the upper part of the elastic herself. Tell her to do this before she plays each day and then to try and keep that feeling throughout her practice time. Repeat the full ‘Bounce’ exercise at the next lesson to reinforce the wrist technique.
Related Diagnoses
Floppy Finger Predicament
Fused Phalanges
Wrist Lockdown