Arioso7's Blog (Shirley Kirsten)

Piano Technique: Wrist dipping and thumb twiddling

With creative juices flowing during a piano lesson by Skype, a teacher can toy with various mental images by webcam that assist fluid technique.

“Wrist dipping” through a five-finger position in rapid rhythm required focus on how to avoid the inevitable accent that occurs on framing thumb and pinky. “Soft” landings were therefore isolated and practiced to diminish their impact.

“Twiddling” thumbs beamed to a North Carolina student prepped her for a shift-by-shift journey through A minor. Watch out for obtrusive pokes and hard landings. Keep an agile, relaxed thumb as also applied to a D Major arpeggio practiced in this segment.

Attentive listening fused with an awareness of “feel,” (or physical memory of how to create an imagined sound) plus mental imagery are great assets to advance technique and musicality.

LINK:

https://arioso7.wordpress.com/2015/01/10/piano-technique-the-relaxed-thumb/