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Proper piano hand position
Curve your fingers as if holding a small ball, keep the wrist level with the back of the hand, and let the arm hang relaxed from the shoulder. The sound comes from the weight of the arm dropping into the key, not from pushing with the fingers. Sit so your forearms are roughly parallel with the floor and your elbows are slightly higher than the keys.
Click any key to hear it. Your computer's A to K row works too.
How should I sit at the piano?
Far enough back that your arms are not cramped, with the bench roughly level with your knees and your feet flat on the floor. Your forearms should be about parallel with the floor when your fingers are on the keys. If you find yourself hunching forward to see the keys you are too close, not too far.
What does a good hand shape look like?
Rest your hand on your knee and let it fall naturally. That gently curved shape, with the fingers slightly rounded and the knuckles up rather than collapsed, is exactly what you want on the keys. Flat fingers cannot move independently, and collapsed knuckles make fast passages impossible later.
Should my wrist be high or low?
Level. A wrist that drops below the keys or rises above the hand creates tension, and tension is what causes both bad sound and injury. The wrist should be flexible enough to move slightly with the music rather than locked in one place.
Why does my hand ache when I play?
Almost always tension rather than weakness. Beginners press far harder than necessary because they are concentrating. Try playing a five note pattern as quietly as you possibly can while still making a sound. That is roughly the amount of effort most playing needs. If something hurts, stop.
Keep going
Read next
A piano has 88 keys, 52 white and 36 black, repeating one pattern of twelve. Find any note Open → ♪ Where is middle C on the piano?
Middle C is the white key just left of any pair of black keys, nearest the centre. Here is Open → ♪ How to play piano with both hands
The hardest early hurdle, broken into steps. Learn each hand alone, then join them one bar Open → ♪ A 20 minute piano practice routine
A simple daily routine: warm up, technical work, the hard bars, then play something for fu Open →
Put it into practice in the practice room, or start at the beginning with the five minute walkthrough.
Questions
Common questions
How high should the piano bench be?
High enough that your forearms are roughly parallel with the floor when your fingers rest on the keys, and your elbows sit slightly above key height.
Should I look at my hands while playing?
At first, yes, constantly. As you get more confident, glancing down less and trusting your hand position is what eventually lets you read music while playing.
Do I need to keep my fingernails short?
Yes. Long nails force the fingers flat and make a clicking sound on the keys.