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I think typing efficiently on a keyboard is akin to playing the piano with good technique. I often see musicians playing piano (or keyboard synths) with impro
by bbx 6y ago
I think typing efficiently on a keyboard is akin to playing the piano with good technique.
I often see musicians playing piano (or keyboard synths) with improprer technique. They move their wrist a lot, bend their finger backwards to apply pressure, and tense their fingers by laying them flat. This causes stress in the motion and fatigue over time.
All (or most) the pressing power should come from the tip and the phalanges (?). You use each finger like its own little hammer. It requires a bit of training but not much really. You just need to strengthen those tiny muscles over time by consciously moving the finger only.
Of course the rest of the hand can move a bit but it shouldn’t tense any muscle at all. The wrist should only hover around the piano/keyboard to move closer to the target keys. And the rest of the arm and shoulder should of course not move or tense at all.
If you can play the piano like this, you can type on a keyboard the same way. No tension in the hand. Only a bit in the finger when it’s pressing, but none otherwise. As a result, you’ll likely prefer like me keyboards with very low travel. I have the Apple Mac keyboard which has a slight angle and very low travel. It’s very easy to “hammer” the keys with low effort. I’ve never had any wrist pain in 20 years of being both a musician and a developer.
- block_dagger 6y agoPiano player and programmer here. I largely agree, although I haven’t avoided injury in my 20 years, just learned to manage it.
- robotmay 6y agoSimilar experience here, and in fact I use a floating typing style more akin to playing a piano instead of sitting on the home row. I actually did end up with bad RSI for a year, however, caused by typing on a laptop, but I now realise that was due to the extension of my arms. For a while I used Workman on an Ergodox keyboard, and it was very nice. But I learnt that I actually love QWERTY when I type in my floating style, and ultimately moved back to it and a Topre keyboard instead (which is a nice mid-point between non-mechanical and mechanical boards). I've just taken the piano back up after 18 years, and so far don't seem to be overly straining myself, so I'm hopefully on the right track with my technique. Years of playing diatonic accordion have hopefully used many of the same muscles!