Your Piano Bench Position is Wrong (and How to Fix It)
A whole post on how to sit at the piano? Yes, indeed. This post will cover appropriate bench height, distance from the piano, what type of bench to use, and common mistakes. This is not clickbait, but when it comes to sitting at the piano, you really are doing it wrong (probably).
Why do we need to talk about something as banal as sitting? Because playing the piano is a physical act, and we need to position ourselves relative to the piano in a way that feels good and makes playing feel easy. That means there is a way (many ways, in fact) of sitting improperly at the piano (such as too far from the piano, too high, too low, or using an unsuitable chair). If we’re seated improperly, we’re fighting against our bodies and have to put more effort into playing. In some cases, pain and fatigue will result. So read on to protect your body and learn how to sit properly.
What type of bench is best?
We'll start with what type of bench to use. First of all: actually sit down to play the piano. I’m not kidding. In my career as a piano teacher, I’ve had a few students tell me they practice standing up. Look, unless you’re a rock star and really know what you’re doing, sit down to play the piano. Do you really need to do a subtle shimmy of the hips while rocking that Beethoven sonata or Bach minuet? I didn’t think so. Are you enjoying that twinge in your right knee from pedalling while standing? (I may be speaking from experience here — I, too, have treated my body poorly and paid the price.)
Learn the rules before you break them. Or better yet, banish from your mind all intentions of standing up while playing the piano, now or in the future. You're compromising your “state of readiness” (more on this later) by having to hold your body up. Playing piano is supposed to feel easy. So sit down on something.
But when I say “sit down on something,” do I mean "sit down on… anything”? Think again, grasshopper. Not all chairs, benches, bar stools, etc. are created equal, and nowhere is this truer than at the piano. (I may be exaggerating a little.)
When deciding on your piano seat, let me first tell you what NOT to use: a chair with wheels.
If you are currently using a chair with wheels to practice, I ask you gently and solicitously (albeit through gnashed teeth): what are you doing? Do you have to wheel yourself away from the piano to your computer desk, another room, or (heaven forbid) down the stairs as soon as you’ve finished practicing? By using a chair with wheels, you now have to WORK to keep yourself rooted to the same spot while playing the piano. It’s extra work, extra effort, a useless waste of energy, and worst of all, it’s a DISTRACTION from what where your focus should be: on the music you are playing. You might not think you’re using any mental or physical energy to keep that rolling chair in place, but you are. And it’s taking away precious focus from your practice, as well as compromising the aforementioned “state of readiness.” (I'll get to defining that soon, I promise.)
My point is this: you want to feel STABLE when seated at the piano. So don’t use a chair with wheels; that’s for your computer desk. Stability is the same reason you should NOT use a plushy or excessively padded seat, such as a high-end dining chair (or, if you really want to make me have a conniption, an armchair); the squishy padding causes your sit bones to wobble around as you play. Again, it’s wasted energy. You want to be rooted, stable, like a tree, with your arms like the tree’s limbs bending in the wind. (I’ve reached my quota for one bad metaphor per post. They will stop here. That’s another promise for you.)
So what should you sit on? The obvious answer is: an adjustable piano bench. A bench created expressly for sitting at the piano. If you don’t have one, go buy one. Don’t have the money? A decent bench is around $100. Save up for one. If you’re serious about playing the piano and already have the instrument itself at your disposal, then a bench is a worthwhile investment.
There are two kinds of adjustable benches: the folding benches with notches underneath for adjusting height, and the fancy concert benches with knobs on the sides for adjusting. The benches with knobs are superior, as you can adjust it to literally any height rather than at intervals (music pun!), but the folding bench is just fine if you want a cheaper option.
The State of Readiness
Okay, it’s time to define the “state of readiness.” Before you play, you should be seated at the piano in a way that is at ease, balanced, and prepared — hence “state of readiness.” No part of your body is sagging or slouched, but you’re not holding any excess tension, either. So you are sitting up straight, with shoulders relaxed, at a distance from the piano that makes it easy to play, at a height that is optimal for your body, on a seat where your sit bones feel stable, and with your feet flat on the ground. You could hang out here for a long time, and it feels easy, but you’re not about to take a rest: you are ready to play.
