Many beginning students -- and some not-so-beginners who have tried to teach themselves -- tend to develop a habit of clinging to the keys. They hold on to a key they have just played, not because it's indicated in the score to do so, but because they are unconsciously using it as an "anchor." Their brain is saying "I've found this note and I'm not letting go until I find the next one!" The unconscious mind thinks that holding onto a note will help them find the next note, which may or may not be the case, but it is a limiting technique. Your playing will never be free and expressive if you are employing fear-based techniques.
Beginners usually start out using a book which starts you in what we call a 5-finger hand position in each hand. The five fingers are placed over 5 notes, usually C to G, and the very earliest pieces just use those 5 notes. This is actually a good method. It enables you to learn to "navigate" from note to note, without looking at your hands (this is perhaps the most important part). The downside of this method is that just playing five keys becomes a kind of "comfort zone" and the student just doesn't wan to leave it.
When you have some ease with this, the book will introduce another note in each hand, so you will learn to cover a span of six keys. Even though it is still a very limited range, the hands need to learn to move around slightly; they can't just keep one finger over each of the five notes, as before. Then the span of keys will increase again. When you begin to have the interval of an octave, for example, it is tempting to keep your thumb on the lowest note while you "stretch" for the top note. But keeping your hand in this position will limit you from developing the fluidity and ease you need for future music you'll encounter. More advanced music will require jumps of more than your hand can reach by "stretching." After all, the piano has 88 keys, and you can't play intermediate or advanced pieces while unconsciously trying to keep your hands in one place. And of course, holding onto one note means it will continue sounding, which, if not indicated by the composer, may create a sound you don't want.
Most students aren't even aware they are doing this, until I point it out, of course. Becoming aware of what your hands are doing is critical (see my previous post on body awareness). Your body is going to learn how to move to accomplish moving from place to place. This actually happens in the arm, not the fingers. (I often say, the hand isn't going anywhere the arm doesn't take it.) This is because we all have proprioception, that is, the body's ability to sense its own position and movement in space without relying on visual input. It's an automatic, subconscious process that allows us to do virtually everything we do, such as walking, driving, and of course sports and playing an instrument. It goes without saying the great athletes, dancers, and top musicians have highly developed proprioception. (I suppose it doesn't really apply to singers.)
There are "exersices" I give my students to help develop this ability, such as doing large jumps with eyes closed, focusing on the feeling of where your arm is in space. They are always amazed that they can do a jump with accuracy several times in a row, without looking of course, just from putting their awareness on the arm, rather than the keys themselves.
You just can't develop advanced proprioception if you "cling" to the keys. Clinging is antithetical to progress.
When you notice you are clinging, just try to let go of the fear of wrong notes and let the hands and arms move. You WILL hit wrong notes when you are learning, that's for certain. But you will improve. Trying to avoid wrong notes by being fearful won't really work, and it also takes all the fun out of it.
