(4) Curled and Flat Finger Positions, Curl Paralysis
The curled position has been defined in the literature as the "relaxed" natural position of the fingers when you hang the hands down your sides. This works for pianists who have been playing for years, but how a two-year-old, or a golfer, or swimmer, who had never played piano, would hang the hands can be any position. To properly define the curled position, place both hands on a tabletop, about a foot apart, palm side down. Form domes with the hand and fingers as if you are holding softballs, with finger tips touching the table. The right and left thumb nails should point towards the left and right shoulders, respectively. This is the starting position for the fingers and is called the curled position because the fingers are curled over the imaginary ball.
The advantages of the curled position are that it: provides firm control of each finger, facilitates playing between black keys, and aligns the fingers close to a straight line so that all keys are played at about the same distance from their pivots [balance rail, see (80) Grand Piano Action Diagram. Those with long fingers find it necessary to curl fingers 2-4 more in order to play the thumb. The disadvantages are: (1) you play with the fingertips that are easy to injure and do not provide sufficient padding for better control of touch or playing FFF and PPP; two types of finger tip injuries can occur with the curled position, see (60) Injury, Health, (2) the downstroke requires precise control of complex sets of muscles, (3) it is easy to miss black keys because the finger tip area is small, and (4) it suffers from curl paralysis . To demonstrate curl paralysis, stretch any finger (except the thumb) straight out and wiggle it up and down as if depressing a piano key. Then gradually curl the finger, keeping the same wiggle motion as before. Note that the maximum wiggle decreases with increasing curl: paralysis increases with curl.
One unusual position is the "collapsed" position in which the last phalange (nail phalange) is bent outwards, instead of the "normal" straight or slightly curled. There is no evidence that this position is harmful, and it has the advantage of playing more with the front pad of the finger. Furthermore, the muscle to this phalange can be relaxed because tendons naturally limit the outward motion, thus simplifying finger motions and increasing Relaxation. Although some teachers abhor this position because it looks unnatural, there is no known reason why it is bad and has advantages. Trying to "correct" this position can create terrible problems.
The curled position must be taught, especially to beginners, but there are many other positions that must be studied. Each pianist has his own natural position so that forcing every student to adopt a single "standard" curled position is a common mistake of older teaching methods that can significantly slow down a student's progress.
When both black and white keys are played, the black keys should be played with less curl because they are higher. We shall call the family of non-curl positions the Flat Finger Positions (FFP) - see Prokop , P.13-15 for FFP photos.
(1) The most extreme FFP is the straight flat position: all fingers are stretched straight out. It is the way V. Horowitz played and has the advantages that: the keys are played with the front pads of the fingers which reduces the probability of injuries from long practice sessions, and the keystroke motion is the simplest of all positions, requiring use of the smallest number of muscles. This facilitates relaxation. The finger contact areas with the keys are maximized, reducing the probability of missed notes, and you can feel the keys with the most sensitive front pads of the fingers. The sensitivity gives more tone control whereas, with the curled position, you are restricted to one tone which tends to be harsher. Because it is simpler, and does not suffer curl paralysis, you can play faster; however, the fastest position is one in which you play the black keys FFP and the white keys curled because this places every finger closest to its key. FFP increases the reach and reduces interference from the fingernails. Proponents of the curled position argue that it is the strongest position because of the arch shape; this is false because athletes who do hand stands use the front pads, not the fingertips; thus the FFP is the stronger position.
Nomenclature: Phalange (also called phalanx; plural is always phalanges) is the name for the finger bones beyond the knuckle; they are numbered 1-3 (thumb has only 1 and 3), and the 3rd phalange is the "nail phalange" (see Prokop , P. 101).
