Weighing In On Weighted Action

While I loved the Rhodes, I noticed that my hands and fingers quickly started aching from playing it. How could this be? I had been classically trained on piano, and my chops were in shape, or so I thought. It turns out that I was playing the Rhodes in a different — and more detrimental — way than I was playing the acoustic piano. Upon reflection, here are a few reasons behind it: 1) The action is heavy, so naturally I wanted to play harder. Trying to exert more force created tension in my fingers, wrists, and forearms. 2) The instrument had a more limited dynamic range than a piano, so I tried subconsciously to get another level of loudness, therefore playing harder. 3) I didn’t always have enough of the Rhodes in my monitor, or my amp wasn’t powerful enough, so I — you guessed it — played harder.

Notice the common thread? Even with the power of amplification on your side, there is a tendency to play the Rhodes or other weighted-action keyboards with a technique that is hard enough to hurt you, while not giving you the desired result of added volume. Here are some tips for playing comfortably in these situations.

Play relaxed. You can play with excitement and energy and have your hands relaxed and flowing at the same time. Imagine that each hand is holding a softball, with a slight curve to the fingers. If you dig in, make sure the fingertips have support, and don’t cave in under the power of your hands or forearms.

Have amp volume to spare. You don’t have to crank it right away, but make sure that your amp is nearby, and the speaker is off the floor, or angled upwards.

Try these exercises. Examples 1 and 2 show some easy exercises that help build chops and also help remind you to avoid tension. Remember to relax whenever you see any rests in the exercises.