The tendency of one’s fingers to press too firmly into the keybed
From time to time, you will come across students who seem convinced that the piano keys need to be held down forcefully after they have been played. These students will play the piano keys and then continue to push down on them, sometimes so hard that it appears they want to push all the way through the keybed.
Because of the force that is being exerted into the key currently sounding, students with sticky tipitis will often have trouble playing the next key on time or with good articulation. Sticky tipitis also creates unnecessary tension and can lead to stresses and strains, so it’s important to catch it as early as possible and resolve this tension.
Symptoms
Prescriptions
Sigh It Out
In lesson
Start this exercise with just a five finger pattern or scale. Ask your student to play the scale but to pause after each note to let her hand “sigh”. Demonstrate releasing the hand muscles after striking each key.
For this to work it has to be done very slowly, and it may help to ask your student to actually sigh at first to get the feeling of release. Test her sigh by asking her to freeze and wiggling one of her fingers that isn’t playing. If she has sighed correctly, you should be able to move her fingers as they will be free of tension. Once she has successfully applied the sighs to her scale, return to her piece and try one hand at a time with the ‘Sigh It Out’ technique.
At home
Assign practice of all her pieces using the same ‘Sigh It Out’ technique. When she returns for her next lesson you can start to reduce the sighs, making them shorter and shorter until they eventually become a smooth part of her playing. This process may take several weeks or only one, depending on the level of sticky tipitis your student has. Just be patient and continue to practice these hand sighs until the tension fades away.
Soft Landing
In lesson
Close the piano lid or move to a table. Place a cushion, blanket, quilt, teddy or other soft item on the tabletop. Ask your student to play her piece on this padded surface, lifting her arm between notes and landing with the correct finger each time. Encourage her to feel the cushioning effect and how she can rest there between notes.
Return to the piano and ask her to imagine that each piano key has tiny little cushions on its surface. Whenever she plays a key her finger gets to rest on the cushion at the bottom until the note ends. Repeat this full exercise with each piece to develop the imagery and tactile memory of the soft, padded surface.
At home
Encourage your student to practice her pieces in this way all week, using whatever soft items she has at home, before moving to the piano. Ask her to draw soft things at the top of each piece to remind herself to practice ‘Soft Landings’. Review the exercise at subsequent lessons as necessary.
Related Diagnoses
Expression Omission Disorder
Floppy Finger Predicament
Fortissimo Fixation
Wrist Drowsiness
Wrist Lockdown