How to properly play this piano chord

Question

I am playing 3 keys in following sequence. See attached picture for the fingers i use to press 3 keys

A# A# F A# F A#

I have to keep repeating the above sequence. I use pinky on left A#, index finger on F and thumb on Right F#.

The problem is no matter how hard i try, i can not apply enough pressure on F using index finger because the finger placement is such that i will have to press F key on top of the key where there is very less space and requires harder force. It doesn’t sound fully.

How do i play this sequence properly?!

Answer 1

Your pinky finger and the thumb should be right in front of the Bb (A#) key. Always touch and play the keys as close as possible to your body (attack in front.) Also your fingers are stretched - if you try to bow them (like clawing) you will need less strength. The index is also bowed in the wrong direction, this makes it even longer and so it has to press nearer at the rotation center of the key. Control your wrist too, it looks quite stiff.

Answer 2

Concerning your difficulty applying pressure with your index finger: you could try keeping your hand a bit closer to your body such that the point of contact of your index finger to the F key is closer to your body, giving a larger leverage on the key. Try and see if it helps.

Answer 3

I support @Albrecht's answer but I will try to explain it slightly differently.

Sit at the keyboard at a good height. (Don't play standing up.) If you are in a regular straight-backed chair, you'll probably need to raise it with, for example, a couple of fat phone directories. If you use cushions or pillows, try to choose flat ones, and avoid the rounded kind.

Start by playing the octave comfortably, that is, the low A# and the higher A#, thumb and pinkie. There should be a slight curve in your fingers when you play keyboards. The curve is the type of curve that you would have if you were picking up a glass of water.

Trim your fingernails, so that you can comfortably play neighboring keys with this type of curvature. The fleshy part of your fingertip should be able to come into contact with the keys, without any click sound of a fingernail hitting the key.

Practice playing the alternating A sharps, sometimes as a chord and sometimes as a broken chord (that is, a sequence of notes).

Think of the key on a piano extending into the guts of the piano as a long lever arm. To get maximum leverage with a black note, it's helpful to have your finger in contact with the black key at the very edge of the key (the edge nearest your body).

Try to avoid having unnecessary tension in your fingers, hand, wrist or arm. Ask someone to look at you and let you know if it looks like you are hunching or raising your shoulders at all. If so, let your shoulder relax. If the person notices any clenching in your hand or anywhere else, they should let you know that as well, so you can tell that part of your body that it can relax.

To encourage a relaxed position, it can be helpful to allow a subtle rolling back and forth as you move from pinkie to thumb, to pinkie, to thumb. (I'm trying to describe a slight rotation of the arm.)

To add the F, notice that your index finger will hit the white key in approximately the middle of the key (that is, the middle along the length of the key), and it will be more curved than the pinkie and thumb.

Let us know how this feels. First, work on getting a good hand shape, body position, etc., before you work on your volume.

Answer 4

Just tried it, and can't see a problem! Yes, index needs to be up between the place the black keys are, but that shouldn't be a problem playing that F note. You could slide your elbow left and right a little, but it's still feasible keeping the arm still.

Answer 5

"strong/steady forearm, loose (try floppy) wrists, fingers curved like you're holding an invisible bubble" was the advice my piano teachers gave me, this will "shorten" your fingers so you need less pressure on the keys -- which are levers -- per aparente001's and Albrecht Hügli's answers. Honestly, this is the sort of thing which you can learn much better from an in-person teacher than from text comments on a Q+A site.