Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy (The Nutcracker)

One of the most important things you can do as you learn piano to avoid injury and increase your quality of play is to make a special effort to keep your wrists relaxed and free to strain. The bridge of the hand should be firm and gently rounded but the wrist should be relaxed and supple.

You will notice that your fifth and fourth fingers are weaker and less reliable than the rest of the hand. They will take more time to train, and if you are a beginner, they will be especially frustrating to work with. Don't strain or push - be patient and work with them diligently and tactfully, and they will catch up.

The two most important tools you can use to improve the efficiency of your practice is the speed at which you practice a section, and in the manner in which you divide up the piece you are working on. You must work with the piece in fragments before you stitch the fragments up to make a whole. The sections of the piece as fragments to work on has to be strategically and intelligently chosen. Once you have selected a fragment to practice, you should be flexible with your tempo. If it is a difficult section, begin practicing it at a slow tempo to allow your brain to make accurate and definitive connections. As you progress with the piece, begin to work at increasingly faster tempos. If you are interested in understanding more deeply these systems of practice, I made a series called 'Blueprint for Perfect Technique' which dives deeper into these principles.