will i ever develop the strength to play the pathetique?

Question

my right hand starts to get this sharp pain about 100 measures into the 3rd movement, and during the 1st movement like the real fast part where you play 1/8 notes and hold the petal (hey its hard to explain!). its the pad of the pointer finger and the muscles leading up the sides of fingers that really sting. the left hand is fine because that doesn't get worked so hard, but the right hand hurts so bad i basically have to stop and just cool off for a couple hours.

am i ever going to get a strong enough hand for this (im 26 years old, so its not a growing thing), or are my joints and muscles just going to get weaker?

Answer 1

I don't like to hear about pain when practicing. It's often not a matter of strenght, but a matter of relaxation and technique. Do you have a teacher or are you doing this on your own?

My impression is that you are over-doing your practice, you are tense, and I'm concerned that you might cause yourself an injury.

Try very slow practice on these painful sections, concentrating on relaxing every finger after its attack. Sometimes we forget to release those fingers which are no longer performing a job -- excess tension. Do not try to get these sections up to speed until you can achieve a relatively easy motion. Pay attention to your shoulder and neck muscles -- they will often be indications of tension elswhere that is causing you to waste energy and motion.

It's really difficult to help without seeing how you approach the piano. I hope this gives you some clues.

Answer 2

before anything else, please keep in mind that each piece of music(piano music it is) requires certain technique and strength that's gained not by blindly forcing or repeating, but by understanding how the physical and musical work together within the structure and development of the piece.
I am not a physician, so I can't give you any medical advice, I can only give you suggestions about your playing technique.

It sounds like you are over stretching/over compensating.

Do you have narrow hands? I am talking about the width of your palm, not the size of your hands. Too many people think that they have to force in order to get the strength they need, while the strength has always been in them just that they have been locking it in by all the tension and forcing. I have a feeling that you are also rather tight in your arms and maybe even your shoulders. Try do this and you will see how much weight your hands have: hold your arms up and drop them right onto the keys without holding back anything. Don't worry, it won't hurt. Imagine how much sound you would have if you can deliver that much weight to your fingers and to the keys?
Pain is always a very clear sign of our body telling you to stop doing something that's hurting you. I seriously think that it is time for you to re-examine how you play the piano. Apparently something is not right. If you can't find a teacher who can help you with this problem, go on this website "feldenkreis resources" and find the tapes/cds taht are designed for musicians/pianists and these are easy movements that you can do at home to improve how you use your body. I had problems with my forearms and feldenkreis method helped me tremendously.
Don't have time to write more but try the feldenkreis method.