Hi,

I do not have a piano teacher but I have been playing for a few months on the keyboard.
How do I know whether my hands are positioned correctly?
Thanks for your help.
Regards,
Hello

Correct posture and position:
1. Sit really straight and feet on the ground. If yr too short to reach the ground(esp. lids) , then place a stool beneath yr legs. They should never be danggling around.
2. Dun sit too near the piano, so that yr arms have ample place to stretch. The correct arm angle should be slightly more than 90 degrees.
3. Curve yr fingers and place them on the piano as if yr holding an orange the other way round . U should be playing on yr fingertips if yr placing them correctly.
4. Check yr shoulders to make sure that they are not tensed. Drop and relax them.
5. Relax yr wrist, knuckles as well. Yr wrist should be slightly downwards, if not parellel to the keys. Do not raise yr wrist.
6. Lastly...As a beginner, remember the correct way or appropriate technical thing to do, is to constantly lift up yr fingers( note that lifting up fingers doesn`t mean lifting up yr hands). This will get them to work, and u will not have `sticky` or clumsy fingers in time to come. Join yr notes though. So, one last reminder...Curve, play on tip, join the notes and lift up those fingers! Thank You.

Thanks DW for yr help.
How do I know whether I`m lifting up my hands and not my fingers?

Do u have any links that have pics for me to refer?

Thanks and Regards,
Hello

Another thing, will I get any symtoms if I don`t place my hands well on the piano?

Thanks

Hmmm...Sorry, I don`t have any pics at the moment. Let me put it this way, when yr changing notes, always make sure yr fingers are still in contact with the keyboard. Never change by lifting up the hand. Even if u come across rests, yr fingers still has to be on the k.b, just dun press em down.
So if u did play correctly, it`ll sound like this..Doh join to Re join to Mi join to Fa join to So.
And not, Doh---(break the sound caz fingers not holding/not joining to the next note/fingers off the k.b caz the hand is up)---Re---break---Mi---break---Fa---break---So...etc.
Argggh! I don`t know how to make u understand...Maybe u ought to get a pianist to play and show u. But dun worry, u won`t get any ailments from this not joining yr notes proble,. It`s just bad for technic development. Thank U

Oh, sorry, I misread the word..regarding symptoms...I think the most obvious being that yr hand will probably be very tight, so will yr shoulders,and you`ll feel slightly uncomfortable bcaz of all the tension. So, remember to relax.But curve well. Too loose a hand position is not a good thing either.

If you don`t have a good teacher, get one. <----Big thing right here!

Once you get more advanced, you can do whatever (I said WHATEVER) you want to achieve the sound you need. For example; I play some Bach with flat fingers, sit lower, back curved forward a bit, so I can drag the keys down. That`s really hard to do sitting straight with your hands curved and your wrists parallel to the keys and your fingertips playing the keys.

Thanks all for your advice.

I think I get it...so lift only the fingers and not the hands. Link up all notes in the scale. Don`t have breaks in between.

However, I don`t think that slouching when playing the piano is a good idea. May have back pain due to bad posture. One does not look good when one slouches too.

Thank You

Hmm...It`s important to maintain a correct posture when yr just starting out. Of caz, when yr advanced, u wouldn`t even be stopping to think about em anymore. U simply just sightread across at ease. But the posture is imp. So many times have I seen students not able to exert enough strength becaz of a hunch back, But that doesn`t mean that u have to be absolutely still when playing the piano. But that itself( body movements) is a much more advanced topic. Sometimes we move caz we feel the music so, but sometimes ( like what u said, harvey), becaz of technical/sound aspects. It`s imp. to curve fingers well when yr still a beginner, but when yr advanced, of caz...it justs comes naturally. Curving yr fingers appropriately will let u articulate yr notes better(esp when playing running notes)...it`ll give u a good pianistic touch also. But funny though, those with longer fingers can`t curve really well. Something to do with the proportion. Same goes for the wrist also.Take care of their posture when yr just starting out...But feel free to lift em up when more advanced. Do really get a teacher if u wanna learn well!