With FFP, the tendons under the finger bones hold the fingers straight when playing. Unlike the curled position, no effort is needed to keep the fingers straight because tendons limit the amount of backwards bending. There are pianists whose nail phalange naturally bends backwards (collapsed position). There is nothing wrong with this and it does not interfere with FFPs. Learn to use these tendons to help with relaxation. The nail phalange should always be relaxed. The relaxed 3rd phalange also acts as a shock absorber. When playing fortissimo with curled fingers, both the extensor and flexor muscles must be controlled in order to hold the curled position. In FFP, the extensors are relaxed and only the flexors are needed, reducing stress and simplifying the motion. Thus the curled position is complex and requires a good fraction of a lifetime to learn properly, whereas the FFP is more natural. That is why self taught pianists tend to use more FFP.
The best way to practice FFP is to play the B major scale, in which fingers 2,3,4 play the black keys and 1,5 play the white for both hands. Since 1 & 5 should not generally play the black keys in runs (a fingering rule), this is exactly what you want for practicing FFP. Play FFP with the palm of the hand almost touching the keys. This increases accuracy because you know exactly where the keys are. FFP legato is easier and different from legato using the curled position because the curled position produces a harsher tone. It is easier to play two notes with one finger FFP because the finger can be turned at an angle to the keys so that the large area under the finger can play two keys. Because Chopin was known for his legato, was good at playing several notes with one finger, and recommended practicing the B major scale, he probably used FFP. Combe taught FFP and noted that it was particularly useful for playing Chopin. One legato trick she taught was to start with FFP and then curl the finger so that the hand can move from white to black keys without lifting the finger off the key. Parts of the Bach Inventions are good for practicing FFPs, suggesting that he composed them with both FFP and curl in mind.
The freedom to play with any amount of curl is a necessary technique. One disadvantage of the curled position is that the extensor muscles are not sufficiently exercised, causing the flexor muscles to strengthen and even overpower the extensors. In FFP, the unused flexor muscles are relaxed; in fact, the associated tendons are stretched, which makes the fingers more flexible. There are numerous accounts of the extraordinary flexibility of Liszt's fingers. Liszt used FFP to improve tone ( Boissier , Fay , Bertrand ). Because of the tradition of teaching mostly the curled position, many older concert pianists under-use the FFPs and had to work unnecessarily hard to acquire technique.
(2) Another FFP is the pyramid position in which all the fingers are straight, but are bent down at the knuckles. This has the advantage that the downstroke action is simpler than for the curled position. Some pianists feel naturally relaxed with this position. If you are not naturally comfortable with this position, there is no need to learn it.
(3) The spider position is similar to the pyramid, except that the bend occurs mostly at the first joint after the knuckle. As with the pyramid position, the main reason for using this position is that it is a natural position for that pianist. Many pianists are unable to use this position, so don't be concerned if you can not. Of all the FFPs, the spider position may be the most versatile. The insect kingdom adopted this position after hundreds of millions of years of evolution.
Chopin's legato is documented to be particularly special, as was his staccato. Is his staccato related to the FFP? Note that all the FFPs take advantage of the spring effect of the relaxed third phalange, which might be useful in playing staccato.
It is easier to play FFP when the bench is lowered. There are numerous accounts of pianists discovering that they can play better with a lower bench height (Horowitz and Glenn Gould). They claim to get better control, especially for pianissimo and speed.
Don't worry if you can't use all these positions. Use those that are comfortable, natural positions for you. The purpose of these discussions is to caution teachers against forcing every student to use one idealized curled position because that can create problems. Each hand is different and each position has advantages and disadvantages that depend more on the person than on the position.
In summary, Horowitz had good reasons to play with flat fingers and the above discussions suggest that part of his higher technical level may have been achieved by using more FFPs than others, and sitting low. Although the curled position is necessary, the statement "you need the curled position to play technically difficult material" is misleading – what we need is flexible fingers. Playing with FFPs liberates us to use many useful and versatile finger positions. We now know how to play all those black keys, especially arpeggios, and not miss a single note. Thank you, Johann, Frederic, Franz, Vladimir, Yvonne (Combe)!