The state of readiness can be compromised by both physical and mental factors. The mental factors are beyond the scope of this article, but the physical factors can be related to bench issues.
How to Sit for Easy Playing
First, sit on the front half of your bench. This facilitates sitting up straight, and allows you to bend your torso forward (from the hips) ever so slightly, without rounding your back. It also makes leaning from side to side easier, which we sometimes have to do when playing at the extreme ranges of the piano, or when crossing one hand over the other.
Now let’s talk about bench height. With your hands on the piano, your elbows should be level with or just above the white keys. This way, the weight is balanced from the elbow to the tip of the finger. As Robert Durso, expert on the Taubman approach (a set of techniques meant to optimize piano playing efficiency and eliminate tension), explains, if you are seated too low, your elbow will take most of the weight; if seated too high, it will be your wrist. It goes without saying that these respective joints will then begin to experience pain.
What about distance from the piano? Almost everyone sits too close to the piano. An old-school way of figuring out how far to be is to make a fist and extend your arm (without bending your elbow) to the fallboard of your piano (or to the back end of the keys, if you have a digital piano). You should be able to keep a straight arm from shoulder to fist when you reach the end of the keys. If you can’t, push your bench further back. This method is effective because it takes into account the length of your arm and torso, which is what's relevant when determining seat distance and height (rather than using your full height as a guide).
If you’re not used to this distance, it might seem far at first. That’s okay. As you get used to it, you’ll find that the extra room you have to move your arms makes playing piano easier.
An additional (and important) element of having a healthy distance between you and the piano is this: you won’t have to twist your hand when playing keys right in front of your body (such as middle C). When you twist your hand (i.e. palm down, but cocking the wrist to one side), you “cut off your hand from your arm” — meaning your hand and arm are no longer working together to play. This creates excess tension, and impedes your ability to lift the hand easily (an essential part of playing piano). Watch Robert Durso demonstrate the difference between a twisted hand and a free hand. (Don’t bother trying it the wrong way, as he demonstrates; it just hurts. All you need to do is know what the difference is.) With the correct distance from the bench, you have more room to keep your arm and hand aligned, and hence play with more freedom and without tension.
Bench height in action: some examples
Let’s take a look at two contrasting uses of the piano bench. Note that this is not a comment on the respective pianists’ musicianship; we are simply observing their bench position and how it affects their technique.
FAILING GRADE: Glenn Gould
I’m wincing just watching this. It looks so uncomfortable. Glenn Gould is seated too low (obviously), so his elbows will be taking the brunt of the weight when he strikes a key. He’s also seated too close to the piano, hemming himself in. If he’s playing the keys right in front of his body, he'll have to cock his wrists to play there — no good. Combine that with the low seating height, playing with bent wrists, and you have a recipe for disaster. It’s no wonder that Gould experienced pain from playing piano towards the end of his life.
HIGH MARKS: Martha Argerich
The queen herself. There are reasons why Martha Argerich is still able to play the piano at a virtuosic level in her 80s. A huge factor is her impeccable technique, but she’s able to execute that technique properly because of her bench position — notice how her elbows are slightly above the white keys, and she’s seated far enough from the piano to easily access its entire breadth and avoid twisting her wrists.
Conclusion: Knowledge Is Power
I hear you asking me, “What gives? No one ever told me any of this about bench height. You, Sir, are a witch!” First of all, I am not so cool as to be a witch. Second of all, it’s an unfortunate reality that many piano teachers leave their students at the point where they get a sound out of the piano, without taking into account HOW they get a sound of the piano. Our fingers are not isolated from the rest of our body. We have to take our entire corpus into account when playing piano. Hence this long and winding article on how to sit at the instrument.
Look, it’s not your fault. If your piano teacher didn’t impart this knowledge to you, or if you are self-taught, you would’ve never known the nuances of seat position. Oddly, much piano knowledge still seems to be passed down in an oral tradition, like it's 1789. Thankfully, the tide is turning on this trend, with many YouTube channels and online resources emphasizing the importance of technique, and attempting to demystify the technical and physical aspects of playing piano. This blog is one such resource.
If you live in the Mississauga area and want some concrete answers on how to play with ease and longevity at the piano, feel free to set up a FREE trial lesson with me. (And find out more about my piano lessons by clicking here.) I look forward to hearing from you!
