Let's start with the most neglected of our hands - the left hand.
Many people think the left hand - well, most people ignore their left hand. But learning to use your left hand properly will make you play cleaner and enable you to play faster.
Two very important issues for the left hand are the position of your little finger and whether you use the tips or the pads of your fingers to depress the keys.
If you little finger is too close to the ring finger, the ring finger won't be able to move independently. If your ring finger moves slowly or is difficult to coordinate then it is probably too close. See a qualified repair person and have them adjust the little finger position for you.
The fingers of the left hand should be curved as if holding a ping pong ball. If the fingers are not curved, the pad of the finger rather than the tip pushes on the lever. This uses the muscles of the top of the arm (where the hair grows). This muscle is slower and weaker than the muscles on the bottom of the arm. To feel which muscles to use make a fist and press your fingertips into the palm of your hand.
Using straight fingers and pressing with the pads causes the valves to be partially open for a longer time than if the fingers are curved and the very tip of the fingers pushes the valves. This partially open condition makes the horn more likely to produce the wrong note, or a note that ‘cracks’ at the beginning. It makes general coordination much more difficult and decreases the speed and fluidity of playing.
For very legato playing when you want mushy, romantic slurs go ahead and straighten your fingers out.
Now the second most neglected hand - the right hand.
The right hand directs the flow of sound between your hand and your body. It should be against the right side of the bell, away from the body. Do not position your hand at the top of bottom of the bell.
There are many useful and proper shapes for the right hand. Different parts of the world use different shapes and you can learn to use the shape of your hand to produce different timbres. For example if you are trying to blend with woodwind sounds you might spread your fingers a bit and move your hand across the bell a bit to muffle the sound. To play bright and blatsy you might straighten your fingers and keep your hand to the right.
One indication if your hand is in the right position is if you can lower your pitch a half step by moving your wrist across the bell (keep your elbow and finger tips in the same place). Note: this is difficult for very young players and sometimes it's best to just keep their hands out of the way and pull the tuning slide out.
A common mistake that gets the right hand out of position is to keep the right elbow too close to the body. This tends to bring the right hand too close to the body too, muffling the sound.
Advanced players know that by using the right hand to adjust intonation we keep away from adjusting with our lips. Adjusting intonation with your lips makes your mouth move all the time (bad), reduces your endurance (bad!) and wrecks your tone and control (bad and bad!)
Many people think the left hand - well, most people ignore their left hand. But learning to use your left hand properly will make you play cleaner and enable you to play faster.
Two very important issues for the left hand are the position of your little finger and whether you use the tips or the pads of your fingers to depress the keys.
If you little finger is too close to the ring finger, the ring finger won't be able to move independently. If your ring finger moves slowly or is difficult to coordinate then it is probably too close. See a qualified repair person and have them adjust the little finger position for you.
The fingers of the left hand should be curved as if holding a ping pong ball. If the fingers are not curved, the pad of the finger rather than the tip pushes on the lever. This uses the muscles of the top of the arm (where the hair grows). This muscle is slower and weaker than the muscles on the bottom of the arm. To feel which muscles to use make a fist and press your fingertips into the palm of your hand.
Using straight fingers and pressing with the pads causes the valves to be partially open for a longer time than if the fingers are curved and the very tip of the fingers pushes the valves. This partially open condition makes the horn more likely to produce the wrong note, or a note that ‘cracks’ at the beginning. It makes general coordination much more difficult and decreases the speed and fluidity of playing.
For very legato playing when you want mushy, romantic slurs go ahead and straighten your fingers out.
Now the second most neglected hand - the right hand.
The right hand directs the flow of sound between your hand and your body. It should be against the right side of the bell, away from the body. Do not position your hand at the top of bottom of the bell.
There are many useful and proper shapes for the right hand. Different parts of the world use different shapes and you can learn to use the shape of your hand to produce different timbres. For example if you are trying to blend with woodwind sounds you might spread your fingers a bit and move your hand across the bell a bit to muffle the sound. To play bright and blatsy you might straighten your fingers and keep your hand to the right.
One indication if your hand is in the right position is if you can lower your pitch a half step by moving your wrist across the bell (keep your elbow and finger tips in the same place). Note: this is difficult for very young players and sometimes it's best to just keep their hands out of the way and pull the tuning slide out.
A common mistake that gets the right hand out of position is to keep the right elbow too close to the body. This tends to bring the right hand too close to the body too, muffling the sound.
Advanced players know that by using the right hand to adjust intonation we keep away from adjusting with our lips. Adjusting intonation with your lips makes your mouth move all the time (bad), reduces your endurance (bad!) and wrecks your tone and control (bad and bad!)
