Finding a neutral hand position.

This is an important skill! The neutral hand position (sometimes called the resting hand position) is an important baseline when playing the piano.

Finding a neutral position is simple. In either an active or a quiet hand position, find the position where the finger (or fingers) are resting gently on the keys with an extremely light weight but without depressing the keys. Your hand should be well aligned and the forearm should be in a relaxed position with a good hand shape and wrist height.

Also notice that if the thumb comes into the keys it will tend to twist you into a bad alignment, so it is best to practice this at first with fingers 2 through 5.

• One you have a sense of the neutral position, see if you can slowly move the wrist up and down as in the last lesson. This will heighten your sense of control over the very small resting weight on the key surface!
• When practicing this, pay special attention to fingers 4 and 5 as they will tend to feel awkward at first.
• From this position, try to slowly push the key down until you feel the key let-off.