(24) Quiet Hands, Fingers, Body
Many teachers justifiably stress "quiet hands". In this mode, the fingers appear to do most of the playing, with the hands moving very little. However, this apparent lack of motion is misleading because the hand is still compensating for the momenta of the fast moving fingers and is actually moving. The motion is small because the mass of the hand is larger than that of a finger, and the muscles connecting the hand to the arm also steady the hand. Since the motions of the fingers are small at high speed, the hand motions are even smaller. Thus quiet hands occurs only at high speed when momenta of the movements become an issue and is a new mode of play compared to slower play when force, more than momentum, is important. Although the audience cannot see the transition, the pianist will unmistakably feel this new mode when it is attained. At slow speed, all momenta reduce to essentially zero, making quiet hands meaningless and the hands can be moved without affecting play.
All these points are explained by the equation for momentum M: M = mv, where m is the mass, and v is the velocity. Thus light objects such as fingers move much faster than the arm for the same M. M disappears at slow play because v decreases. Therefore momentum play is important only at fast speeds. In a mostly momentum mode of play, one member (finger) is moving one way while another (hand) is moving in the opposite direction so that the two momenta add to zero, resulting in a "quiet" hand; otherwise, the hand will fly off the keyboard.
Quiet hands is the litmus test for technique. The ability to control a new force called momentum and elimination of unnecessary motions not only allows faster play, but also increases control. Many of Bach's compositions were designed for practicing quiet hands. Some teachers impose quiet hands play at all times, even for beginners at slow speeds, but that is counter-productive because you can't play quiet hands slowly since there is no momentum. The student feels nothing and justifiably wonders why it is any good. When playing slowly, or if the student does not have sufficient technique, hand movements are appropriate. To force the hands to be motionless under those conditions would be unnatural and only makes it more difficult to play and creates stress.
Those who already have quiet hands technique can add a lot of motion without detriment when playing slowly or fast. Some teachers try to teach quiet hands by placing a coin on the hand to see if it is quiet enough so that the coin will not fall off. This only demonstrates the teacher's recognition of the importance of quiet hands, but it indicates that the teacher does not understand quiet hands. If you are playing Bach at full speed using quiet hands, a coin placed on the hand will immediately fly off — quiet hands does not mean still hands; it means that you are playing in the momentum mode, something that you feel, but is almost invisible.
When you acquire quiet hands for the first time, the new feeling is absolutely unmistakable, so don't worry about missing it. Once you have it, the quiet hands motions are so economical that you will have more control and more free time between notes. Quiet hands, involving momentum, is difficult to describe; to the pianist, it is best described as a feeling of control and the near total absence of speed walls — playing fast becomes easier.
For Bach's Inventions, quiet hands becomes necessary at speeds close to final speed; without quiet hands, you will hit speed walls. Obviously, Bach chose the speeds with quiet hands in mind. HS practice is important for quiet hands because it is easier to acquire and feel quiet hands when played HS. It is best not to start HT until you can play in the quiet hands mode with both hands because this will reduce the chances of locking in bad HT habits — you can certainly play HT at slow speeds, but those are mostly wrong motions without quiet hands.
Those with insufficient technique may take too long to attain quiet hands because they can not play fast enough, so that such students may have to start HT without quiet hands; they can then gradually acquire quiet hands at a later time, by using more HS practice, parallel sets, etc. This is one reason for not learning pieces that are too difficult for you. Although some people claim that the Bach Inventions can be played "at any speed", that is true only for their musical content; these compositions need to be played at their recommended speeds in order to take full advantage of the technical lessons that Bach had in mind. This is why HT practice takes so much longer for learning new Bach pieces -- there is no way to get to quiet hands quickly (both hands simultaneously!), using HT. Any HT play that is practiced before acquiring quiet hands is worthless or worse, because of the high likelihood of acquiring bad habits.
One aspect of quiet hands that is too often overlooked is "quiet fingers" which means that the non-playing fingers do not flail around in the air in useless extra motions. If quiet fingers is not taught at the beginner stage, the extra finger motions become ingrained habits and will create problems with playing musically at advanced levels. By then, these bad habits can be so ingrained that they are difficult to correct.
Quiet fingers is often overlooked because it is not necessary at the beginner stage so that the need to quiet the fingers and the methods for practicing quiet fingers do not become an issue until the student is at an advanced stage. At today's level of advanced technical excellence, quiet fingers can make the difference between passing or failing an audition because judges look for such details, and lack of quiet fingers is audible to experienced judges.
Quiet fingers is practiced just like any other element of technique. Choose a short segment (HS or HT depending on your level, one bar or even less) and practice it, keeping all fingers close to the keys at all times, and eliminating all unnecessary movements. This does not mean that all extra finger motions are bad. The artist has the license to consciously make any motions that are expressions of art. What quiet fingers eliminates are those unintended motions that can interfere with control and musicality.
On a much larger scale, we must also develop quite bodies, a relaxed mode of play without unintended motions that interfere with the play. Such motions can create problems such as speed walls, difficulties with HT play, and uneven rhythm. Bad body motions are created by stress, by ramping up a slow play, etc.. For slow play, most body motions are harmless; however, they can become ingrained habits; when ramped up in speed, they can interfere with the playing or rhythm. One of the best ways to detect unintended body motions is to watch videos of your performances/practicing.