300-year-old finger challenge is causing peoples' brains to go 'haywire'
Topics: Social Media, Viral, Music
Gerrard Kaonga
Featured Image Credit: YouTube/Pianote
Topics: Social Media, Viral, Music
People have been very quickly humbled after realizing they couldn’t do this old piano exercise despite it looking easy.
We've all done it - seen a quick video online and gone, ‘I’m sure I can do that, hold my beer,’ only to fail spectacularly.
Well, the latest clip of this nature has begun circulating on social media and has been frazzling the brains of users who genuinely believed they would nail it the first time.
The exercise or challenge is reportedly 300 years old and used by pianist to improve their finger discipline and dexterity.
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But if you have never played an instrument, don’t feel bad about struggling because the YouTuber’s on the Pianote channel, a page centered around all things piano, struggled when they attempted it.
The challenge works by a person placing all five of their fingers upright on a flat surface and then raising one group while the other stays down on the surface.
So, (1 being the thumb) a person would raise their second and fourth finger while the rest stay down, then switch to raising their thumb, third and pinky finger, while the other two stay down.
When the clip was shared on X on Monday (February 26), users remarked at how surprisingly difficult it could be.
“My brain went haywire trying to raise my ring finger,” one user wrote.
“Just tried it, and my fingers danced like they had a caffeine boost! But seriously, who needs gym when you have ancient piano routines?,” another wrote.
“I can’t move my fingers at all I’m thinking too hard about it,” a third wrote.”
“Damn my brain broke after many attempts,” commented another.
“I can barely handle a regular keyboard, so a 300-year-old finger challenge is definitely out of my league,” joked another.
Some users also explained how they feel it would help piano players as they apply it to playing music.
“This exercise is designed to strengthen and improve finger flexibility, which is crucial for playing complex piano pieces that require independent finger movements,” a user wrote.
“The 300-year-old finger challenge for early piano players - a true test of dexterity and precision. It's fascinating how musical traditions carry forward through time, shaping our understanding of music and performance. Practice makes perfect,”
If you managed it with ease on the first try... well, I simply don’t believe you. But on the chance that I’m wrong, it might be worth looking into playing an instrument.