A good piano teacher will first show you how to sit correctly. It’s easy to start with bad habits, and those can be tough to break. Proper sitting helps you play better and position your hands correctly on the keys. Learning the right posture from the beginning is crucial, as it impacts everything from natural hand movement to effortless pedaling. Now, let’s learn the right way to posture our hands and sitting for playing across all the keys.
What is proper piano posture?
The most important part of proper posture that all piano students learn is that how you sit influences your hand position. Posture and hand position are intricately connected. The proper piano posture involves sitting near enough to the bench that you don’t have to reach, but far enough away from the bench that you can easily extend your arms in either direction. Focus on this while you work on your warm-up exercises for piano. Your neck should also be at a comfortable angle to the top of the piano keys, where the sheet music will sit. Make sure you adjust your piano bench to achieve correct posture. What type of seat you use at your piano is extremely important.
Practicing the correct hand position
One of the most foundational aspects of piano technique is hand position and posture. This aspect alone has an immense impact in your overall learning process, and it’s therefore essential to spend time working on it. Let’s start with our first exercise.
Steps on how to do the piano hand exercises
| Step 1 — Posture | Stand up and let your arms and hands be as relaxed as possible. Pay close attention to the natural position your body adopts, how it feels, and what your hands and fingers look and feel like. Now try seating at the piano, and bend your arms just enough to have your hands on the keyboard. Try to preserve the same level of relaxation as you had while standing up. |
| Step 2 — Arms | While placing your arms over the keyboard, it’s important to make sure your forearms naturally maintain an overall horizontal line with respect to the keyboard — in other words, your hands and arms should be at a similar height. |
| Step 3 — Hand shape | A helpful analogy to think about correct hand position when playing piano is to imagine you’re holding an invisible glass of wine: In other words, keeping your fingers slightly curved, making a C shape, but in such a way that it feels completely relaxed, and effortless. Of course, the minor difference here is that the palm of our hands will be facing down. |
| Step 4 — Wrists | Finally, make sure your wrists are at the same level as the keyboard, and as relaxed as possible. Tense wrists can greatly reduce the speed and finesse of your playing. |
How to avoid injury playing the piano
Sheet music is a tricky thing to deal with while you play the piano. How can a musician sit a comfortable distance from the piano, maintain good posture while the front half of their body wants to lean forward and get closer to read sheet music? When you learn how to read piano sheet music, you will naturally want to learn forward. Good posture will naturally develop, but in the beginning make sure to pay attention to your body. Great posture includes having a neutral spine, the natural weight of your shoulder blades hanging off of your spine, arms calmly placed in front of you and the whole bench perpendicular to the piano. The natural curvature of the spine will allow you to sit up straight. These good habits will keep you in a comfortable position on the bench and play pieces that are above your skill level. This will allow you to play long hours and comfortably reach anywhere on the instrument, try and focus calmly on the correct way of how your body works.
The key to having the correct piano posture
The correct way to have a beautiful sound on the piano is to have good piano posture, and to work on your hand posture as much as your shoulders or your aligned neck. Your pinky finger and other fingers should rest lightly on the top of the instrument when playing piano, and your posture and hand position should be correctly linked together. Good piano posture and finger positions when playing is simple, but can be difficult at first. However, correct piano posture should be relaxing. The right distance between your waist and the front of the piano should be about 10cm. The right distance should let your elbow fall almost directly in between yourself and the piano. Your feet should be resting quietly underneath your knees, directly in front of you, just to the right of the damper pedal.
What piano bench height is best for beginners?
Choosing the right piano bench is crucial for both comfort and proper playing posture. Here’s a brief guide to help you select the appropriate bench height:
- Avoid Unsuitable Chairs: Steer clear of office chairs or armchairs with wheels and armrests, as these are not ideal for playing the piano.
- Check Bench Height: Ensure your bench is not too short to prevent back and neck problems. Adjustable benches are helpful because they allow you to find the perfect height.
- Proper Positioning: Sit on the edge of the bench, making sure you are stable and not at risk of falling off.
- Relaxed Hands: Your fingers should be relaxed and close to the keyboard, which helps in playing more effectively.
Try this lesson on Skoove and watch the videos about where to place your hands and how to sit.
The correct proximity to the piano
When sitting at the piano, ensure there’s enough space between you and the keyboard, near the middle C, to allow free arm and hand movement. Avoid leaning forward; your upper arms and shoulders should hang relaxed from your body, with your body weight supported directly under your shoulders and neck to prevent injury. Your knees should be just under the keyboard—not too far back and not too close.
