shniggens Posted August 4, 2004 Share Posted August 4, 2004 Wassabi, I've been practicing, and pretty much have it down, Jelly Bean Boogie by Billy Taylor. For those that don't know the piece, the left hand does your typical boogie-woogie swung octaves up the chord to the 7th and back down again. This continues through the entire piece through all changes. Now I can play it fine, but no matter what speed I play it, my wrist gets very tense, tight, and sore towards the end of the piece. What am I doing wrong? Amateur Hack Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yamis Posted August 4, 2004 Share Posted August 4, 2004 I don't have a problem with my wrists but I have been experiencing back pain while playing my piano after about a 1/2 hour or so. Strange. Yamis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shniggens Posted August 4, 2004 Author Share Posted August 4, 2004 Lower back? I get that sometimes when I play my acoustic, and I attribute it to the hard wooden piano bench. I've since put a cushion on mine, and helped my endurance on that seat immensely. Amateur Hack Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alcohol_ Posted August 4, 2004 Share Posted August 4, 2004 I had this very problem. I got advice about not letting tension into your wrist. I've found that practicing for about 2 months strengthened the wrist to the point where I had enough strength so that the wrist did not tense up. It's not just a matter of avoiding tension, strength is necessary too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MIDIdiot Posted August 4, 2004 Share Posted August 4, 2004 same thing happens to me, not only wrist but forearm. I've often heard about not being tense but this has always seemed paradoxical to me. How do you play certain challenging passages without your muscles tensing up? I don't get it. Is there some kind of magical method that I've never clued into? Does it just come after you've reached a certain milestone in your performing ability? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jazz+ Posted August 4, 2004 Share Posted August 4, 2004 The tension comes from having the unnatural open octave interval stretch between your 1st and 5th finger. Don't play it from your wrist or with much muscle effort. Use a light touch like a butterfly or a feather. To rock the octave, slightly rotate your whole hand and forearm together, sort of like a fluttering motion or a wobble. Use the weight of your whole arm to lightly drop into each note. Use your upper arm to travel and guide your hand/arm over the keys. Harry was the Technical Editor of Mark Levine's "The Jazz Theory Book" and helped develop "The Jazz Piano Book." Find 850 of Harry's solo piano arrangements of standards and jazz tutorials at https://www.patreon.com/HarryLikas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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