Welcome to LivingPianos.com, I’m Robert Estrin. Today’s subject is about why you can’t sit too close to your piano. Oftentimes I see people sitting too close to their pianos. You might think it’s nice to be close to the music. Well, there’s a very big problem with that when you’re trying to play in the extreme registers.
When you sit too close to the piano you end up with an extreme angle of the hands.
You can’t possibly play comfortably. The bend is tremendous! Your elbows push into the sides of your body. It’s a nightmare trying to play this way. So sit back a bit. You’ll know you’re at the right distance if you put your hands straight out with your wrists bent and they reach the fallboard. That means your elbows are in front of you, not next to you when you’re playing the piano. That enables you to play in all registers of the piano easily.
You don’t need to scoot around on the bench to reach the extreme registers.
I see many students move over on the bench so they can play the high register. Then they scoot back over to play the low register. What happens if they’re playing something that goes quickly from high to low register? You can’t possibly be jumping around the bench to get to different areas of the keyboard.
From a central position, you can reach all the keys!
The keys are not that far apart. So find a central location far enough from the keyboard that your elbows won’t get in your way. That way you can comfortably play in the high register and low register on your piano. You’re going to be in great shape this way! If you haven’t been sitting at this distance, try it for yourself. See how it makes you feel, particularly when playing the extreme registers on your piano. Thanks again for joining me, Robert Estrin here at LivingPianos.com, Your Online Piano Resource.
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7 thoughts on “Why You Can’t Sit Too Close to Your Piano”
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Oh my. Such great visuals — the ‘bent-wristed hands touching the back of the keys’ bit!
I have a second career idea for you: think “Victor Borge.” Make a video/presentation demonstrating all the silly things we newbie piano students do, like hop up and down from right to left on the bench….or hunch over like a vulture…. or? I think Victor’s lovely light soul and vital energy went directly into you when he had no more use for it.
Those are some good ideas for short videos!
Maestro – I measure the distance with my arms, it’s fine until I need to see the score (can’t see – blind in right eye) or use the pedal (my heel doesn’t touch the floor). I’m only 5’1″ tall (I shrunk over the years)! I did think of getting an adjustable bench, but couldn’t find one. The closest piano store is 3 hours away. Any suggestions? Thank you.
Here is a resource for decent quality artist benches that won’t break the bank! https://frederickpianochairs.com/store/artist-piano-benches-2/