To the casual observer it might appear that playing the piano is mostly about the fingers. This is absolutely not the case. The arms and hands, and the torso to a lesser extent, are very active, and without them the fingers wouldn't be able to do what they do. Unfortunately, this myth is perpetuated by many people, including teachers and so-called "experts." If you've been reading this blog, you know that I talk about the entire mechanism and the importance of knowing how to use it to achieve good technique, but also to be able to play without strain or pain. Most of the physical ailments that pianists are prone to -- tendinitis, carpal tunnel, etc. -- are due to over-taxing the small muscles of the fingers.
What about the rest of the body? The feet are used for the pedals. of course, but the legs are involved in that as well. If you're not using pedal -- in practicing, for example -- your legs should be firmly planted on the floor, not tucked behind you. This helps you feel grounded. I've seen people practice with legs crossed. This is a real no-no. You may know that crossing your legs affects your blood pressure. It also affects how your brain works. It will cause the torso to be out of balance as well.
The areas where some pianists tend to have a problem are the shoulders, neck and face. Hunching up the shoulders is common. This actually pulls your power away from the hands. You want to power to flow down from the shoulder to the hands at all times. But you absolutely need it for loud and powerful playing. In addition, you will probably have sore back and neck muscles if you spend a long time with shoulders hunched. Another problem is hunching over the piano. You've probably even seen pictures or videos of some famous pianists doing this. I feel like this is an unconscious attempt to get "closer" to the music. They may have adapted to this position and play at a high level, but it's not actually helping them. If you're hunched over you do not have the same freedom with your arms. And, again, you will likely develop tightness or worse in your back and neck. If you develop physical problems in those areas, it will almost certainly begin to impact your playing in a negative way.
The face is an interesting situation. The music you are playing while at the piano is beautiful (hopefully), possibly passionate and dramatic. You are doing your utmost to play expressively. Your face may respond to this by making a variety of expressions. You may have seen professional pianists (some, not all) show their emotions on their faces as they play. Is this a bad thing? No. But let's be clear: the facial expressions are a response to the music; they are not causing the music to sound expressive. If you feel you just cannot play expressively without contorting your face, you might want to experiment with keeping your face relaxed and channeling that emotion into your arms and hands. I used to be one of those who couldn't play without "making a lot of faces," but now I find I don't need to do that.
There is also the issue of involuntary tightening of muscles in the face while playing particularly difficult passages in a piece or just when concentrating hard. Two of my adult students tighten up their jaws or press their lips together when playing difficult passages. The thing is, tightening any muscle is contagious, so to speak, and other muscles may also tighten. It doesn't usually work to say "try to relax." Instead, I have had them experiment with playing with their mouth slightly open, or with a smile. Yes, they feel a little silly at first, but it does work. Their playing doesn't suffer at all when they relax their faces, in fact it may be slightly improved. Any bodily tension which doesn't positively affect your playing should probably be let go.
If I hadn't pointed out to these students that they were tightening their facial muscles, they probably wouldn't have noticed it on their own, because, of course, they have become used to it. We just aren't very aware of the things we do habitually. There is a whole field of what might be called "body awareness." Yoga, tai chi and many other disciplines teach "tuning in" to your body. I'm sure this is also necessary for athletes. Whether you aspire to be an athlete at the piano (meaning a masterful command of piano technique), or just play simpler music for pleasure, it is important to devleop body awareness. Unfortunately, a lot of what you hear and read about learning to play the piano emphasizes "finger strength" and doing piano exercises for hours and hours. Neither of these will help you -- period. They won't help you develop body awareness, and may worsen any body awareness you had, due to extreme repetition and mechanical playing. Whatever you do, and whenever you play, try to do it with awareness of what your body is doing and how it feels.
