Hi folks

I am a 53 year old beginner. I have been playing for a year and have recently swapped teachers after my previous teacher gave up teaching (I think I broke him).

My new teacher is very fastidious and attentive to detail. She has spotted that I curl my (usually right hand) little finger right back tightly under the palm. I don't know why I do this. I think its muscle memory from using a mouse for so many years at a computer. I don't have any disability as such.

Does anyone have any experience of this? Should I tape my pinkie to my ring finger when using the pc?

Thanks for reading,

Jennings

Your teacher doesn't have any ideas on how to correct this ?

Have you tried moving your wrist up and down a little (within a centimeter amplitude if you can) between the notes to relax your hand? It could be that you hands are just tense...

I really think you need to get rid of that bad habit, but a more peaceful alternative would be to operate top mouse buttons with fingers 345, it will likely both reduce tension and help develop dexterity of the 5th finger.

And concerning the piano practice your teacher needs to choose pieces and exercises for you for a couple of months which will keep your 5th finger constantly busy. And of course you need to watch your 5th finger all the time, too, and relax it when needed.

A neat idea!



I was thinking about modifying Hanon, playing only with 2-3-4-5. A few minutes per day would be safe.

Thanks for all the feedback, guys.

She gives me studies which use those fingers, but I still have exam pieces where I notice it. I'll ask her for more guidance in my next lesson.



Thanks, I am gonna try this.



I'll never be able to retrain my moouise hands - but I'll focus on the relaxing stuff. Its a great point - I am a very tense person.


Will take a look. Cheers.

If you flee disgracefully being faced with such a simple task, then how are you going to learn to play Rachmaninoff?