How to Sit Properly at The Piano: Correct Your Posture (2023)

Does playing Piano interest you? Are you a beginner wanting to learn all the lessons and get proficient in the lessons at the earliest? We know that you are ready to spend hours together in a day to get those chords in pitch, but do you know what price you give so as to master those strokes?

You might end up harassing your spine and your shoulder muscles if you are not aware of your sitting posture during your piano lessons and practice. You may ask how does learning piano affect my backbones and muscles? Though there is no direct correlation between the two, if you presume a wrong sitting posture you end up stressing your back.

Best Piano Bench That Supports Posture

You can choose from a huge selection of piano benches at various pricing points. Although there isn’t a formal classification system for piano benches, we have separated them into these categories based on their design and purpose. Choosing whether to purchase a bench with a conventional or modern style should be one of your first decisions. The majority of benches fall into one of these types, and each form has pros and cons of its own. Visually, an acoustic piano will look better with traditional benches. Additionally, they are strong, comfy (many have leather or faux-leather tops), and frequently include storage space. 

Unfortunately, they sometimes come at a high price. Modern benches are lighter, more transportable, and easier to store. They will complement digital pianos cosmetically and are also less expensive. 

Storage-equipped piano benches are highly useful. All of your music notation can be kept in one location, under your seat. This is a great way to save space if you utilize sheet music and live in a tiny place.

However, storage benches are less popular in contemporary designs and are frequently more expensive. You might not need this function if you already have a bookshelf for storing your belongings. 

Posture is really important. And it’s best to establish these positive behaviors as soon as possible. Better technique is also encouraged by good posture practices. Wrists that aren’t sagging and hands that can securely reach the keyboard lead to faster playing and strong articulation. Your playing can improve with the right seating. You’ll practice more frequently the more at ease you are, and you’ll advance in your playing more quickly. A well-designed bench makes moving around simple. The proper bench height encourages good posture habits, which improve technique. 

Heal From Back Pain Caused By Bad Posture 

• Sleeping might be challenging when you have back discomfort. Whenever you aren’t getting enough rest, your back discomfort could feel worse, which can create a vicious cycle. Additionally, a bad sleeping position might make back pain worse. Consider shifting to your side. To maintain your spine in a relaxed position and reduce back pain, place a pillow between your legs. Put a pillow between your legs if you must sleep on your back. Make sure your mattress is firm enough to be comfortable. 
• Furthermore, bad posture can exacerbate back discomfort, particularly if you sit for extended periods of time. Avoid slouching over the keyboard. Maintain a straight back, relaxed shoulders, and a body supported by the chair’s back. Put a pillow or cloth rolled up over your lower spine and the seat if possible. Maintain a flat foot position. For back pain, doctors used to advise bed rest. However, it might exacerbate back discomfort and cause other issues. Don’t take a longer-than-two-day nap. It’s critical to stand up and resume your normal pace of movement. One of the fastest ways to effectively treat back pain is through exercise. Try yoga, walking, or swimming. 
• Applying ice to your back’s sore spots on a regular basis may help ease discomfort and swelling brought on by an injury. Do this for up to 20 minutes each time, multiple times per day. To keep your skin safe, enclose the ice pack with a small towel. Change to heat a few days later. To relax your muscles and improve blood flow to the affected area, apply a warm compress or warm pack. Warm baths are another option you might try for relaxation. Never rest your head on a heating pad at night to prevent burns and tissue damage. 
• Once you get up from the table, can massage actually relieve back pain? According to a recent study, patients with persistent back pain who received one massage per week for 10 weeks experienced reduced pain and improved functionality. After around six months, benefits started to diminish. Spinal manipulation is another manual method. This procedure, when carried out by a qualified specialist, can assist in easing spinal structural issues and regaining lost mobility. 

Types Of Woods That Pianos Are Made Of

Understanding how and why the wood reacts with the piano is crucial before we look at the different varieties of wood. The most effective approach to achieve this is to make a comparison between the instrument and a standard digital speaker that almost all have in our houses. In its simplest form, speakers work by delivering an electrical signal via a circuit, transferring that signal through a magnet, and then moving speakers cone up and down to produce high and low pressure, which in turn amplifies and produces sound. 

