Articles
Principles of Piano Techniqe (Part 3)
About Explosive Force
Explosive force had been mentioned in the earlier articles. Explosive
force is one way to play the piano. In this article I will explain it
further.
The main role of explosive force is concentrate energy rapidly in a split
second in order to raise the quality of playing.
Examples of explosive force in sports may illustrate and aid understanding.
For example, in playing tennis, one has to focus on the point of the ball
and hit it rapidly in a split second. Likewise, a high jumper needs to
focus his efforts on the split second when he springs up. One who does
not know how to use explosive force is not a good sportsman.
What is the role of explosive force in piano playing?
Explosive force in piano technique is to drop one's natural arm weight
focusing effectively to the bottom of the keys and spring up in a split
second without superfluous energy or movement. Explosive force is an easy
and simple method to make the piano produce beautiful sound. It is a way
to use one's energy in the most economical and ingenious way. Explosive
force is not only useful in sports, but in piano playing as well. It prevents
having tension in the arm muscles and using heavy pushing and pressing
into the keys. It prevents detours in the development of technique.
1. Placement point: Explosive force requires the natural weight of the
arm to naturally and vertically drop down with concentration, from about
a foot high, to the placement point, and bounce up naturally. First, one
needs to find the placement point, which is where the fingertip touches
the key. The arm weight must focus precisely and drop to this point. This
is the most important thing in piano playing. It prevents waste of energy.
If the weight does not focus onto the point, all efforts are useless.
It is like playing tennis when the player cannot focus his energy onto
the point of his tennis ball. To play each note on the piano, the energy
must always go through this point to reach the bottom of the key bed.
Explosive force practice is the most effective exercise to have the arm
weight focused on the point(s).
2. Relaxation: Explosive force requires a relaxed arm to have its natural
weight drop without any obstacle onto the crucial point in a split second
and bounce up. A wrong notion about explosive force is that one has to
use a lot of force to pounce on the keys with might. Thus, the spirit
of explosive force is lost, Explosive force needs intelligent energy,
skillful and economical energy to achieve the goal. In piano performance
the foundations of explosive force are relaxing the arm, finding the precise
skillful energy and dropping rapidly onto the point of the key. Thus,
explosive force trains both the relaxation of the arm and the strength
of the fingertip. Tennis similarly requires relaxation and concentration
of energy in a split second onto the point of the ball. This is the use
of explosive force. Only in this way can a player persevere in many hours
of intense competition. Explosive force enables us to use our energy effectively
and economically. It is a technique piano playing cannot do without; it
makes playing octaves possible. It goes without saying, that playing the
piano has a certain amount of difficulty and needs a certain amount of
tension. Therefore the only way to alleviate the tension and difficulty
is to relax. To maintain relaxation at its uppermost is the ultimate factor
for the improvement of technique. It allows piano playing to meet the
requirement of making the changes of the variety of styles and colors.
Using a stiff arm to play would result in pressing and pushing, like an
iron ball dropping heavily onto the keys, and the arm would not be able
to bounce up. On the other hand, if an arm is not totally relaxed, its
energy would not go down to the bottom of the key bed, and it would therefore
not be able to bounce up. The weakness of the fingertips would be difficult
to control. If the hand can bounce up easily it indicates that the arm
is relaxed, the amount of strength used to depress the key is appropriate
and the fingertip is gripping the key.
3. Strong fingertip: Explosive force requires a strong fingertip to bounce
up. Using the first joint of the fingertip to grip the key makes it strong.
Gripping the key is the important element in developing strong fingertips
when one is relaxed. A fingertip should not only be able to support its
arm weight but should also be strengthened to support the body. Practicing
explosive force is a good way to strengthen fingertips. Having strong
fingers makes it possible to steadily improve piano technique.
There are some who say: "My arms are not tense at all, my fingers
are very agile and they can run very fast". We have done research
on this kind of technique and discovered that it is suitable for music
of the early classical period and can achieve a high level of playing.
But it falls short when there are requirements for big dramatic, dynamic
changes and multiple tone colors. And this type of technique that is "not
tense at all" actually makes it easy for the hands to be injured,
and the muscles of the hands and arms to hurt. It made us consider: What
differentiates "not tense" and "relaxed". "Not
tense" is keeping the arm weight balanced smoothly on the arm, not
thoroughly and totally going down to the key bed, making the fingertips
not sufficiently strong, thus affecting and restricting playing. The "relaxed"
state we talk about is " to have one's feet planted on solid ground".
When the feet are strong, one is able to relax. When one is relaxed, it
enables the feet to be strong. Therefore strong fingertips and relaxed
arm complement each other. Therefore, the practice of explosive force
can gradually strengthen the fingertips and help the arm to relax thoroughly.
To summarize what was elaborated above, use of explosive force tests
the correct placement point, the relaxation of the arm and the strength
of the fingertip. These are the three crucial factors of piano playing.
Using such a simple method and movement effectively lessens the difficulty
in training, directly improves the ability to play and shortens the training
period. Because it utilizes the natural ability of the hands, students
can readily accept it. Their ability to play is subconsciously improved,
and the forceful, mechanical and tedious muscle training is avoided.
We must declare: a beginning student cannot practice explosive force exercises
before he has acquired certain basic techniques. After the basic techniques
have been established,
explosive force can be practiced during fundamental technical exercises.
Practice can be divided into three parts: 1) forearm 2) palm 3) finger.
Forearm exercise: lift the forearm from the elbow (about one foot away
from the keys), let the forearm drop down naturally from its own weight
fingertip grip the key and bounce up. Use interval of six in the beginning
and then change to octave, Dynamic: f
Palm practice: Use the natural effort of the arm to throw. Use the wrist
to lift the palm up. The natural weight of the palm drops naturally to
the bottom of the key bed and bounces up. Dynamic: mp
Finger exercise: the thumb rests at the bottom of the key bed, supporting
the weight of the arm. The other four fingers lift from the knuckles,
straighten up, drop down one by one onto the bottom of the key bed., grip
key and feel the weight of that finger. Dynamic: p
If the technique is correct, the piano should produce a bright and clear
sound. During the exercise, feel the elasticity of the key naturally bouncing
up. One should find practicing explosive force easy and joyful.
(A list of exercises on the supplement page serves as a sample, one can create one's own exercises according to the principles above)
Zhuping Ling
March, 2018
