I hear a lot of discussion about the HEIGHT of where one should sit at the piano but seldom do I hear about the Width or which parallel point one should face the keys. After thinking that the only reason I felt uncomfortable was the height of my bench, I made numerous adjustments until after several months I thought I had finally found the right height for my bench. But in spite of that I still felt quite uncomfortable. It finally dawned on me that it was in fact not so much the height of my bench but the point where I faced the keys that was the problem. I always assumed that while the height is something that you needed to adjust and find the comfort level, the place where you place the bench is fixed, like some kind of a religious commandment, THE MIDDLE C. I heard someone once discuss actually seating a bit above that, the D above the MC, but that’s as far as that went. It was like it was written in stone from some ancient prophet, your belly button must be perfectly aligned with the sacred MC. Well, who was I to question such unchallenged wisdom.
A few nights ago I decided, like Adam, to commit the original sin; I moved my bench into forbidden territory. Yes, I took the plunge and moved my seat nearly a half a foot to the left. WOW!!! I could not believe it. I immediately felt the difference. My right hand did not feel so cramped any longer. My speed and timing improved considerably, and I most importantly I did not feel as tired and sore after a session. I nearly kicked myself for not thinking this earlier.

Admittedly, I have to lean a little bit further to the right for the higher notes, and the left hand my be feel crowded when playing notes in a higher register but overall, it seem I have made the right decision (for now)

Does anyone else have any particular preference on where to seat parallel wise? Am I off the kilt? Do you think there are ups and downs to this in the long run (no pun intended?)

Thank you

Andrew

I get lost if I'm more than an octave out, but otherwise I can't say it really bothers me... What I can't do is play standing up! I don't see why it should cause any problems, but then I'm not much of a pianist...

Yes, I tend to sit in front of the octave which ends in middle C, i.e. about half an octave to the left of middle C. I just find that position the most comfortable for me

What you don't mention is how far back you sit?
When you talked of your RH feeling cramped I wondered whether this might be stiing a little close.
Have you tried moving back a little too (or instead)?

Yes I would always say you should sit opposite middle CD generally - and I agree with sbhoa's query - feeling "cramped" is possibly more likely due to sitting too close. The arms need a lot of space in front of you for good freedom of movement. Generally speaking, you should be able to cross your LH across yourself to play the very top note on the piano, and your RH across yourself to play the very bottom note without feeling cramped at all....the edge of your knees as a general guideline should only just be under the edge of the piano....

When I go home I'll investigate whether I'm the right distance away from the keyboard. There are times when I need to sit back
a bit more when I have to use my right hand below middle C.

But I've noticed that my muscles are different on the different sides of the body (I look completely normal in case you're
wondering ) and that scales at the bottom of the keyboard need less conscious adjustment e.g. lean of body etc than scales at the top.

I would think it was normal for one side to be stronger and more flexible than the other in any event.

[size=3]Well, that's a good point, but I did look into that. I suppose the first thing you do when sitting at the piano is adjust the distance from the keys (the forward/backward portion), then the vertical (the up/down portion), and then the horizontal (the left/right portion). The problem has been that, at least in my case, I always adjusted the first two, but assumed that the left/right portion was fixed, that is, facing the MC. At least that’s what every book tells you. Perhaps the lesson here is not to believe in dogmas.

I've never ever questioned what I was taught to do - i.e. sit with my navel directly opposite the lock on the piano keyboard, i.e. usually D/E just above middle C. This has always worked for me, but I suppose I could try to sit lower down as an experiment.

LR