Why Can’t “Keep Your Fingers Close to the Keys” Be a Universal Rule?

Adult learners are often told not to lift their fingers too high. This can correct exaggerated movement, but it should not become a fixed posture in which the fingers must always cling to the key surface. Piano touch includes both pressed touch, beginning in contact with the key, and struck touch, approaching from above; these involve different joint velocities and different beginnings to the sound. The useful height depends on tempo, dynamics, articulation and the movement that follows.

Motion-capture research found that when pianists played the same melodies faster, peak finger height before a keystroke increased, with the high point often occurring about one note before the key was depressed. The researchers argued that this was not simply a way to produce more volume; tactile feedback may also help preserve timing accuracy at speed. Another study of extremely rapid five-finger playing found that movement efficiency was associated with precision of timing and force. Efficiency did not mean that every joint remained still, but that the combined movement avoided purposeless detours.

“Stay close to the keys” is therefore most useful as a question about function, not a rule measured in centimetres. If a finger rises dramatically without preparing an accent, articulation, tempo or positional change, the movement may be only tension or habit. But forcing every finger low can also be inefficient if the next note cannot be prepared in time. In slow practice, observe whether the lift changes the sound, assists the next attack or makes neighbouring fingers stiffen. Sound and timing need to be stable; finger height should remain adaptable.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21731615/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23300946/
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2919541/