Hand-Strengthening Exercises

    Many people learn to play piano from their early years but whenever you begin to play, it is imperative that you work to stretch and strengthen your hands.  Below are a bunch of practical exercises that will help you achieve very strong, flexible hands and fingers that can much more easily and adeptly play your music.
*       Squeeze a tennis ball repeatedly for up to a minute with each hand
*       Using the same tennis ball(s), place the ball on a flat surface with your hand palm-down on top of it, and roll the ball to massage all of the areas of your palms
*        Close your hand tight then open your hand and stretch it back as far as possible
*        Place each wrist against a flat surface, and make “Spider Fingers” by rolling them individually from “pinky” to       thumb, and thumb to pinky
*       Place hands palm to palm, and press
*        Create a “dome” with your fingers by rounding fingers while they are touching…press the fingers together one pair at a time
*        Place wrists flat on a surface with fingers rounded but with fingertips touching the surface.  Raise finger/fingertips one at a time, isolating each one.  The “ring finger” will be the most difficult.  In fact, beginning students may find it impossible when they first try.  Practice will bring success, however, and this exercise helps build tendon and muscle stability and strength.
*        Be Mr. Spock from “Star Trek”.  This means to hold up your hand as if to tell someone to “Stop”.  While pressing the fingers together, separate your ring and middle fingers.  Next, put those two fingers back together, and separate your ring finger from your pinky finger.  Next, put those fingers back together, and separate your pointer finger and middle finger.  Once again, these exercises make playing the piano infinitely easier, and also, allow for greater endurance.
*        Massage your hand or someone else’s shoulders.  Ordinary daily activities that allow you to use your hands, and/or your fingers, can help build your piano playing skills.


Enjoy these exercises and, hopefully, the wonderful results they produce!  That’s for your interest and for practicing these simple exercises.  Please send me any and all questions, comments, and/or suggestions for possible future blog posts.  If you have any questions about me or my lessons, please check out my website at www.SingitForward.net.  Thanks again!  Sing it Forward!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Basic Music Theory - 1st Post - Notes, Rests, and Note Particulars

Image
          It is really important for a singer, even an amazingly gifted singer, to understand basic Music Theory.    That doesn’t mean you have to be any kind of virtuoso or study music theory for dozens of years but it does mean you need to study some fundamental or elemental aspects of theoretical concepts.   Your first “basic” lesson is below.   Stay tuned for more “installments” in the future.   Here goes: •             NOTES AND RESTS - Melodies in music are represented through patterns of “Notes” and “Rests”.   Here is a chart of the most common types of Notes and Rests: The Quarter Note is, by far, the most common type of Note and Rest but each of these notes and rests are important, universal, and frequently-occurring.   You DO need to know, however, that the values you see here CAN change, depending on the Time Signature (s...
Read more

Vocal Quirks - Why do I Sometimes Yawn, Hiccup, Burp, or Crack?

When we begin singing, sometimes the very strangest things can happen. You may start yawning or burping or getting the hiccups or even hear your voice crack.   Why do these things happen, especially when you first begin singing?   Let’s explore some ideas…             Why Would Singing Make Me Yawn?   So, it’s true confession time.   I have always been told and believed that we yawn because our brains tell our lungs we need more Oxygen and so, initiate a deeper inhalation.   The yawn DOES cause a deeper breath and it IS a great way to practice deeper, voluntary breathing.   However, evidently the REAL reason we yawn is still for the brain but it is actually a “thermoregulating device”, which is to say the swift intake of air acts to normalize the temperature of your brain in the same way you might use a fan to automatically come on in your garage, if the temperature reaches a cer...
Read more

Basic Music Theory - #3 - Rhythms and Putting it All Together

Image
So, here is the last installment in this beginning set of Music Theory posts.   I know I’ve covered an awful lot in these last 3 posts but I promise you, if you’ll devote a little consistent time to learning it, the benefits you’ll receive will far outweigh your small time investment.   These key components of Music Theory make up the essential underpinnings of composed music.   The next set of Music Theory posts will cover different types of Chords, Scales, and Chord Progressions but until then, enjoy these amazing pillars of Music Theory and send me any questions you still have once you’re done.   Here you go: •             RHYTHMS AND TEMPOS - I try to explain the “Beat” of music or the “Rhythm” like our own heartbeat.   It is a regular, constant “pulse” (literally).   Most of the time this “Beat” or “Pulse” is what you dance to, tap your foot to, or clap along with. ...
Read more