Scarlatti

I've finally accomplished a goal of mine (relating to piano), and that is to play an entire piece by memory. I just relearned Scarlatti's Sonata K531. It's not without its flaws, but it's okay. I played this 18 years ago in my senior recital and it came back pretty quickly. Yesterday, I tried to record myself with my phone. I was a little alarmed while watching it back and seeing how terrible my fingers and hands look. I don't think I've always played with *such* collapsed fingers and collapsed hand-arch (knuckle bridge). I know that I have weird joints. All of my joints in my body are hyper-extended and this creates challenges for me. In ballet, I had to compensate for this all the time. In piano, I just let my hands and fingers do what they will. I think perhaps that I currently lack strength in my hands and that maybe as I gain strength through practice, my technique (and hand/finger position) will get better. I know that I use an awful lot of extra energy while playing. Lately, I find that I even get tense in my face/jaw while playing demanding passages. I really think this will go away as I get stronger. Reading articles online about collapsed joints, I am comforted. Everyone's physiology is different. Maybe I don't have to have the perfect, ideal hand position in order to play well. I like the idea of accepting how I am built and working with what I have. We'll see what happens as I continue to practice.