Proper Piano Posture
Here’s a quick video demonstrating proper piano posture and how you should sit at the piano – very important stuff if you don’t want to injure yourself, or look like a big goof.
Practice this as many times as possible until it’s second nature, like brushing your teeth or walking down the street.
Getting Set Up At the Piano : The Bench
Please for the love of everything, no chairs. Chairs aren’t usually the right height for a keyboard, and if they have arms, your own arms will get all squished and thrown out of alignment. Benches aren’t expensive and they will contribute to your spinal health as well.
If you’re really tall or really short, you’ll want a bench that you can adjust the height of. Your elbows should bend at about a 90 degree angle – you’ll create tension if you’re leering over the piano, or if you’re reaching up like a needy child. For those of us with average proportions, a regular bench should work just fine.
Distance from the Piano
Now let’s talk distance. If your arms are proportional to your body, a good rule of thumb is having your knees line up with the edge of the piano. This provides a comfortable reach.
If your arms are longer or shorter than average, just look for this shape when you sit – arms beside, but not touching the torso, a gentle bend in the elbows, with arms flat-parallel to the keys.
Basically what you want to avoid is sitting too close, which causes the elbows to jut out, the wrists to drop, and making it impossible to use the pedals when you eventually get to that. Or, sitting too far away, with no bend in the elbow, causing a lot of strain in your arms.
Where to Sit On a Piano Bench
Where you plant yourself on the bench is important too – the best posture tends to come from sitting on the front edge of the bench. If you’re too far back, in a leisure position on the bench, your feet won’t be properly grounded – if you can swing your feet, it’s not a good sign.
Sitting on the front edge keeps your feet firmly on the floor, which I find also helps to sit up straight. You might be like, “but I like doing the slouchy thing”, but just think about your back, and all the tears of bitterness that can be avoided just by sitting like a lady (or gentleman).
Hand Position and Wrist Shape
Last note is on hand position and wrist shape. If you’ve paid attention to all the previous stuff, this should come naturally. All five of your digits should be on the keys – don’t be leavin’ your thumb hanging.
Try to avoid playing too deep into the keys as well – it’s just harder to play like that, and why make life harder?
Keep your wrist level with your hand – no fancy spider claw hands, or sad droopy wrists. You don’t want your fingertips directly above the keys – relax em a bit so they’re slightly angled, but not flat, which just makes it look like your fingers are grossed out by the keys.
Summary of Proper Piano Posture
Good piano posture is comprised of this:
- Back straight
- Sitting on the front edge of the bench
- Elbows lightly bent, and I’m able to reach the span of the keys without doing the butt shuffle.
Practice this posture until it’s second nature, so that it’s one less thing to worry about when you start reading music!
Here’s a quick video demonstrating proper piano posture and how you should sit at the piano – very important stuff if you don’t want to injure yourself, or look like a big goof.
Practice this as many times as possible until it’s second nature, like brushing your teeth or walking down the street.