There is an old technique called carrezando which literally means to caress the keys. Carrezando playing can injure a musician, it is very dangerous. The reason is because people think it is a technique when in reality it is the symptom or end result of technique. It should not be sought after but rejoiced when it appears.

 This is a condition of virtuoso teaching. Many virtuosos move properly and never fully learned the biomechanics of playing because playing well came naturally to them so when they teach, they tell the student what they feel and not what they are doing to get that feeling. The student then tries to force that feeling into their playing but they can make many mistakes while trying to obtain it. Virtuosos are often the worse teachers because they sometimes don’t know how they do what they do.

Consequently students who try to force caressing into their technique begin pressing into the keys, playing with flat fingers and doing all sorts of things which will strain the tendons and then crippling pain will ensue over time because the damage is cumulative. The pianist will ignore the warning signs until one day something just breaks.

Ergonomic playing requires in/out motions, up/down, forward/backward and left/right. When you combine all these movements the player begins to play up and allows gravity to play down. The symptom of the congealment of all these motions is the feeling of caressing the keys. The pianist should not be caressing them but should feel like they are caressing them. When done properly the pianist won’t even feel their fingers because the skeleton will be playing from the arm muscles while the tendons in the hands predominately relax.

Much like petting a dog. Your arm lifts up, you move it toward the head, then down, then you pet down the dog’s back. There are four movements there and without them, there would be no petting. The petting is the result of the four movements where the hand appears do be doing the petting, using the arm.

Better yet, lay your arm on a table and lift your elbow off the table, allow your wrist to flex but keep all your fingertips on the table top. Now pull your arm off the table. Feel that your fingers are caressing the table but the fingers are NOT doing the caressing, it is the result of the arm pulling away. THAT is the carrezando technique.

But every motion MUST have an equal and opposite motion. Like petting that dog, before you can pet down the dog’s back you must first lift up and forward before you can drop down and backward. If you focus on caressing, you will lose the equal and opposite motions required to play properly. Your fingers have no muscles, all the muscles which move your fingers are in your arm. The finger bones move by a pulley system of tendons. All these equal and opposite motions are what gives a pianist a graceful look but some players force that look into their playing. Now, some schools of technique, such as the Russian, will teach you to do this hoping that carrezando will magically appear but shortcuts often come at a cost. If not pain, ignorance of the mechanics.

 It is erroneously thought that the carrezando technique will give you great speed and a very light pearly touch. Again, that is the end result feeling of a proper technique. Don’t ever seek it, it will find you if your technique is proper.

First, you have to find a good teacher. If you want to find a good teacher, don’t listen to them play, listen to their students. If 90% of them play the way you want to play, you found the right teacher. Hopefully that teacher provides student recital opportunities for you to go hear several at a time. Otherwise, go to any of those ubiquitous Chopin competitions and ask the good students whom they take lessons from. CAREFUL the student isn’t a virtuoso whom the teacher is just guiding. *I* have a virtuoso student but it is nothing I did. The kid just plays correctly naturally and i keep out of his way. Answer requested for Malcolm Kogut

Pain and hand problems are caused by moving improperly. Ergonomic equipment, in theory, is designed to force your body into proper positions. They CAN work but it would be better for you to learn how to move ergonomically without the equipment.

The reason is, let’s say you have an improper ulnar deviation when you type (wrist twists to the left on your left and right on your right), you can still execute that improper motion with an ergonomic keyboard and, what good is fixing your typing deviation when you open doors, brush your teeth, write, use your phone or drive your car with the same deviation?

You can’t spot fix ergonomic problems. It is all or nothing. That is why people don’t heal because they try to fix isolated symptoms and not everything that is part of the problem.  You may have pain in your wrist but that is only the location of the symptom.  The problem is most likely how you are using your whole arm.

Often it is not a single movement that is a problem but a cavalcade of movement issues. You may type with flat fingers, curled fingers, too much pressure, equalized fingers, not enough “up,” radial deviation, you may abduct too much, you might isolate a finger, dorsiflexion, have an isolated elbow or shoulder . . . there are a lot of motions we should not do but we do them because many of us are lazy and unaware.

In the old days, manual typewriters forced us to type with the weight of the arm or, gravity.  Today's effortless keyboards have insidiously encouraged us not to use gravity and the fulcrum of the elbow to type and thus, we isolate smaller parts which strain our tendons. There is no such thing as "repetitive stress."  There is only improper movement and if you move improperly, all movement is then "repetitive stress."

