Estimated reading time 2 minutes
Table of Contents
Avoiding Wrist Tension When Playing Piano Arpeggios #1: Your Teacher’s Face Turns Blue
“How do I avoid tension in my wrists when playing piano arpeggios?” Piano teachers can yell “Relax!” until they turn blue in the face, and it won’t do any good. Tension leads to sore muscles, fatigue, and possibly even injury. So, how do you reduce the tension in your wrists? There’s an easy trick that’ll help you learn how to relax on your own. Read more to find out how it works.
This post uses musical terms. For definitions, see the Glossary at the end of the article.
Avoiding Wrist Tension When Playing Piano Arpeggios #2: The Tension Scale
How do you avoid tension in your wrists when practicing or playing piano arpeggios? You need to use your awareness skills to pay attention to your body.
For instance, The Inner Game of Music suggests that you rate the tension in your wrists on a scale of one to ten:
- First, practice a piece of music that has a series of broken chords.
- After you’ve played it, ask yourself where the tension was on your personal mental scale.
- If you rate the tension at, say, a seven, see if you can then play it again at a five.
- Next, see how low you can get the tension while still being able to play.
- In other words, a “one” will be so relaxed you’re not moving.
However, rating the tension while practicing arpeggios is only one way you can use your awareness skills. For more great tips read:
Avoiding Wrist Tension When Playing Piano Arpeggios #3: Not Limited to Arpeggios
So, that’s how you avoid tension in your wrists when playing piano arpeggios.
- Using this simple tip makes it easy to rate the tension in your wrists.
- Once you’ve quantified the tension, reducing it becomes doable.
- Moreover, this technique isn’t limited to arpeggios. Anytime you feel like you’re playing with too much tension, you can use the Tension Scale to help you relax while playing or practicing.
Have fun playing!
Related Posts
- Can I Learn to Play Piano with a Mini Key Keyboard?
- How Long Do You Take to Memorize a Piece of Piano Music?
- Tips for Playing a Different Dynamic in Each Hand on Piano
- Help Me! How Do I Improve My Touch on Piano? Part 4
- D’you Want Some Music Tips and Tricks I’ve Learned Over the Years?
© 2023 Geoffrey Keith
Join me for in-person or online lessons today!
Back to the All-Purpose Music Tips and Topics category blogs page
Glossary
BPM (Using the Metronome to Get the Music Beat)
Do you want to know the purpose of a metronome and how to read it? A metronome helps you find the tempo of a song in beats per minute (bpm). Also, it helps you practice by clicking at a (user adjustable) speed. So, that way you can play along with (for example) the tempo moderato on the metronome. Keep reading “BPM (Using the Metronome to Get the Music Beat)” to learn the various ways it can help. Estimated reading time 3 minutes.
Read More
Changing Keys in Your Songwriting
Tired of using the same old chords in your songs all the time? Want to create excitement in your songwriting? Adding a key change to your song can make your listeners sit up and take notice. Read more to learn about changing keys in your songwriting. Estimated reading time 4 minutes.
Read More
How to Graduate from Color Coded Music Symbols – Part 5
“How do I finally get my students to be able to read music without color coding?” In today’s post, we’ll look at the last stage of graduating from the colors: flashcards. Keeping reading to learn how to graduate from color coded music symbols. Estimated reading time 3 minutes.
Read More
Positives to Dyslexia – Everything is Connected to Everything Else (Part 2)
Do you want to know some of the positives to having dyslexia? Does all information seem connected to you? Global thinking is the capacity to see cohesive relationships between different domains of knowledge. It’s also one of the four strengths resulting from dyslexic brain structure. Keep reading to learn the details of how everything being connected to everything else can be a positive aspect of having dyslexia. Estimated reading time 3 minutes.
Read More