COURSE SUPPLEMENT

WATCH THE LESSON

ELBOW, ARM, AND TORSO AT TONEBASE.CO

MOTION AND MECHANICS: LESSON 5

BORIS BERMAN – INSTRUCTOR

“When the elbow moves laterally, it moves parallel to the keyboard.”

The elbow has several different functions to play. Its primary

role is to serve as a pivot, or an axis of rotation movement.

It generally stays in the same position helping the fingers and the hand to get
around. When the distance the hand travels becomes too big, the elbow starts
moving laterally, parallel to the keyboard.

Generally speaking, the elbow should

not move vertically, except as a part
of movement involving the arm.
Under no circumstances should it
descend below the keyboard level.

The elbow is often used to perform

shock-absorbing functions.

For this it should be relaxed and not

stuck to the side of the body.
Imagine your elbows are floating as if
you’re in a bathtub.

Watch the lesson at tonebase.co Berman 1

 The arms usually provide passive support.

Arms relatively rarely perform an

active role, mainly in big loud
chords, like in the beginning of
Tchaikovsky’s First Concerto.

Most often, the arms are an

extension of the smaller levers.

Finally, the torso helps transport smaller levers where they

should be playing, moving sideways.

However, the torso

movement is better to be
replaced by the
extension of the arm.

When hands play at

opposite ends of the
keyboard, the torso
comes forward.

When hands play in the

narrow middle area, the
torso moves backward to
prevent “jamming” of
elbows

Watch the lesson at tonebase.co Berman 2

 Brahms Op. 119 No. 4, mm. 1-4

Tchaikovsky Concerto No. 1, 1st mvt, mm. 6-7

Watch the lesson at tonebase.co Berman 3