Hand/wrist exercises for piano playing

Russinating · 2 Dec 2013 at 21:38

I'm a very beginner pianist and my wrist/forearm absolutely kills after even just a few minutes. It makes practicing quite difficult and even painful! What can I do to strengthen or stretch these muscles?

Oh and in before ****.

EndlessSky · 2 Dec 2013 at 21:41

Powerball is fabulous for this once you get the knack.

Vonhelmet · 2 Dec 2013 at 21:53

You can get finger grippy exercisey things from music shops. They're good for pianists and guitarists, probably trumpeters and who knows what else.

Something like this, if a random ebay link will work for you.

arty · 3 Dec 2013 at 18:36

Loosen up. If you're in pain it's because you're not relaxing, or your posture is wrong. If you're having lessons then ask your teacher to help you out with your seating position (assuming you've not already done this).

If you're a beginner you shouldn't really be playing from your forearms anyway, and your wrists should be relaxed. As you move to more demanding music these will strengthen naturally and it's unlikely you'll need any gadgets, unless you have other problems (RSI, arthritis etc.).