[...]We should feel comfortable and flexible. And of course some movements are necessary, such as reaching to either extreme of the keyboard. ( Because of this I prefer a bench to a chair, since there is always room to slide a little bit. ) [...]
I would like to say a couple of words about seating, because that is a question often brought up.
How should we sit?
You will probably get as many answers as there are pianists.
Glenn Gould, for instance, sits almost on the floor; he has to travel with his own chair.
Normally, I would prefer that one sit higher than lower, so that you don't have to climb up, your hands look down on the keyboard, and you have the feeling that you possess the piano.
Of course it depends on body proportions, but if we establish a general rule, it should be that we sit with the forearms inclined towards the piano. We can adjust ourselves to this condition regardless of our proportions.
I would like especially to advise those of you who teach children.
If their feet do not yet reach the floor when they are sitting, you should put something under the feet so that they are not in the air. Because, finally, the whole body participates in playing, not in actual tone production but to receive and resist shocks from playing, and a pianist's position has to be stable.
Question: Do you advocate that the pupil lean slightly toward the piano?
Answer: I find that there are pianists to whom the piano smells good and those to whom it smells terrible. I think we should be as I said--with our body slightly inclined toward the piano; it gives much more resistance. When you do anything--peel potatoes, for instance--you don't do it leaning back.
So I say that should you faint for some reason during your playing, you will fall on the keyboard and not backwards.
Question: How far back do you sit?
Answer: That's a question exclusively of the length of your arms. You shouldn't be so far back that you have to stretch your arms. The forearm and upper arm should be at about a ninety degree angle. I have some students who are so tall that they can't put their knees under the piano--that is a special problem. But usually these people also have long arms to compensate for having to sit farther back.
For reasons such as this, I don't advocate a chair with a back. I like to sit not too solidly on the bench, but more or less on the edge, so that everything is concentrated in front of me.
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