Imagine casting a fishing pole with just your fingers, you'd probably hurt yourself.  Now imagine that only with the wrist.  That is better but still not optimal.  Now with your elbow.  Better.  Add the shoulder.  Notice how you are now using all the parts of the arm for one movement.  No single part is isolated but they all share in the casting, including but not exclusively the fingers.  Now as you cast, notice how your feet are planted, how your weight or center of gravity is distributed, your back and abs, notice also the equal and opposite motion required to cast.  In order to cast forward you must first cast backward.  Typing, too.  In order to type down you must first have an up motion.  Without it, you will strain your flexor tendons.  That is also the most dangerous part of using a mouse.  We rest our index finger and long flexor tendon flat on the button and click with no "up" or equal and opposite motion.  There is nothing wrong with the mouse, only how we use it.

The laws of physics must be obeyed. Break them and there is a price to pay.

I have composed a collection of songs for church use and have never plugged them before. So, why not.

The book and CD is called Psalms for the Church Year, Volume Ten, published by GIA. If you would like to hear a sample, go to the following link. My favorite is selection ten, Psalm 69: Lord in Your Great Love.

https://www.giamusic.com/store/resource/psalms-for-the-church-year-recording-cd429

GIA's venerable Psalms for the Church Year series has a fresh face with this new volume from Malcolm Kogut, who brings his gift for melody and his comfortable jazz-tinged style to this important new collection of psalms.

Malcolm fills some repertoire "holes" with these settings. He has set Psalm 47: "God Mounts His Throne to Shouts of Joy" for Ascension, and Psalm 45: "The Queen Stands at Your Right Hand" for Assumption, along with a mix of other common and lesser-known psalms. Using primarily ICEL refrains and several Grail translations, this volume is a worthy addition to the Psalms for the Church Year series. And, as with the other volumes, it includes reprint boxes of all refrains and a liturgical use index.

Piano keys are a fulcrum and as we all know from being children, fulcrums are lightest on the edge. Sit on a see saw and notice if you sit inward, you weigh less and the opposite person has the advantage. Sit on the very outside edge and you weigh more.


So, playing on the outside of the piano key gives you more power and the keys are easier to depress because they require less force. If you play on the inside of the key, in the black area or, closer to the fulcrum, the keys will be harder to depress.
However, this is only predominately true if you have poor technique. There are several ways to give the arm more power to the fingers such as proper alignment, rotation, in and out motions because your fingers are different lengths and a fulcrum unto themselves, gravity and basic laws of physics such as every motion must have an equal and opposite motion.  Then, there are things not to do which if we do, will weaken or diminish our virtuosity. 
Some teachers just teach dot matching and don’t have a knowledge of physics, biology and ergonomics. If your teacher doesn’t know what a pronator is or how to adjust the elbow so the four and five fingers are just as strong as the other fingers . . . that teacher may hurt you.  If you are lucky, you will only be mediocre.

I am a pianist but I’m sure that my answer correlates.

Technique is in your brain, not in your muscles. You brain hard wires movement which we call muscle memory but, it originates in your brain. That is why you never forget how to ride a bike or swim because the act of balance and using all those ancillary muscles gets mapped directly into the brain through the initial trial and error.

There are two ways to move: properly and improperly. Virtuosos move properly thus, they have virtuoso techniques. People without virtuosity simply move improperly and those improper movements get in the way of proper movement. Much like two people engaged in a three legged race. Both of you must perfectly sync your movements together in order to move freely and efficiently. If one doesn’t, anarchy reigns. Likewise, within our arms are muscles which must work in sync. If they don’t, we are mediocre at best.

When you first touch your instrument you brain makes those neural pathways and if you move improperly that improper movement becomes your permanent technique. Quite simply, you are using the wrong muscles to play and you will forever battle those bad habits. It is possible to brow beat strength and endurance into those wrong muscles and make progress but the day you skip practice, your body immediately begins to atrophy what it doesn’t need and you will feel rusty.

Proper technique uses the laws of physics and ergonomics and never atrophies because gravity requires no muscle. Pianists, for instance, think they depress the keys with their fingers but the fingers have no muscles. They are moved by the flexor muscles in the forearm and they are all interconnected with each other and also with the extensors. Each muscle moves one bone in one direction and there is an opposing muscle to move it back. If you use two muscles at the same time to move one bone, you will create tension, cramps, fatigue, injury or if you are lucky, play poorly. Even the slightest imbalance will create tension. This often happens when a musician isolates a finger. You can not extend and flex at the same time. Even though you can, you should not because they are still interconnected and they will be pulling on one another creating tension.