The two main categories of wood are hard and soft. Every kind of wood has a distinctive tone that makes it ideal for a certain task. For instance, oak and spruce sound completely different. Let’s start by looking at the softwoods. Since soft wood is far better at transferring sound than hardwood, it typically makes up the soundboard of pianos, where it is more delicate and brittle. Because of this, a soundboard that is damp or cracked will sound very different from what it should. 

Then there are hardwoods. Due to their durability, smoothness, and ability to preserve sound quality, these are generally utilized for the piano’s body and framing. Maple, mahogany, rosewoods, Brazil woods, and ebony woods are a few examples that come to mind. Due to their smoothness and durability, several of these materials also make excellent fingerboards for instruments like guitars and violins. Another excellent example of a hardwood with a very specific tonal purpose in pianos is walnut. Walnut is a quality wood for making piano hammers because of its density and longevity. 

You’ll see that wood is utilized in many different ways and originates from a number of sources if you take a look around your house. You might have maple cabinets, oak flooring, and cedar drawers. The woods used for many objects in your home are interchangeable; you can decorate your rooms with anything from birch, fir, mahogany, cherry, or spruce.  

There will be some possibilities that are more suitable for you than others, depending on your preferences, your budget, and the room and space you have set up for your piano. However, as with most things, the cost will be directly related to the caliber of the materials and workmanship. Pay particular attention to the type of wood selected; for aesthetic, tone, and sound quality reasons, the soundboard and veneer should have aligned grains.

The manner the wood is cut will have a considerable impact on its tonal qualities, even if it may be simple to overlook. Piano timbers can be sliced in three different ways.

Plain Sawn – This method of cutting is erratic but highly affordable and efficient.

Quartersawn: This middle-of-the-road method of woodworking offers less waste and more consistency.

Many producers use the extra wood from rift sawn products for various purposes despite the high amount of waste.

Typically, maple is used to make the pin-blocks and bridges. The soundboard receives the energy from the strings through the bridge. To ensure that the vibration of the strings is communicated effectively, strength is required. The ideal hardwood for the pin-blocks is maple since it provides a high level of tuning stability over extended periods of time. One of the better options for the actuation mechanism is maple. Precision is essential when it comes to the motion elements of a piano. For this reason, the wood’s quality is crucial if you want it to survive repeated contact and endure over time.  

It is impossible to discuss every manufacturer’s method of making pianos in one place because they are all very diverse. However, in essence, they will assemble the piano using the wood that has been cut, dried, and treated after moving on to the manufacturing process. These will include blending soft and hard woods to produce an impeccable-sounding instrument. 

When all of this is taken into account, playing while seated and with your eyes closed is truly the best option. When you play it, you’ll really know if it’s the right piano for you.

Why Good Posture Is Important While Playing

Learning and presuming a good sitting posture at the instrument helps in preventing long term damage to our bones and muscles. Also sitting properly helps with long hours of practice without any discomfort, and yes! It helps you to master the instrument with excellent sensitivity and precision. 

Maintaining proper sitting posture is taught right from the first piano class and it is important that you follow it religiously at all your piano sessions. Sitting properly before the instrument helps to play technically tough notes of the song easily. You can also check by yourself if you are sitting properly at the piano table if you feel comfortable in the same posture for a long time. 

Also, try altering the positions quite often as a minimal degree of flexibility helps in playing without any pain. And a rigid position will not help in the long run and you may have to swivel your hips and sway your body as you play the chords to render an appealing performance.

Check out: Top 7 Best Digital Pianos & Keyboards for Beginners

Prerequisites To Maintain A Perfect Body Posture While Playing The Piano

1. Choosing your piano bench:

Buy a piano chair, stool or a bench at an optimal height. The best option is to buy a chair with an adjusting height or adjust the height with the help of additional pillows or cushions. Adjust the height in such a way that you are at the height of the piano keyboard. Ensure that your arms rest comfortably on the keys of the piano without any stress and in a relaxed manner. Also, ensure that the knees and legs fit comfortably under the bench of the piano.

2. Fixing the distance between you and the piano:

Ensure that there is an optimal distance between your chair and the piano keyboard. This gap is to ensure that the hand and fingers rest on the keyboard comfortably, and there is very less strain on the upper arms while playing the instrument. In short, the keyboard must lie slightly in front of your stomach and make sure that the elbows are not beyond your back.

