7 Secrets from a Pianist

What can a computer user with carpal tunnel syndrome learn from a pianist?

Let me share with you the secrets that I learned from growing up with a pianist. I was reminded of these while visiting my family in NJ a couple months ago.

I went down stairs where my dad was on his computer keyboard and my mom was on her keyboard. Her keyboard is that of a baby grand piano. She wanted me to her play a Mozart piece that she was working on for a performance the following week. So I listened… she’s a fabulous musician who has been playing almost all her life. And while I listened; I watched.

The first thing that I noticed was so obvious that it goes unnoticed by most and unthought-of by her. This is the first secret: it is her set up - her posture. It is how she holds herself in relation to the instrument so that wondrous music is created. She sits on a padded bench. No back support, no arm rests, she is upright not slouched. Yet she is not stiff or rigid in this manner. Her legs are on the floor and pedals, her knees are bent to 90 degrees. Her hips are flexed to 90 degrees which gives her a large secure base of support. Her head is aligned with the rest of her spine –her nose doesn’t inch ever closer to the music in front of her. Her shoulders are open, neither curled forward nor pulled back. She is focused and fluid. Her elbows are bent at approximately 80 to 90 degrees and fingers are flexed. This is a good posture for someone at a desk or computer keyboard too. However, for the computer user a backrest and arm rests that supports this posture are beneficial.

This position is the foundation and it has been built in over the years of study. This is her otology – her way of being a musician. She has developed the capacity to hold this set up for hours. She’ll say that time flies; she loses track of time when she is playing. Yet she has an internal sense of when is enough. That is the second secret. Know when enough is. This is so important because it is so easy to fall into a ‘computer trance’ or think ‘just 1 more thing’ and hours have passed. Stopping and taking breaks is an easy way to prevent and limit carpal tunnel symptoms.

I watch how she moves when she is playing –there are many subtleties to what she is doing.

Look here for Secrets 3, 4 & 5

Her wrists demonstrate a fluid stability. Her hands move quickly in all directions; appearing to move up & down, rolling, back and forth together and apart. From the wrist there are small oscillations of flexion and extension. The rolling comes from elbow pronation and supination. Her shoulders move her hands in & out to move from white keys to black. Shoulder internal & external rotation moves her hand close together or apart for a wide range. She never seams to be reaching. She rarely seams to be stretching at her fingers. How do you use your shoulders, elbows arms and wrists when you are at the computer? Using your body wisely is important in preventing and recovering from repetitive strain injuries, carpal tunnel or thoracic outlet syndrome.

As my attention goes back to the music I am amazed at the power, speed, and musicality I hear. Her fingers dance, caressing the keys. And this is secret number 5: she does bottom out on the key. She’s not pressing the key all the way down even when she is playing strongly and loudly. On the computer you never have to press the key all the way down to the bottom either –you don’t ever have to use great force for typing.

Look here for Secrets 6 & 7

I step back to the big picture and secret 6 and 7 are revealed. I see her hips moving –she both initiates motion from her hips and lower back and stabilizes movement from here. There is a balance of stability and mobility, of contraction and relaxation. Finally, I see that during her practice she never looks down at her fingers –she knows where the keys are always. Do you use your whole body at the keyboard? Do you touch type?

To recap briefly; as unusual as this may seem as a remedy for carpel tunnel... the patients I see who have RSI or carpal tunnel can learn a lot from an exquisite pianist. First and foremost from the posture that is held. There is no slouching and no head pushed forward. Next lesson can be learned from way the upper extremity is fully used to support the activity. Remember the way that the hips are utilized in creating a balance of stability and mobility. There is a way to have the wrists so that they are in a dynamic neutral position for the joints. Touch typing is key -don’t look at the keys; know where they are. Finally, know when is enough. Know when to take a break and when to stop.

I’d like to acknowledge my mom Debby Goodell whom I have had the privilege to hear playing all my life. And for her ‘nagging’ me about posture –until I learned how truly important it is to health and wellbeing.

I also want to acknowledge Greg Dempster an ergonomist, pianist and keyboard retrainer who has taken the Taubman Method of piano teaching and translated it for injured computer users.