Hand shape

Generations of children were taught to play "holding an apple" or "a tennis ball". The image is useful, but do not take it too literally: a hand squeezing an imaginary ball is a tense hand. What we are after is the hand's natural shape at rest.

Finding your natural shape

1. Standing, let your arms hang by your sides, completely relaxed. Look at your hands: the fingers are naturally curved, the thumb slightly away from the hand. That is your basic shape.
2. Without changing anything, bring your hand to the keyboard: the fingertips rest on the keys, the arch of the hand stays rounded, like a little bridge.
3. Put your hand flat on your knee, then slide it towards you until the fingers curve by themselves: another way of finding the same shape.

Checkpoints

• Fingers 2, 3, 4, 5 play on the fleshy tip (just in front of the nail). For a very soft, singing sound you can play with a flatter finger, on the pad.
• The last joint (the nail joint) must never buckle inwards: this is the most common beginner's fault. It stays firm.
• The knuckles (the "bumps" at the base of the fingers) form the top of the arch: they must not collapse.
• The thumb plays on its side, near the corner of the nail, slightly bent and relaxed. It does not hang below the keyboard or stiffen outwards.
• The wrist is in line with the forearm, neither bent upwards nor sagging.
• The fifth finger is short: it plays a little more "upright", on its outer side, without folding in.

Exercise: five fingers at rest

Place the five fingers of your right hand on C D E F G without playing. Lift each finger a few millimetres and put it back, one by one, watching carefully: the other fingers stay still and the nail joint does not buckle. Do the same with the left hand on the C D E F G below (little finger on C).