Today I want to talk about the “stiff pinky finger”. While this term would leave most people scratching their heads, if you’ve taught piano for a while you’ll know exactly what I am talking about. I’m betting the stiff pinky finger is something you see pop up again and again! ‘scuze the pun!
But If you are a new teacher (or are wondering what I am talking about), a “stiff 5 finger” looks like this:
Typically, the first four fingers of your students’ hands are shaped correctly, but the 5 finger is not. It either assumes this stiff position immediately or gradually rises to this position as your student plays.
In your quest to help students find natural and relaxed hand shapes on the piano, the “stiff 5 finger” is something you should fix early… before it becomes a habit that causes unnecessary tension in your students’ hands.
The good news? It’s easy to fix. The even better news? It’s really fun to fix. The amazing news? We’re sharing three videos below that demonstrate my favorite “stiff pinky finger fixes”!
Try These Piano Student “5 Finger Fixes”
Check out the videos below for a visual guide to training your piano students to include their 5 fingers in their rounded hand positions. Before working on any aspect of technique, always ensure that your students are the correct distance from your piano and at the correct height on your bench.
When I first started doing these 5 Finger Fixes with my students, one little guy shouted out “Hey! My hand looks like a hermit crab!”. I agreed, and so now all of my 5 Finger Fixes have adopted a “Crabby Theme”. If you don’t live by the ocean, google “hermit crab” to see what I’m referring to 😉
Exercise 1
Exercise 2
Exercise 3
Written instructions on how to do these exercises can be found in the post we wrote on this topic several years ago.
Piano Teaching Video Demos Galore
Want to see more piano teaching tips on video? Check out our some of our previous video posts here:
The Amazing Fingercise Cup: A DIY Tool For Fixing Collapsing Finger Joint.
A Super Swirly Trick To Help Teach Expressive Piano Playing
A Video That Will Turn Your Piano Students Into Sight Reading Superstars
Thanks for these awesome exercises, Andrea! I will start using these with students today!
Hi Jennifer – you’re welcome! Hope they help -it’s a really common problem but it is fixable 🙂
Just this week I addressed this very issue with TWO of my students-!this is so timely!! Thank you for sharing!
Don’t you love it when the timing is perfect!? 🙂 Thanks for reading Carolyn!
Love these suggestions! Need the “sifting sand” one the most!
Hi Mary – the sifting sand one is very similar to what we use the fingercise cup for. Have you checked that one out yet? https://www.teachpianotoday.com/2015/03/09/the-amazing-fingercise-cup-a-diy-tool-for-fixing-your-piano-students-collapsing-finger-joints/
Nice tips on a small finger that can cause big problems!
Great little exercises. I show my students little things like this, but never actually turn them into an exercises. Thanks for the extra step! 🙂
These are fabulous. Thank you!
Love these tips! Thanks for sharing the videos!
These are wonderful exercises! So helpful. Thank you!
Like your tips and videos — thanks! =)
Great tips! Thank you so much! Do these work for those flat fifth fingers too?
Hi Karen – they should! These all encourage that natural rounded shape. #2 in particular would probably help the most if it’s a flat finger you’re working with as that curving action would help.
I can’t do the first hermit crab with my hands, my middle finger bends too. O_o
I will be sending the other two videos to my piano student though! He has stiff fingers and I’m concerned that he is too tense!
If you are left handed the hermit crab should probably be done with the left hand.
I have a student that curls the pinky finger like a snail shell. Any ideas on how to keep it relaxed?
Hi Carolyn – have you tried our “Button Glove” idea? https://www.teachpianotoday.com/2016/04/14/the-button-glove-a-diy-tool-to-improve-hand-position-in-young-piano-students/
Oh my! I’M the one who has always had a stiff flying 5th finger! Nothing has permanently helped yet – I’m going to try these myself!
Would love to hear if it works for you Helen! 🙂
Thanks for these videos! I’ve been incorporating these 3 warm ups in lessons for a while now with my younger/ beginner students. It’s a great warm up and also reinforces proper hand position in pieces we play later on in our lesson. The kids love crabby crawl finger warm ups!
Excellent, excellent!!! This is stopping straight “paddle-oar” fingers in their tracks. Thank YOU!!
FAVOR: will you please repost the LETTER to parents of students who need to practice? I got ready to select it and print and I accidentally deleted the whole article.
: ( I wanted to send it out this week as a swap for giving a “treat” NEXT week if they do the “trick” and read it with their parents THIS week.
Thank you so much!
I love these videos-all wonderful ideas. I think we’ve all had students that responded with simple exercises, but these are 3 brand new ideas that I can try. Thanks so much!!
At the present moment left pinkie goes up.
Any idea why we have this problem?
It’s common in both hands – these tips will help fix it 🙂 Usually it’s just re-training the finger-brain connection while getting rid of excess tension.