Piano Sitting Technique 
When seated at the piano you should be able to perfectly balance your arms and hands without playing the notes or feeling any tension at all.
- Fingers should be naturally curved, playing on the tips of the fingers or fleshy part next to your fingernails (Naturally keep your fingernails trimmed).
- You should form a "paw". Knuckles should not be caved in or too high. Knuckles could be fairly flat, but just slightly up, like a bridge. The same with the wrists and elbows.
- Wrists should be even with the white keys, never too high or low.
- Elbows should be out from the body, allowing the weight of your arm to travel freely to your wrists and allowing for horizontal movement across the keys.
- Always sit up straight, shoulders back, create a small arch in the middle of your back. Imagine a string going up through the center of your body, out of your head. Your pelvic bone slightly turned in towards the piano.
- You should sit far enough from the piano so that your elbows are slightly towards the front of your chest.
- Sit no more than one half to three quarters on the bench. Both feet flat on the floor or pedals.
- When each part of your body is doing its job, playing is effortless. If it doesn’t feel good and wonderful, it is wrong. Going to the extreme range of motion is the main cause of most performance injuries.
Updated Friday August 20, 2010