Forearm Rotation  «Prev  Next»

Sense key resistance

The fingers should have a feeling of gripping and not pushing the keys. Always think in terms of limbs and not muscles. It is the forearm, the hand and the finger that are used in rotation. Once size and direction of the movement has been determined, it must be made smaller and smaller, until it does not work. Just above that is the cut-off point which is similar to the concept of limit in Calculus.

Value of Rotation

Everyone needs to discover the value of rotation and how to use it as a natural technique. Double rotation occcurs when there is more than one note playing in the same direction, except for the thumb in any scale or arpeggio. In the case of the thumb, there is a single rotation of the thumb in any scale or arpeggio passage.
There are other elements such as
  1. the walking arm and
  2. the in-and-out movement

that work in combination with rotation to produce a finished scale passage.
However, rotation is the basic technique that must come first. The arpeggio is treated the same as the scale, with the rotation of the thumb towards the player.
Right hand thumb plays left, and left hand thumb plays right.

Eliminate the sense of Distance

Caution must be taken that a note is not reached for ahead of time when a skip (distance between keys) is encountered. Instead, the rotary movement of the forearm will eliminate the sense of distance on the keyboard, and the distance will be covered with no strain.
It is important to remember that the 1st note of any passage calls for the forearm rotation to be opposite to the direction the passage is going.
In addition, the first note will be a single rotation. When there is a change of direction, there will always be a turnback of the rotation. There is no other way for the fingers to move efficiently than with forearm rotation. The rotation starts at the finger and uses only as much arm as it needs. The fingers lead (initiate the motion) and the forearm will follow.