Proper playing is actually the result of several movements coming together so no single muscle is taxed through repetition. For pianists, this is called shaping. These multiple muscles include the pronator, supinator, shoulder, elbow and most importantly, gravity. Gravity never fatigues, it is always there. I don’t play guitar but I am going to guess that you never have to strum down because gravity or the weight of the arm will play down. Your only job is to play up. If you remember from HS physics, every motion has an equal and opposite motion. As a pianist, I can’t play down unless I first play up. If you sit at a piano, play a chord. Notice that you must play up, first. Up is the only work because down is effortless. Many pianists go wrong there because they press into the keybed. Since they can’t go any further and it creates no additional tone, then why press? It only creates tension and worse, prevents them from playing up because they are pressing down. You can’t move in two directions at the same time.

There are also muscles we should never use such as the abductors. Again, you can’t use two muscles at the same time. If you flex and abduct simultaneously, you are pulling one bone in two directions and the tendons are what will bear the brunt of this vector force and that is where cramps, fatigue or uneven playing comes from.

Go with gravity. Don’t fight it or try to force it. Remember from HS physics, if you push on a wall, it is pushing back with equal force. The wall will always win. Relaxation only comes from effort but it must be from the equal and opposite direction. Like walking. In order to propel your body forward, one foot is behind you pushing backward. In order to walk up stairs you must lift UP one foot higher than the step then come down on to it, using gravity. Although, I have heard people stomping up stairs. Swing a bat, throw a ball, kick a can . . . they all start with equal and opposite motions. Even your car rolls forward because its tires are pushing backward. Physics is not a useless class in HS that you don’t use in real life. It is everywhere in everything. Use it.

Get the laws of physics into your playing and you will never be rusty. Your technique will be there every day, even with several consecutive off days. Practice doesn’t make perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect.

Are you looking for a fun activity to do outdoors with your kids or youth group?  All you need is a camera, an eye for location and a subject (with a solid core) who can hold a pose.  Very little photo editing is required.

First, take a hike.  Check with local hiking groups and online websites to find hikes that are appropriate for your age children then take them to the summit.  Bring lots of water and snacks.  Don't forget the water and bring plenty of water.  Did I mention not to skimp on the water? Bring more water than Brett Kavanaugh drinks beer.  I like beer.

Whatever mountain you choose, if you are not an experienced hiker, read trail reports to figure out how long a round trip will take.  Plan accordingly.  Bring flashlights (along with water) in case you miscalculate.  Chances are you live near an area with short one or two hour hikes.  You can also do a Google Image search of your chosen peak so you can see pictures of the summit that other hikers have taken and plan your photo layout in advance.

Then, look for a ledge, large flat slabs of granite or a large rock (erratic) that they can lay on.  What is important is for the camera to get either high or low enough to catch the subject but with either only sky or rock in the background.  If you catch any trees in the background you will have to do some editing for everything in the background will belie the optical illusion. This is why you may have to hike to the summit of the mountain and look for layered ledges or a large erratic.  If you try this on a slab of granite, make sure there are no shadows from trees or people which will give away the illusion.

Once you find your location, safety always comes first.  Do you know what the leading cause of death is while hiking?  The selfie.

Find a crack or bulge in your rock and have your subject lie down on their side below it with their bottom arm stretched up to the crack or bulge (a more realistic picture will have their arm at a right angle).  They must lie in a straight line.  Their upper arm should be relaxed but held up in the air pointing toward their feet.  Their head can be angled downward and their eyes can look all the way down toward their feet.  This is the "acting" part to give the illusion of awe of the height.  Too much acting will look fake.  Anyone brave enough to climb a cliff won't have the look of fear on their face.  Likewise, a real climber would not hang by his fingertips and smile for a camera. Real climbing is serious business and poses often look fake or at least, not dangerous. This should look like a candid pic snapped in the midst of action.

Now the hard part.  The subject needs to raise both feet and legs off the ground.  At least the upper leg.  Point the toes downward, this is very important.  Likewise, the arm should have the relaxed grace of a ballerina.  After the picture is taken, load it into a photo editor and simply rotate it once in the proper direction then save it. 

Another tip to ensure that the photo looks as real as possible, the subject shouldn't wear loose clothing, loose long hair and, their shoelaces should be tucked in.  Gravity will grab anything it can to make your photo look fake.

Free organ concert with Malcolm Kogut at Foothills Methodist in Gloversville.  June 3 at three. Free.  Here is a sample (Flight of the Bumblebee):