Is Your Bench Position Too HIGH or Too LOW? Tips for Comfort, Leverage, & Back Pain Relief

[@WorstSanta]

Glenn Gould comes to mind when it’s about “custom” playing posture :) thanks for the tips, Josh.

[@frgreen4]

As always, your post is articulate and artistic. Its obvious that your observations and advice are carefully thought out. It’s a rare opportunity for amateurs like myself to receive pearls of wisdom from a teacher and performer of your stature. Thank you for generously providing your content.

[@Alter_Onkel]

Hi Dr. Wright, I recently lowered the keyboard of my beloved (no sarcasm here, it's ideal, as I live in an apartment!) Yamaha P45 Weighted Key piano. It made a huge difference! For years I knew this is necessary for computer and typewriter keyboards (when I left the teaching profession, I changed to my next skill set: secretarial/Administrative assistant-a long story). People develop Carpal Tunnel syndrom from too much typing [keyboarding!] with too high a keyboard placement! As an organist I had never thought of a keyboard being too high or badly positioned: I only raised the organ bench for the sake of playing the pedals! By lowering the Yamaha P45 stand for the keyboard to where it felt good and easy to play, it made a world of difference! Obviously an acoustic or traditional piano is fixed; the bench, however, is what we can adjust. I hope you will include this video also in the set of videos you consider most important! A happy, healthy and blessed new year 2025 to you, Dr. Kindsey, Lola and James (he and I share a first name; I've just had it longer!😊) Jim (James Kramer Pittsburgh, PA, USA

[@radmilamikulic1290]

Viel lieben Dank für ihre Mühe!!!

[@ds61821]

Hey, Ben Laude does interviews with the Miami Chopin contestants. He asked the 2 pianists he interviewed about how high they like to sit. Oliver Moore said he liked to sit lower and Ben said he did too. But recently in an interview Ben said he has shoulder and upper back issues so maybe he should revisit bench height.

[@GooseGooseDuck797]

This is so real. I’m around 15 years experience in piano playing now and this last year I’ve been experimenting with stool height. I’m actually the same size and height as you it seems. If you wouldn’t mind, could you describe how high up the stall is for you on a regular day practicing. Also, when I practice, I get slightly lazy and sit more “comfortably” on the bench eg sitting on it like it’s a sofa lol. But when performing, I’ll sit in a very “proper/traditional” way. Anyway, tangent over :))

[@cadriver2570]

Working at a keyboard is really tough too. Balancing the instrument stand height with the bench, and the music rest. I'm really struggling to find a music rest that is close to an acoustic piano. Keyboards typically have them way too far back.

[@pjac1185]

i like my bench to be slightly higher so as to reduce my tendency to raise my shoulders - a habit from my long time in front of the computer using the mouse

[@Pianorockstar_]

I have my grandma’s original piano bench around 80 years, is it best to not overload the piano bench with heavier piano books in this situation?