I included some drawings to illustrate what I mean. If it's still unclear, I will try and take a picture to show the situation.
I just started learning piano this year by following some lessons online. One of them emphasised on how important it was to have the curved fingers shape as if you are holding a round object or have your hands on your knees.
Although getting my hand into the correct shape is simple enough, in practice I can't do it because of the fingernail hitting the key before my finger does. Since I wanted to feel the touch of the key, I unconsciously started shifting my fingers into pressing the keys with my fingerprint instead (I don't know whether or not that still counts as pressing with the tip of the finger).
The shape my fingers are supposed to take:
The shape my fingers started taking after practicing for a while:
Up until now, I only practiced simplified short musics so I didn't have much trouble and kept pressing the keys like that. From what little I could read, having fingernails is at most cumbersome but does not prevent practicing piano.
However, after practicing Hanon exercise No. 1 for a few dozen minutes, I realised that I was feeling fatigue on various area depending on the situation (sometimes the middle of the hand, sometimes the wrist, sometimes somewhere along the forearm). Upon practicing it a lot, I sometimes realise that my arms are dropping below the height of the piano keys (which means my hands are on the same level as the keys instead of above). That, and the fatigue also makes me press the keys out of rhythm too when I try to play faster.
Since I read somewhere that the body usually feels when something is wrong, and I have no private teacher, I could only make hypothesis of what I think it means:
- Feeling fatigue after practicing only means I should take a break.
- Since it's a digital piano with simulated action, I just have to practice until my fingers are strong enough.
- I am doing something wrong and the fatigue happens much faster than it should.
- It could become a Repetitive Strain Injury if I force myself too much, considering I already spend the whole day on a computer as a techie.
Is it a bad practice if I still try to learn piano by pressing the keys like that?