Piano Posture Infographic
Do you teach “Piano Posture” in your studio? Some methods start their Primer books with a basic “this is how you are supposed to sit at the piano” model. Pictures might illustrate how far away to sit, or how a student should hold their hands. Pictures like this should look familiar to most piano teachers:
It says “sit tall,” but do you see how much the head/neck juts out over the shoulders? This is the kind of posture that has gotten me into trouble over the years!
This fall I’ve decided to make “Piano Posture” a stronger focus during lessons. The typical drawings that you find in books sometimes don’t really cut it, and recently I came across a great infographic from Hoffman Academy that details the hows and whys of good piano posture:
This infographic is just the beginning: in Joseph Hoffman’s blog article he details each item on the chart and explains how to achieve better a better posture. I liked the article so much that I printed out the explanations to hand out to some of my intermediate piano students during lessons. Bonus: Mr. Hoffman has a PDF version available on his blog!
Piano posture is so incredibly important, especially for teachers. Staying cognizant of your own posture can be difficult sometimes, especially while constantly reaching up/over to point to a student’s music. Repetitive motion injuries are common among professional musicians simply because of the nature of the job — and music teachers can sometimes be at an even higher risk.
… but that’s a topic for another day. I hope you find this infographic helpful! Happy Teaching!
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10 Comments
Thank you so much, I’m very excited to use this. Wow. What a gift on a busy Monday!
Isn’t it neat? It showed up on my Facebook feed, and I knew I had to share this one! Happy Monday! ♪
Thanks for sharing! It was a great reminder for ME as well! Happy Monday!
Me too! I constantly jut my head forward — time to start balancing a beanie baby up there or something! 🙂
Thanks, it is more artistic than other pictures. Is there a way to make it print wider/bigger?
Check out the original blog post from Hoffman academy (linked) – they have a PDF. I bet you could easily get it printed large at a copy shop!
Reblogged this on Small Town Music Lessons and commented:
Fantastic! Thanks, Sara! 🙂
So happy to find you through the posture post on Pinterest. I am always looking for content to share wityh my son Mason (10 yrs). He started teaching himself piano and guitar about eleven months ago after I introduced him to Yousician online. In this s short time he has preformed before both his school and his church. Impressive to say the least, but I feel like he has STALLED. Money for lessons isn’t in the budget right now. I have been able to provide him with his acoustic guitar, a used electric guitar and amp, a quality keyboard and a spinet piano (dated but in excellent condition). Cords and straps, stands and books for Christmas. It’s wonderful to hear music coming from his room. He has even learned to read sheet music and tablature. (Can you tell I’m proud). I could go on but I’ll spare you. Lol
So, any advise, support / direction is appreciated. I know he would love it.
masonedward2007@gmail.com
Hi Philyse,
It sounds like lessons are definitely the next step. Just because it’s not in the budget doesn’t mean that it isn’t possible. I’d suggest checking out http://musiclinkfoundation.org/ to see if you can find local teachers in your area who are part of this organization! Here’s a direct link to their Parent Registration: http://musiclinkfoundation.org/partcpat.php4#prntstud
Tell Mason to keep up the good work! 🙂
Sara
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