Adjustable benches can accommodate different body sizes, so choose one that suits you, as you’ll likely use it for a long time. Remember, there’s no need to shift along the bench to reach higher or lower notes. Test this by sitting properly and playing the extreme notes with your little fingers—you should be able to reach them comfortably from a central position.
How to play large distances on piano
Leaning in toward the piano will allow you to play many more notes around the keyboard, without having to move around the piano bench while you’re playing. Most children can just about manage this too.
If you are learning a song that jumps around a lot on the piano – just stay seated exactly where you are and move your arms to reach the notes. It’s much easier, looks much tidier, and keeps the music flowing. If really necessary, you can lean to one side or the other, but it’s rarely called for.
Adjusting the angle of your arm
Correct piano arm posture takes a little time to set up during your first lesson, but once you begin playing you will relax into this posture. Follow these simple steps:
- You want to make sure that you have a 90 degree bend between your forearm and upper arm and that
- Your hand should be slightly lifted, fingers curving down toward the keyboard.
- You should be able to balance something small, such as a coin, on the back of each hand without them slipping off.
- The inside of your hand should be rounded, as if you’re holding a ball
Get a friend or family member to check on the angle of your arm if you need, or position a mirror beside you so you can frequently check on your posture. As you progress on the piano, you’ll get into the habit of sitting well at the piano and you won’t have to keep checking. But it’s worth being careful about it for a week or two until it becomes natural.
Keep your shoulders in place
You want to be sure that you’re sitting up with your spine straight, but relaxed. Make sure your shoulders are fully relaxed and not raised up towards your ears at all. Pay close attention to how your shoulders sit near your neck. If you spend an hour at the piano at the wrong height, with shoulders lifted up toward your ears, you’re likely to get shoulder, neck and even headaches. If you do this for a long time, it can cause long lasting problems with shoulders, spine and even eyesight. Do not underestimate the importance of good playing piano posture during your first lesson, especially if you plan to play a lot. If you plan to play a lot, invest in the best piano bench you can afford to be safe and comfortable.
Place your feet correctly
Some people tend to sit at the piano with one leg crossed over the other. This is bad piano posture for the piano and should be avoided. If you’re using the pedal, both feet must be in front of the piano pedals for easy access, and if you’re not using the pedal (yet) then both feet should be firmly on the floor. This ensures that your back and shoulders are aligned correctly and again, wards off aches and pains from sitting in the wrong position for a long time.
Beginners sometimes like to tuck their legs underneath them on the stool. To encourage them to keep both feet flat on the floor – until they can reach the floor – a foot stool placed directly in front of the pedals works really well.
Where to place your sheet music?
Another thing to consider when you’re sitting at the piano is where your music sits. Upright pianos tend to place the music right in front of your eyes, very conveniently. Grand piano music stands tend to be higher and further away from you, which might mean sitting a tiny bit higher on your bench. If you’re considering a new piano and you need some guidance check out our advice about acoustic vs digital pianos.
Make sure you have good light on your music stand. There are some very good clip-on reading lights that work well clipped right onto the music stand. Some work from both batteries and USB. Of course, if you’re reading from a device or using Skoove, this isn’t a problem.
More tips to help with your piano posture
Keeping proper piano bench height and posture is a key part of playing piano. As we’ve learned posture and hand position are completely tied together and your playing in relationship to posture can only improve the more you take it seriously. A list of things to keep in mind while you play:
- Keep your wrists flexible
- Relax and avoid neck tension and hand tension
- Align your neck with your back
- Engage your core muscles
- Keep soft hands as you play
- Allow your arms to be heavy, and play the keyboard with weight
For further guidance and personalized advice, consider discussing and taking advice from professionals on Reddit, where many experienced pianists share their insights.
Final words
Piano posture is similar to the good posture athletes have—it becomes natural once you learn it. Just like how runners in the Olympics or swimmers in a race move their bodies to perform their best, the way you sit and move at the keyboard is important for playing piano. The best pianists often look like they’re playing effortlessly, with their hands smoothly moving across the keys as if they’re barely touching them. Good posture is crucial for playing well and avoiding injuries throughout your piano playing career. Once you’ve got the right posture, you can keep improving your skills in different ways.
Author of this blog post:
Published by Lydia Ogn from the Skoove team
