It can be said that if there is only one right way of doing a thing, there could be an infinite number of wrong ways of doing it. To a certain extent this is true of playing the piano. After all, as any teacher will know, there seems to be no limit to the number of ways some unfortunate beginners can find to make piano playing a musical and technical impossibility. However, for our purpose, that is to say for the purpose of investigating the nature of piano technique, there is really only one wrong way worth considering. And in spite of the dozens of conflicting and even mutually exclusive theories of piano technique, there is still, of course, only one right way - only one perfectly workable coordination.That is to say, there is one correct way of playing, applied by all pianists who have earned the right to call themselves such, and one wrong way which is generally and tragically adopted by the great majority who have tried and failed to master this seductive and elusive instrument.

Let us examine these two ways of playing the piano. One might get a student as far as Grade 8  - that is to say the final grade before Diploma level - but not a lot further. The other is absolutely essential for playing the vast majority of the piano repertoire. One will lead to strain, missed notes, loss of power, unattractive playing and ultimate failure; the other to ease, beauty and success. No teacher, student or pianist can afford to be unaware of these two contradictory coordinations. To put it simply the basic distinction between them is this: In the first (wrong) way the piano player (the poor mal-coordidnated individuals among whom I include myself for the last thirty years do not deserve the name pianist) plays from the elbow. In the second (correct) way the pianist  plays or at least is capable of playing from the shoulder. But before I explain what I mean by that it is important to realise what happens when a finger or a number of fingers hit the keys.

When a finger plays a note, downward pressure is exerted until the key reaches the keybed and comes to a stop; further than that it cannot go. Now no real pianist goes on pushing into the keybed after that point of resistance is reached, but many amateurs do and that is something which must be eliminated from their playing. But even before that solid keybed is met the keys themselves give off a large amount of resistance depending upon the number of notes being played. The greater the number of simultaneous notes being depressed at any one time, or the greater the number of consecutive notes being played per second, the greater the resistance of the keys. The fingers and hands acting upon the keys to overcome the resistance experience equal and opposite reactions in accordance with Newton's Third Law of Motion. Now these reactions  will cause the fingers and hands to be displaced (that is, moved in the opposite direction to a greater or lesser degree according to how much pressure is exerted by the finger). This can be proved very simply merely by putting one's hand on a solid surface like a table or desk top and pressing down with one finger. You will see that as you press down with the finger the forearm is pushed up. The only way to prevent the forearm from being pushed up is to exert more downward pressure, this time by the forearm, and to stiffen the wrist. What is happening now is that the downward pressure of the forearm is conteracting the upward reaction of the forearm which itself is caused by the action of the finger.

This wrong way of playing uses vertical forearm pressure to back up the activity of the fingers and hands, together with stiffening of the wrist and elbow joints. When a note is played by the fingers, the hand presses downwards either to depress the keys itself or to back up the downwards action of the fingers. This downwards movement of the hand then has to be backed up by a downwards movement - or at least pressure - of the forearm. This creates two problems: the forearm either tries to back up the action of the fingers and hands, which it does not have the power to do because it cannot provide a sufficient level of continuous solid basis for the fingers and hands to act against ; or it will try to hit the keys itself, which will result in inaccuracy. In either case, the forearm's constant pushing down into the keys greatly restricts lateral movement, the arms feel unwieldy, the keys seem terribly heavy and the fingers seem to get stuck in the keys - a malcoordination usually referred to as key-bedding, but the cause of which is rarely understood. Also cramp will occur in the forearm as the muscles which operate the fingers are being overworked. The reason why they are being overworked is because without a solid basis against which to act, they cannot act as levers, and without the exponential increase in power accorded by the Law of the Lever the fingers do not have the strength to play what is required for any length of time at the required speed. This technique will work for slow speeds but as a coordination for the bulk of piano playing it is useless. At slow speeds this doesn't matter; playing one note per second, one can use the forearm as basis or use nothing at all and allow the hand to be displaced as there will be enough time to move it back again for the next note. But when it comes to playing 12 or 16 consecutive notes per second, or playing loud, fast, repeated five-note chords it is a different matter. This requires a constant solid basis for every finger to act against. The more stable the basis, the more power will reach the keys for the same amount of finger exertion. Downwards pressure of the forearm cannot provide a constant source of stabilization because the forearm continually needs to move around the keyboard to place the hands in position to play. Also the forearm simply cannot provide a sufficient amount of stabilisation for loud, fast playing. And what happens in practice is that instead of providing a basis for the action of the fingers and hands, the forearm gets involved in the actual tone-producing action itself. The over-exertion of the fingers without a solid base to act against leads to tension and cramp in the forearm, coupled with loss of power, tone and key control. This is the greatest single cause of failure to achieve a reasonable standard of piano performance. If this is allowed to continue - or worse still if it is deliberately endured through some misguided belief that the forearm pain is a  sign of improving technique - the result will be sooner or later total loss of playing ability through severe tendonitis.

The use of forearm downward pressure to back up the actions of the fingers and hands is a reflex action over which the user has no control, because the hands and fingers have to have something to act against, something behind them, backing them up, pushing them in the right direction and counteracting the reactions so they can apply enough force into the keys to depress them. Once the forearm has got used to performing this task it is almost impossible to get it out of the habit.

I call the correct coordination the Fundamental Action, because it is fundamental to all playing, and to all practising once the technique has been acquired. But most importantly, it is fundamental to the acquisition of piano technique in the first place. What is practised must be the means to the end that is desired to be achieved. To practise scales, arpeggios, finger exercises, etc, involves practising one element of piano technique in isolation from the others. These are separate and individual manifestations of technique - they are elements of the end; they are never the means to that end. One must find the means and practise that, and the desired end will automatically follow.

Teachers, writers and even pianists who advocate finger exercises and scales, etc, "in order to strengthen the fingers" - in isolation - and without any consideration of the demands of action and reaction, that is, without consideration of the necessity of providing a solid basis for fingers to act against, and without consideration of the necessity for elimination or containment of the reactions caused by the actions of the fingers and hands in overcoming the resistance of the keys - indeed without even being aware of any issue concerning these matters - are missing the most essential element of the enquiry. That enquiry must be predicated upon scientific terms, whereas most teachers concentrate on the artistic end to be achieved without any understanding of the means of achieving that end. Piano playing requires a combination of artistic expression and physical, bio-mechanical, physiological activity - what we call technique. But the scientific, bio-mechanical elements must be put in place first - or at least at the same time as the artistic; not afterwards, because without technique no artistic expression will ever be possible. Indeed it is true to say that although technique alone will not make one an artist, it will get you about 90 per cent of the way there. And the more technique you have, the better and more artistic your playing will sound.