The Importance of Posture When Playing Piano

Many things contribute to becoming a well-developed pianist, and a significant component is your posture. Keep reading for the importance of posture when playing piano.

Many children and adults struggle to maintain their posture, whether sitting or standing up. Correct posture isn’t always the most comfortable option, so it makes sense why maintaining it is such a challenge. Thankfully, once your body becomes accustomed to it, it can become second nature to you. Here is why correct posture is important when playing piano.

Relieves Tension

You have likely worked for hours at a time at your desk or computer with a slouched posture only to find when you finally got up, your body was aching. That pain is a result of the poor posture you maintained for hours at a time. Posture is so important when playing piano because it helps relieve tension so you can play for longer periods and move with more precision, smoothness, and expression. 

Neck Alignment

When we play piano, we move our necks quite a lot as we must refer to our sheet music and look down at the keys to ensure we are playing correctly. As a result, we can easily overextend our necks for long periods without even realizing it, which can create pain in the neck. That is why good posture is so important. It locks your body so your neck stays in alignment and doesn’t move forward. 

Neutral Spine

Correct posture aids you in keeping a neutral spine as you play—the significance of a neutral spine is something that shouldn’t be underestimated. A neutral spine position puts the least amount of stress on your neck and back. You might think you must keep your back straight as an arrow, but maintaining that posture can actually be painful. The spine has natural curves, so it is important to learn and teach correct posture when playing piano.

Many things go into creating a successful pianist, and it can easily become overwhelming, but you don’t have to do it all yourself. At Piano Marvel, we have piano learning software to assist you in learning or teaching. Our app is for students of all levels to learn piano in a way that is easy, fun, and exciting.