looking at hands when playing

[SisterCM]

When playing or practicng piano when should you look down at your hands, and when you shouldn't, and how do you keep from losing your place when you do?

[under13]

I cant ever think of a time where you should be looking at you hands.

[SirTJ]

I look down at my hands when practicing to get a mental image of what I'm playing. It helps to memorize chord shapes and such. Not so much during a service, though (unless it's in front of a big crowd and I'm nervous  ).

[under13]

(unless it's in front of a big crowd and I'm nervous  ).

That was me yesterday

[SisterCM]

I cant ever think of a time where you should be looking at you hands.

how do you break the habit of looking at your hands?

[cathymerideth]

I often find myself looking and not looking. It mainly depends on what key I am in, or how comfortable I am with a particular song or worship chords.

[under13]

how do you break the habit of looking at your hands?

Practice in the dark. Or if you are reading music; just force yourself to not look down. 

[SisterCM]

Practice in the dark. Or if you are reading music; just force yourself to not look down. 

ok, will do!

practice in the dark, now that would be interesting. 

[organman88]

When playing or practicng piano when should you look down at your hands, and when you shouldn't, and how do you keep from losing your place when you do?

almost never playing live unless your changing a setting or something like that and to be able to play without looking just comes from experience at the piano not really playing it but from the visual side

[SisterCM]

almost never playing live unless your changing a setting or something like that and to be able to play without looking just comes from experience at the piano not really playing it but from the visual side

so you are saying that it will get better as i get more comfortable with the board?

[under13]

so you are saying that it will get better as i get more comfortable with the board?

Thats exactly it.

[SisterCM]

Thats exactly it.

so practice is the key!  Practice make better.

[violist2009]

Aye practice makes perfect. I tend to look only during huge chord changes and the like or if I am playing by ear so I can better visualize what I'm doing.

I took the hard way of training myself not to look. xD I would actually draw a picture of a keyboard in my mind and then visualize my hands playing in the right places. Yes i'm weird but hey it worked.

But ya anyway its really your preference. If you ever take classical lessons/play classical music a lot then you should basically never look at your hands because well...with classical that's not where the music is...in that genre its on the page(classically trained here xD so hard to switch to gospel style after playing endless nocturnes for so long)...But when playing by ear and not really reading music then i suppose its ok?

But again I think that its just preference.

Oh and being a Violist(if you don't know what a Viola is its basically the red-headed step child of the violin basically instead of being a soprano instrument its an alto instrument. It dosen't have a high "E" string(violin string tuning from high to low is E,A,D,G) a Viola has a low "C" string making its tuning A,D,G,C) But anyway back on topic now...to keep from losing your place you really just have to memorize the next few bars of what you are playing. So it takes you being able to read and remember at a glance.

But the bottom line is practice practice practice...It will come in time.

God Bless
Violist2009

[T-Block]

Some may not agree wit what I'm about to say, but honestly it's up to you SisterCM.  If you feel comfortable looking down at your hands, DO IT.  I look at my hands all the time to stay focused on what I'm playing.  I look up occasionally to watch for signals from the singers or leaders, but most of the time I'm focused on what I'm doing.

It's not because I'm nervous or because I don't know the board, it's just my way of playing.  Many times as I'm looking down, i'm scanning the board deciding when I want to switch to a higher or lower inversion, when I want to add in runs or what not.  My mind is always thinking ahead about my next move, and my eyes scan the board so I will know where to go to get the sound that's in my head. That's just me though. 

If you truly want to not look down at your hands as much, then u must practice not looking down.  Blindfolds and playing in the dark work great. After you've practiced, put it into action during service or wherever.

Even people who read music will glance down at their hands occasionally when there's a big jump or when going to another key, etc.  The only people who don't look down are the blind people (not trying to be mean).

[SisterCM]

Thanks everyone for your advice.  Now I have to make a decision.

[themidiroom]

Some may not agree wit what I'm about to say, but honestly it's up to you SisterCM.  If you feel comfortable looking down at your hands, DO IT. 

I see pros do it all the time.  As long as it doesn't take away from what you do, then go with it.  I have played with musicians that can't look away long enough to get cues so that's not cool.

[Fenix]

Oh i look down at my hands when i am playing the piano. Of course i try not to do this often so that i can watch out for cues. However if it is a difficult song then i will definitely look at my hands to get the next chord change.

I guess it depends.