Piano Technique: How to Play Freely Without Tension, Getting Tired, or Cramps!

#pianotechnique #pianopractice
Hi everyone, today I present how to play the piano, for example technical passages or difficult pieces, without tension or cramping, and very freely. I show you the concept of "Active Relaxation" which allows us to play quickly, without getting tense, and gives us the ability to play for a long time! :)
Often, most students who pick up the piano suffer from stiffness, tension and even cramping. We talk about a controlled & focused release of tension, specifically unnecessary muscular tension to combat muscle fatigue.
Visit my website to book a lesson:
pianotechsupport.com/bookings/

[@PianoTechSupport]

Thanks for watching ! Sorry that there is some buzzing / vibration issue with my tripod, will fix that for the next video. Hope you enjoyed it :)

[@rproctor83]

Tension is my final boss. Haunts me at all times.

[@travisguide4516]

Ive been using active relaxation in many things in my life nice that someone finally put it into perspective with music

[@alessiomazzeo7983]

thank you🙏🏼🥹

[@ulysse__]

Thank you so much for this video! I'm studying Chopin op. 10 n°1 atm, a famous wrist breaker as you said (I thought about op. 10 n°1 before you even talked about it haha). Will definitely put these tips into practice asap!

[@PianoTechSupport]

Glad it was helpful :P

[@UUpianoman]

This is such a powerful technique to master! Valuable for all levels!!

[@PianoTechSupport]

Thanks so much! Glad it helped.

[@guirubik]

This is great! I got cramps playing op10 n9 between my fourth and fifth finger of my left hand. I hope this will solve the problem. Thank you very much!

[@PianoTechSupport]

I hope so too! You got this :)

[@kakasvk]

Did it help?

[@guirubik]

@@kakasvk well for now not really, but it's only the beginning! I can only hope cause if it doesn't work then i will never be able to play this etude at good speed x)

[@Ludwingvanchopin]

This video is awesome. Can you please give me some tips about Patetique Sonata by Beethoven . In your opinion is a great achievement to learn this sonata after almost a year of piano, considering that I’m learning the first movement with out struggling, except for getting the right speed for the chromatic scale at the bottom of the first page. I’m sorry if I made some mistake while writing but I’m Italian

[@PianoTechSupport]

Thanks so much! Its a bit difficult to give tips just over a comment, maybe I will do a video about Pathetique but everyone has different problems and difficulties. If you want me to solve a specific problem you can get in touch with me ( btw your english is better than mine)

[@Ludwingvanchopin]

@@PianoTechSupport I hope for a video about Patetique. Another thing, do you attend concert? I see that you’re registred from Austria and is not too far from my country, so may I wil be at one of your concert. Cause Italy is not that far from Austria, you could partecipate in the Busoni Competition. I would like see you playing Ravel Gaspard de la Nuit

[@Kivancli79]

Thanks, this was helpful and insightful. You mentioned opus 10 etude from Chopin in C major ... i wonder what your thoughts are on the a minor "chromatic" etude. Because of the continues legato throughout the piece with fingers 3/4/5/, presure builds up on the right hand quickly. Problem is, you cant completly relaxed the whole hand because than the legato, or fluidy of the piece will take a hit. Things will start sound disjointed in the right hand and not perfect legato. There are also no real "spots" in the piece to take a little breather/brake with the right hand.

[@PianoTechSupport]

Im releasing a video about this soon!

[@Kivancli79]

@@PianoTechSupport Looking forward to it :-) Should be interesting to see how you approach a rather difficult piece like that.

[@24cf648]

How do we induce our brain to relax the arms if we're tensing up? I've found that telling myself "relax" doesn't work -- maybe by tensing voluntarily for a second or two and then relaxing again?

[@PianoTechSupport]

Hi there, great question. What I address in this video is specifically the feeling when we keep playing with tension (we get slower, the hand might be unable to articulate properly, we cramp up... this kind of tension). I think we all know this feeling. This is a big problem because the tension doesn't help at all with what we want to do - for example, to play quickly and freely, with ease. So there are scenarios where we get more and more tense because of uninterrupted, continuous motion, and its exactly here where the tension slows us down. The way to induce is to realise that the tension doesn't help, it hinders, and it feels like letting go. I think in the beginning it took my many attempts to get there, because we need to target the relaxation in the first place which is not as easy as it seems in this video. Your idea is great btw: tensing up on purpose to get back down is a good exercise, but not ideal as you may imagine. Keep at it, its not so easy, I know. But doing this enables you to get through many difficult pieces, also just technical ones, such as Op 10/ 2 by Chopin or similar passages that are uninterrupted like Toccatas (schumann, prok..) or 2nd movement of the 2nd prok concerto, and so on. Keep at it!

[@jannis11]

noice

[@thehighground7926]

I have a question. As a beginner(a few months in) sometimes when I play pieces for longer durations, I notice my wrists gets tired, but no forearm or hand pain. Is this a problem or is just endurance on the piano that I need to build?

[@patatas6849]

I am gating wrisp pain ...help!!!