While I was in Osaka (Japan) for vacation earlier this month, I saw something rather interesting at the Yamaha store.

I cannot remember the exact name of the product, but it is something like a finger training board. It is a palm-sized wooden block with rounded nodes on each of its two faces (I think it is four on one face, and three on the other face).

The saleslady demonstrated from the instruction manual how to stretch one's fingers between two nodes. I sort of understood (I spoke very little Japanese) that the training helps to strengthen fingers and widen the span, and that it is suitable for pianists and guitarists. Exactly how, I did not understand

Does anyone have any idea what this product is officially called? I cannot remember what it is called, hence my google searches do not return any relevant images.

Has anyone used it before? Is it any good?

This?

Click on the illustrations to see a larger version showing how to use the board. Apparently you curve your hand over the board and "pluck" at the knobs with your fingers, which must be why it is also recommended for guitarists.

These boards are used by the kind of people who go in for finger-weights and squeeze-balls etc. Whether they are harmful, useless, or worth their weight in gold, I have no idea!

Yes yes, that's the one, all_ears! I saw it in a Yamaha store near Nanba, Osaka. Is it a popular item among Japanese keyboardists? Indeed it looks like a piece of sports equipment...

I have no idea whether these things are popular or not...Viohazard only learns piano as a second instrument, so it's hard to tell, but it hasn't been suggested to him. Guitarists seem to be very tempted by such gadgets, but Viohazard's guitar teacher is against them - feels that overall physical fitness and practice with good hand formation, using the natural strength and weight of your fingers will produce results, while the use of mechanical resistance or weight is an invitation to injury.

But as I said, I don't actually know!

What were you doing in a music shop in Namba, you could have been eating blowfish, or stocking up on Japanese dishes and kitchenware, just for starters!

I would steer well-clear. If you play piano and want to improve the stretch between your fingers, learn CHopin's etudes Op 10 Nos 1, 9, and 11 and take them slowly and gently to begin with. It does not matter if you never get them up to a standard fit for performance, they will still do wonders for your stretch, as well as our sense of keyboard geography.

Oh I had so much Japanese food I have already put on weight I love Japanese food!
My friend and I went for Karaoke too. Couldn't do without music!

I think the music stores in Japan is pretty amazing. There are so many piano scores for those old Japanese dramas that I loved as a teenager. There are even periodicals with simple piano scores... For example, the popular Ponyo anime. I actually bought the piano score for Okuribito, the best Foreign Film at the Oscars. Well, it was a great shopping alternative for me, because my friend was stuck in UniQLO, which did not interest me so much!




Oh I see... thanks for the advice. I always wondered what I can do for my piano playing when I am not at the instrument e.g. when I am on holiday. But I guess I should just relax, and use actual repertoire to improve my technique.

The Japanese always amaze me, because they have gadgets for almost everything, so I was trying to figure out whether their piano training processes are different from the norm