3. Enuring a straight posture:

Make sure to sit straight at all times, this is important not just while playing the piano but every single moment of your life. Ever heard our high school teachers asking us to sit straight in class every time we get distracted, let that resonate in your mind often while playing the piano. Make sure that your shoulders and back are kept straight and in a relaxing mood. You should also keep your head straight so as to not strain your neck. Spree the music sheet above the piano keys so that you keep your head straight and can have a clear glimpse of the sheet while playing the instrument.

Related Reading: Top 5 Best Budget Digital Pianos Under $500

How To Tune Your Body Parts To Sit Properly At The Piano?

Before tuning the chords for a perfect rhythm, we will tell you how to tune some parts of your body such as wrists, hip, neck, shoulders, and hands so as to maintain a good piano posture. It is important that you concentrate on each of these body parts to keep muscle fatigue at bay. 

1. Neck:

The neck should be kept in perfect alignment with the spine and the ears should be the straight line as that of the shoulder. Do not slouch forward or force your chin and head forward, though you feel comfortable in that position. If you want to have a glimpse of the keys, try moving your eyes and not the neck. Neck posture is the foundation of a good piano posture and helps in preventing ailments like cervical spondylosis later in life. 

2. Shoulders:

Remember to relax your shoulders and maintain them in a natural position, there is absolutely no need to keep them rounded or raised to show your eagerness. If you keep them raised, you won’t able to channel the weight of the arms to the instrument. Ensure that the elbows are at the same level as that of the keyboard. 

3. Spine:

Our spinal cord doesn’t have a straight posture but has a natural curve and it is important that you also maintain the curve. Sit up straight and do not slouch on the seat. This posture helps in easing the stress off the spine and avoids the incidence of spinal problems in the future. 

4. Elbows:

Position the elbows at the keyboard level and let them stay parallel to the ground. Let the elbows not touch the sides of the chest and let it not flap too away from the midline as well. If the elbows are not rightly placed, it strains the shoulders as well.

5. Wrists:

As you play your piano, ensure that your wrists are kept above the keyboard level. Do not lock your wrists and allow the fingers to do the entire work. Ensure that the wrists and the fingers follow the natural flow of gravity as you play the instrument.

Read: Top Finger Stretching Exercises for Piano Players

Wrapping up

Thus the best posture to sit and play your piano is to sit straight, with the neck and shoulders kept straight, fingers kept above the keyboard and knees under the piano. Ensure that your feet are kept flat on the surface for a long hour performance without any fatigue and hindrance. Sitting straight and maintaining good body posture not just help with piano lessons, but in the long run to help alleviate bone and joint pains.

Related:-

• List of Best Digital Pianos of 2020
• How to Get Better at Piano Sight Reading?

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) 

1. Why is it important to try out a piano bench before buying? 

Play something while sitting at the piano with good posture: flat feet, parallel arms, and a straight back. Stretch, move around, and try pedaling. After that, encourage everyone who will be using the bench to give it a try.

In the end, if you want to improve your technique, choosing a piano bench with the proper height is arguably the most crucial factor to take into account.

2. How important is comfort while buying a piano seat? 

Everyone should feel comfortable. Some benches have hard tops; therefore, they are unpadded. Despite being less expensive, these benches can quickly become uncomfortable. Keep in mind that you want to inspire yourself to practice the piano more, not less! Consequently, spend money on a comfortable chair. 

3. What are some key piano posture points to keep in mind? 

• Flat-footed on the ground
• Relaxed shoulders and upper arms
• Arms straight out from the floor
• Slightly elevated and not dropping wrists
• Maintain a straight back and a tight core.
• Keyboard, pedals, and music notation should all feel effortlessly accessible.

4. What are the advantages of adjustable bench? 

The benefits of adjustable benches are numerous. Numerous pianists aren’t “normal” heights or weights, to name one. If you are on the taller or shorter side of things, being able to modify your bench to a comfortable height will have a significant impact on your playing.

For households where members of various sizes alternate turns at the piano, adjustable benches are excellent. The absence of storage space is a drawback of adjustable benches. Some are also smaller and only have room for one person. They typically cost more as well.

5. What is Sciatica? 

Sciatica is the medical term for discomfort in the sciatic nerve, which exits your spine at the base and travels down the backs of your legs. Numerous disorders, including a spine-related bone spur, can contribute to it. The discomfort might range from a dull ache to an electric shock-like sensation. Long durations of sitting can make it even worse, but it usually just affects one side.