I play piano, and my hands hurt when I play fast songs. Any help on exercises to improve this?

Question

This often happens during really fast songs, but just on my left hand. I figured that there are some piano exercises that might help to improve my ability to play fast, because it sounds really weird to have my right hand playing perfectly and my left hand lagging about 15 notes behind!

Answer 1

When you practice fast song - start slow, then increase the tempo slowly. Very often the hands hurt because your fingers have not built enough strength to handle fast passages.

Some piano player plays too fast and their hands get tense.

Make sure your wrist is totally relaxed (important)

Before you start fast passages, try slow movement first. Our hands need warm-up just like the body needs warm up and stretching before exercises.

You may do stretching or warm up exercises. Those arm and elbow stretches that are used by tennis or golf players are helpful.

Hanon and Czerny are good exercises - but I would not start them in the begining of any practice session, do that later on so that the hand can warm up with slower passages first

Answer 2

it's all about strength training your hands and arms. Just go to the gym and use the weight machines and buy a gripmaster that exercises your fingers.

Answer 3

Stop playing and take a break! You might be giving yourself tendinitis or doing serious physical damage if you keep playing while you are in pain or when your body isn't behaving normally--i.e., your left hand can't move as fast as your right.

You should never have pain while playing an instrument, it is a sign that you are having a technical problem that you need to address. Perhaps you are playing with too much tension in your neck, left shoulder, arm, and/or hand. (This would also hurt your ability to play fast.) I would recommend consulting a professional music teacher who can assess your technique and figure out what is wrong. A teacher that specializes in Alexander Technique would be particularly helpful. If the pain is severe, you should also see a doctor. If you don't take action, you may  find that the problem only gets worse and that you will have to stop playing all together--we don't want that to happen!

In the meantime, practice *slowly* and easily and stop immediately if you have pain. Do a lot of scales, arpeggios, Hanon exercises (http://www.danmansmusic.com/free_hanon.h... or other fundamentals. Focus on the motions you are making and make sure you are using good technique and are tension-free. (If you can't play it slowly, you can't play it fast anyway, right?) Avoid any jerking motions. Make sure your posture is good and that you are using a good bench at the proper height. Don't lock any of your joints.

Also, it is extremely important that you warm up properly before practicing and stretch your shoulders, arms, and hands. Being a musician is a lot like being an athlete! If you want to improve your speed, consider how a runner prepares for a race! No runner would ever compete without warming up and stretching.

Warming up: You can use hot water, hot washcloths, or a wax dip to warm up your muscles. (Sometimes I just practice right after I get out of the bath or shower.)

Stretching (do this both before and after you play): See these websites for ideas:

http://www.stretchnow.com.au/exercises/h...

http://www.stretchnow.com.au/exercises/s...

Stretching is probably going to be more helpful than any kind of weight-bearing exercise, which might only exacerbate your problem.

To alleviate the pain, try alternating heat and cold for 15 minutes or so: run your sore hand under hot water for two minutes, then dip it in an ice bath for two minutes, and so on. You can take a pain reliever (Tylenol, Advil, etc.) after you practice if you need to, but it's best not to have any in your system while you are playing, because then you can't feel if you are causing your body more damage. (Pain is our built-in warning system that we are doing something unhealthy.)

There are a lot of good books out there that you might find helpful. One is "What Every Musician Needs to Know About the Body" by Barbara Conable.

I hope this helps!

Answer 4

Try the HANON books...

Answer 5

2 Books from "Schirmer's Library of Musical Classics" --

HANON : The Virtuoso Pianist (In 60 Exercises for the Piano)

CZERNY : The School Of Velocity For the Piano

[[When I bought them....]] Both Yellow very plain books available from HAL - LEONARD for $6.95 Each