Abstract
Our goal was to find the organization of finger and arm movements. Six experts and six amateurs were asked to strike two keys alternately with their thumbs and little fingers. Kinematics and the muscle activities of the finger, thumb, and forearm were recorded by a motion capture system and electromyography. The results showed that experts' had greater elbow, lower joint of the thumb, and little finger movements than amateurs. Additionally, we found that experts demonstrated less muscle activity when compared with amateurs. These results indicate that expert pianists enhance the efficiency of their movements by taking advantage of the proximal joint.
