Correct Limb Stresses can Be Learned

A piano student can learn the correct motions to be executed when practicing at the piano. Proper technique is crucial for developing good playing habits and avoiding injuries. Here are some general tips to guide a piano student in learning the correct motions:

1. Posture: Sit up straight and maintain a natural curve in the lower back. The bench should be at a height that allows the forearms to be parallel to the ground, and feet should be flat on the floor or on a footrest.
2. Hand position: Keep fingers curved and relaxed. The wrists should be flexible and slightly raised, while the arms should be slightly away from the body to allow for freedom of movement.
3. Finger cooperation: The fingers move only in cooperation with the forearm.
4. Articulation: Learn to control the touch and articulation of each note, which will help in achieving a smooth and even tone.
5. Dynamics: Develop the ability to control volume and intensity by adjusting the pressure and speed of the keystrokes.
6. Pedaling: Learn the proper use of the sustain pedal, which can add color and depth to the music when used correctly.
7. Phrasing and expression: Work on shaping musical phrases and conveying emotion through the way you play.

To achieve these correct motions, a piano student should practice consistently and receive regular guidance from an experienced teacher. The teacher can provide tailored instruction and feedback, helping the student refine their technique and avoid developing bad habits. Additionally, watching and listening to skilled pianists can provide valuable insights into proper technique and execution.

What we should know:

1. what particular stresses and relaxations are required of the various portions of our playing-limb,
2. which parts of the limb to exert,
3. and which to leave passive.

This knowledge is attainable and is immediately helpful. Such knowledge, however, cannot be obtained from eye-evidence or anatomical conjecture.
It can only be obtained through analysis of the sensations experienced while actually producing the correct effects, and in no other way.
Only by the sensations thus experienced can we realize what are the limb-conditions that obtain both correct and incorrect playing, and by calling-up or recalling such sensations we can then reproduce the effects and can acquire the correct habits. Here, however, we are again faced with a difficulty. Those few gifted ones, who instinctively stumble upon correct technique physically, are usually precisely the ones least fitted to help us by self-analysis.

The greater their emotional and musical gifts, the more likely they are to be opposed and even resentful towards any exercise of self-analysis, mechanically and physically. Hence we find that these usually prove to be quite bad teachers in spite of their own great technique. Nevertheless, it is only a successful musical player, who has really achieved technical mastery and is at the same time gifted with powers of analytical and mechanical reasoning who can possibly supply the needed information.
That is, how it feels physically, to play correctly, and also how it feels to play incorrectly.
It was by this method of 1) self-analysis and 2) synthesis that The Act of Touch was produced in 1903.
Time has proved that its general principles of technical teaching were founded on correct principles.