Distinction between Exertion and Movement

In keyboard technique, exertion and movement are two different aspects that contribute to effective and efficient piano playing. Understanding the difference between these two concepts can help pianists optimize their technique and avoid unnecessary strain or tension.
Exertion refers to the amount of physical effort or force applied when playing the piano. This includes finger pressure on the keys, the force needed for articulation, and the energy required to create dynamics. Excessive exertion can lead to fatigue, tension, and strain injuries. Good keyboard technique aims to minimize exertion by using appropriate finger strength and arm weight, as well as employing proper hand, wrist, and arm positioning to maximize mechanical advantage. Movement, on the other hand, refers to the physical actions and motions involved in playing the piano. This includes the movement of fingers, hands, wrists, and arms while navigating the keyboard, executing various techniques, and creating musical expression. Efficient movement is essential for fluid, accurate, and expressive playing.
In summary, exertion relates to the force or effort applied in playing, while movement pertains to the physical actions and gestures involved in playing the piano. Balancing both aspects is crucial for effective keyboard technique. By minimizing unnecessary exertion and optimizing movement, pianists can achieve greater control, precision, and expressiveness while reducing the risk of strain or injury.

Exertion and movement of a limb represent two different activities and are two quite distinct movements.

1. It is possible to obtain a movement without exertion, as you do when you let the hand or arm fall by means of their own weight through the use of gravity.^[1]
2. On the contrary, you may make an exertion without showing any corresponding outward movement, as you do when you firmly hold something in your hand and make a considerable exertion and nothing is revealed visibly.

Unless the required muscules are thus exerted there will be no proper sound generated. Yet nothing is seen of this necessary exertion of the finger and hand during the moment of key depression. Therefore, it is often overlooked and not supplied and the resulting chord playing sounds un-crisp and not clear. Hence, criticisms have arisen from some persons that relaxation and weight-touch will lead to flabby playing.
If you attempt to use your fingers in playing without due help from the arm, then your tone will certainly be "flabby". More flabby in fact than when you spoil your "weight-touch" by not giving correspondingly adequate finger and hand exertions.

It is therefore of extreme importance that you understand this radical distinction between condition and movement. The condition of your finger, hand and arm during the action of touch and the movements that may optionally accompany such changes of condition muscularly are quite invisible during the act of performance. Until this distinction is clearly grasped, you cannot hope to form any rational idea regarding the processes of touch or technique.

[1]Gravity or gravitation, is a natural phenomenon by which all things with mass or energy (including planets, stars, galaxies, and even light ) are brought toward (or gravitate toward) one another.