Hand tenses up, is this normal/avoidable?

[Claiken]

im doing a piece rite now which involves alot of going from D-E-F#-E-D... my hand tenses up so much when i do that... i can hardly do ti as it as but the tenseness probably isnt helping.... anyway to help this??

[amhso]

relax. when you play notes you have to relax your fingers/arms. when you get tense and stiff you move slower and less smoothly. just keep playing the notes. when you first start flute, you notice how when you learn your first notes and struggle to find the keys and right fingers, your hands press the keys hard? It usually goes away over time.