How To Play Piano Pain Free

Do you have back pain while playing the piano?

I struggled with really bad neck pain when playing, I still do if I don't take care how I sit, and balance my head.

I was taught to push my elbows outwards when playing- this became a pain so bad I couldn't practice without painkillers.

After learning about how to sit correctly, and how to balance my body, I have learned that practicing can, and should be pain free.

There are several reasons for back/neck pain when playing the piano. Some of the most common are:

1. Sitting at the wrong height. The length of your upper arms decides how high or low you need to sit, not your height. Your upper and lower arms should form a 90 degree angle when you hold your hands in a cupped position on the keys. It is very important to have a comfortable piano chair. To avoid any neck or back pain the best is an adjustable piano bench.

2. Your shoulders should be relaxed, and your arms should hang freely from the shoulders. Never, ever push your elbows outwards or press them against your body.

3. Balancing the body weight. Your body should have three places where the weight is balanced; your bottom, feet and fingertips. All the rest of your body should feel elastic, free and light. You should sit at half of the bench with the feet firmly on the floor by the pedals. Also, make sure to not to sit too close to the piano, you need space to use your torso to lean forward and sideways.

4. Craning your neck. Video tape yourself to see if you are craning your neck when playing. Reasons could be poor eyesight, not enough light and where the notes are placed in front of you.

   A grand piano has the note stand higher than that of an upright, it is also adjustable. If you are practicing at an upright piano, and you constantly have to tilt your head forward to read the notes, this might cause you pain.

   A remedy could be to put something under the notes so that they are lifted more in front of your eyes.

5. Too low or too high wrists. This breaks the “balance” points, as I wrote above, and puts strain on the wrists. This usually gets “transferred” as pain up your arms and shoulders. Your wrist should be elastic and free, but unifying the arm and the hand in an unbroken line.

6. Sometimes an orthopedic ”tush-cush” can be a help, both to reach the correct height, but also because it helps you to sit with a slight angle forward, which helps balance you weight forward.

   There are special piano pads that are made not to put pressure on your spine. This is great if you have suffered from an injury, or have a lot of back pain.

Correct Seat Height:

Potentially Harmful Technical Habits:

Get a Comfortable Piano Bench:

Your local piano store most certainly has a range of great quality piano benches. You can also check out Adjustable Piano Benches for some recommendations of the best piano chairs. If you live in Europe I recommend Thomann for budget chairs, great service and fast delivery.

Orthopedic Piano Bench Pad:

Original Tush Cush Seat Cushion - Large Navy Blue

Related Pages:

• How to sit with the correct posture.
  
  
• The best hand posture when playing the piano.

Return from How to Play Piano Pain Free to Piano Technique

Return from How to Play Piano Pain Free to Piano Lessons Home Page

New! Comments

Contact | Disclaimer | Privacy Policy | Site Map

Copyright © 2010-2012 Play-The-Piano.org All Rights Reserved
Unauthorized use of any images, descriptions and articles is strictly prohibited under copyright law.

SBI!