🎹 What Do the Fingers Really Do?

"The finger's movement should begin at the knuckle."

Today is all about the fingers.

They are our primary point of contact with the instrument — the place where intention becomes sound.

And depending on the moment, they can act as independent playing levers, or offer support to movements initiated by larger parts of the body.

Either way, they are the most nuanced part of the pianist’s kinetic chain.

⸻

Two Muscle Groups — One Big Confusion

Of course pianists know that finger movement comes from muscles.

But few are aware which muscles are doing the work — and why that matters.

Here’s a simplified picture:

• The nail and middle joints of the finger are powered by the long flexor muscles in the forearm.

These are strong — they allow us to grip, stabilize, and stiffen the finger when needed. But they are not fast.

• The knuckle joint (MCP) is powered by intrinsic hand muscles, especially the lumbricals and interossei.

These are small, local, and incredibly quick — ideal for precise, agile movement.

So:

👉 Speed and control come from the knuckle.

👉 Power and resistance come from the forearm.

Great finger technique requires both — but where the movement originates makes all the difference.

⸻

Don’t Move From the Tip

This leads to a crucial (but widely misunderstood) point:

The distal (nail) joint and the middle joint tend to move together.

If you initiate movement from there, you’ll create conflicting vectors — complex, scattered motions that don’t transmit clearly to the key.

Instead, as Arnold Schultz and Josef Lhévinne both emphasized:

👉 The movement should begin at the knuckle.

Lhévinne illustrates this beautifully in his classic Basic Principles in Pianoforte Playing, in the now-famous diagram accompanying this post.

This is more than a call for purity of motion — it’s about tone control.

Initiating from the knuckle gives us a cleaner trajectory, a more accurate impulse, and finer control over dynamics.

If you want to know more, I highly recommend Arnold Schultz’s book The Riddle of the Pianist’s Finger — a rare gem that sheds deep light on this topic.

⸻

Less Tension, More Control

The hand and forearm are packed with muscles, tendons, and connective tissue.

Any unnecessary effort — especially in small joints — creates friction and fatigue.

To play efficiently, we must:

• Use the right muscles for the task

• Avoid co-contraction

• And respect the natural design of our anatomy

⸻

What’s Next

To complete this picture, the next post will return to a distinction we’ve touched on before:

• Playing motions – movements that depress the keys

• Preparatory motions – movements that position the body’s playing apparatus efficiently

Together, they form the basis of functional gesture at the piano.

✨

JM | Art of Piano

#ArtOfPiano #PianoTechnique #FingerMechanics #JosefLhevinne #ArnoldSchultz #MCPJoint #Biomechanics #GestureAndSound