about "flying" fingers

freshginger · Post by **freshginger** » Wed Jan 03, 2007 7:50 pm

im not sure if this should be listed in advanced topics, but ive noticed i have this habit of ..overmoving my fingers? like when i press some keys my other fingers like to "fly out". this delays my techniques, my teacher told me its probably becuz i'm double jointed so my hands like to do that. anyhow i was wondering if any of you know, or have any tips for me, for my hands to stay steadier
thank you so much

fluteguy18 · Post by **fluteguy18** » Wed Jan 03, 2007 11:18 pm

Well, all that I can recommend is to play your studies/ etudes, but really focus on not having excess movement. You should have complete control over your fingers. However, I am quite the opposite of disjointed, so I dont really feel qualified to offer a lot of advice. In fact, I am so opposite, that I have a little story to tell.

I was born with a slight birth defect in my hands.... my thumbs to be exact. The top knuckle of my thumb [ just below the nail] wont move whatsoever.
So, as you can see, I am not double jointed hardly at all [ my index fingers are, but that is all], and I havent had much problem with excess movement. The only excess movement I have had in the past was more of a problem of sloppiness in my chromatic scale[s] [ I would finger the new note before I was completely finished with the note before it]. So, I would love to help, but I have given you the only advice that I have.

Anyone else have suggestions? For once I feel really inadequate!

fluttiegurl · Post by **fluttiegurl** » Thu Jan 04, 2007 9:10 am

Play the D major scale many times a day, paying very close attention to your finger movement (look in a mirror if possible). Why D major? The finger movement for the right hand is somewhat awkward, and the right hand tends to come off of the flute because of the individual finger movement. This has worked well for many of my students, but it takes patience and careful attention to what you are doing. Actually, all scales can be used to accomplish this, but the D major seems to do the trick.

Otherwise, learn to pay attention to what your fingers are doing. We often put them on autopilot, without thinking. Try flattening your fingers over the keys more (I can't really tell if this is a prob without seeing you play) and moving them from the first largest nuckle instead of moving the middle nuckle. Your wrist position may have something to do with it. Talk to your teacher about any of these options.

ick27 · Post by **ick27** » Thu Jan 04, 2007 9:32 am

This is something most of us deal with! I've read stories about famous flutists taping their fingers to the keys and things like that... To fix the problem, you need to practice keeping your fingers as close to the keys as possible. When you press a key down, you need to press your finger down, but to lift your finger, just quit pushing. Don't try to lift the finger with your muscles, just relax it, allowing the spring tension of the key to pop it back up. To work on this, pick something like TG #1 or major scales, and play them at different speeds while thinking about keeping your fingers close to the keys. If you do this sort of thing every day it will become automatic and you'll be able to keep your fingers down without concentrating on it.

freshginger · Post by **freshginger** » Thu Jan 04, 2007 7:54 pm

thank you guys so much for the suggestions, i will try and practice all of them thank you!

Brooke · Post by **Brooke** » Sat Feb 03, 2007 4:36 pm

Try practicing in front of a mirror. Not only will it help you control your fingers, but it should have a great effect on your overall technique.

musical_Kat · Post by **musical_Kat** » Wed Mar 28, 2007 1:17 pm

I had the same problem. I am extremely double jointed to the point where my pinkies would sometimes get stuck in the low C position and I wouldn't be able to bend them again without considerable effort and a little bit of snappage to get them moving again! It was very frustrating to say the least! I finally decided to work on my finger tension after wrist surgery on each hand from ganglion cysts and discovered that without the finger tension my double jointedness didn't have any effect on my playing anymore. So my suggestion is to watch yourself in a mirror like the others above have said....and also concentrate on not squeezing the life out of your flute...it makes a huge difference!

fluteguy18 · Post by **fluteguy18** » Wed Mar 28, 2007 2:06 pm

musical_Kat wrote:I had the same problem. I am extremely double jointed to the point where my pinkies would sometimes get stuck in the low C position and I wouldn't be able to bend them again without considerable effort and a little bit of snappage to get them moving again! It was very frustrating to say the least! I finally decided to work on my finger tension after wrist surgery on each hand from ganglion cysts and discovered that without the finger tension my double jointedness didn't have any effect on my playing anymore. So my suggestion is to watch yourself in a mirror like the others above have said....and also concentrate on not squeezing the life out of your flute...it makes a huge difference!

ditto minus the double joined thing, but my fingers would get stuck sometimes. My junior year in high school, I was having so much pain in my wrists that I almost had to quit playing. Luckily I found an amazing teacher who knew how to fix the situation. It was tension and poor hand positioning. now, my hands are tension free, and if they do become tense, I know what to do.