The wrist: breathing and phrasing – free course

The wrist is the great mediator between the arm (which provides the weight) and the fingers (which transmit it). A locked wrist makes the sound hard and tires the forearm; a floppy wrist lets the weight leak away. A good wrist is supple and active: it follows the phrase like the gesture of a singer breathing.

Three wrist movements

Drop-roll: the wrist drops on the first note of a group and rises on the last. It is the natural punctuation of two- or three-note slurs.
Circles: in undulating passages the wrist draws small curves that follow the melodic contour, avoiding sharp angles.
Wrist staccato: for fast detached chords or octaves, the hand bounces from the wrist while the forearm stays calm.

Exercise 1 — sighs

Each two-note slur is played "drop on the first, lift on the second". The second note is softer and slightly shortened: a musical sigh.

M:2/4
L:1/4
Q:1/4=60
K:C
(e d) | (c B) | (A G) | c2 |]

Exercise 2 — wrist staccato

M:4/4
L:1/8
Q:1/4=80
K:C
.[CEG]z .[CEG]z .[DFA]z .[DFA]z | .[B,DG]z .[B,DG]z [CEG]4 |]

Forearm still, resting "on a cushion of air".
The hand bounces from the wrist like a ball hitting the floor.
The final held chord is played with a supple wrist drop.

Common mistakes:

A wrist that is too low (below the keyboard): the fingers pull instead of pressing, risking tendinitis.
Decorative wrist movements unrelated to the music: every gesture must serve the sound.
A locked wrist in fast passages: check regularly that it stays mobile by letting it oscillate slightly.

Tip: think of the wrist as a singer's breathing. A phrase "breathes in" before it starts (slight lift) and "breathes out" at the end (gentle drop). That gesture alone often gives an elegant phrase ending.

Put this into practice with the Minuet in G, full of two- and three-note slurs.