Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Adult Beginners Forum cramp, pain in left hand

hi guys, im a relatively new piano player, practicing about a year, ive had about twenty 30min lessons, teaching myself now as can read notes.. i just found this site on google..
im finding my left hand is tiring towards the end of comptine d'un autre été, like a pain in the centre of left hand, any tips to help me, ive tried moving back a bit from the piano and trying to relax and use more wrist but still sore, im struggle to finish the piece towards the end when it goes up an octave... cheers

This is not a beginner piece. The notes are simple but you have to have very good relaxed technique to handle it. One practice tip you can use is to play just one beat at a time and then shake your hand between each. So you play the first E octave and the B in one movement, then shake your hand, then play the next one etc. Make sure the wrist is very supple and don't hold your hand open between the octaves. But if you're a beginner you can hurt yourself by playing this piece with bad technique and I don't recommend that you continue playing it.

Hi thank you for the reply, I’ll give ur tip a try after lunch, I’m actually quiet good at playing it, apart from the cramping in left hand , I’m prob closer to 18 months playing looking back at the first date of my lesson,

Comptine is rather famous as a piece that can give you pain in your hands, and I would only play it when guided by a teacher. The exercises below are very nice for your hands.

Ahhh yes - the dreaded "Amelie claw" - listen to your hands and don't overdo it - try to relax - it gets easier.

HOW you use your wrist is as important as HOW MUCH you use it.
People who are Taubman trained rotate the wrist differently than people who worked with Peter Feuchtwanger (yours truly among the second group).
IMO the problem comes when not relaxing the hand in between stretches.
There are specific exercises PF prescribed to cultivate the opening and closing of the hand around stretches including the ability to keep the middle of the hand fixed while stretching to either side or simultaneously to both sides before returning to "neutral".
FWIW - if you stand with your arms hanging down and let your hands alone, they will assume what is (currently) "neutral" position for you. Working a piece like "comptine..." I would encourage you to release and return your hand to that neutral position in between each stretch. Do this slowly, just one hand at a time. Eventually the stretches and contractions become automatic, and you play with much less tension.
Can this be done without a teacher? Maybe.
My opinion; my experience. YMMV.