5.11 A student's demonstration on minimising hand movement in moving between white and black keys and optimising palm release

This video showcases the development of a student-led learning environment, where learners take active ownership of their progress by leading activities, sharing techniques, and creating resources. The clip highlights a student prioritising technical autonomy and spatial awareness as she produces a peer-to-peer video tutorial on ergonomic efficiency.She demonstrates how to minimise extraneous hand movement when transitioning between white and black keys. By incorporating palm-releasing techniques—relaxing the palm to allow for natural, fluid adjustments rather than rigid gripping—and reducing exaggerated forward-back and up-down motions when possible, she emphasises the piano’s topography. This encourages purposeful, adaptive movement over static, fixed positions. Such an approach promotes economy of motion, reduces tension, and enhances accuracy during leaps or black-key passages. These foundations are vital when progressing to advanced repertoire, where inefficient, repetitive movements across black-and-white key patterns can otherwise lead to musculoskeletal strain and fatigue, especially in the forearm, wrist, and hand.This video forms part of a broader research project investigating the development of coordinated movement in piano performance, with applications in piano pedagogy, injury prevention, and performance enhancement.