Sitting Pretty - Is your piano stool the right height?

Are you uncomfortable when you play? Do you always experience annoying niggles, strain and discomfort while you’re practising? Can you feel yourself tensing up and moving poorly around the keyboard? Chances are, a big contributing factor will be the fact that your piano stool is the wrong height!

I’ve got lots of tips for how to get the correct height of your piano stool (or chair). And, for those of you using an office-style swivel chair as your piano seat, I’ve got some additional suggestions.

0:30 Introducing companion Tutorial on improving posture ‘Practising a Pain in the Neck? – Your piano’s music stand could be too low’
0:54 Introduction to best height for piano stool
1:14 Quote from ‘What Every Pianist Needs to Know about the Body’ by Thomas Mark
1:41 Rule of Thumb: height of stool should allow tip of elbow to be on same level as top of the white keys
2:15 Examples of me sitting at varying heights for comparison
3:08 Use something to measure height of stool against
4:05 Suggestions for items to add to stool or chair if the height is not correct
6:24 Discussion on using an office-style swivel chair to sit on at the piano
7:38 Do not swivel!
8:37 Have seat as level as possible
9:20 If the chair has arms – remove them!
9:43 Don’t rest your back against the back of the chair
10:24 Sit on front half of stool
10:39 Concluding Summary

Wanting to take your piano playing skills to the next level? Finding it difficult to progress on your own? The right teacher can make all the difference.

Please visit my website https://trottermusic.com/ to find out more about me, and to get in touch. I’d love to hear from you.

All of my YouTube tutorials can also be found on my ‘Accelerando Piano’ website https://accelerandopiano.com/ along with any resources used in particular videos. Dive in and take a look.