The thumb seems to be the most awkward finger for my beginner students to play with. At first, some students will make a fist and try to play a key with the very tip of the thumb or they will try to use the whole side of the thumb to play a key. One of my students has even started using her second finger to help the thumb play a note! To counteract this, I have tried to create exercises for the thumb and second finger in which the hand's arch keeps a 'C shape'. I have also tried placing a dot on the side tip of the thumb, staging a 'hi-five' for the thumb to make with the key. If anyone has any other tips or exercises for the thumb for beginners, they would be greatly appreciated!
In my own playing, I have the tendency to, as my piano teacher says, 'hail a cab' with my thumb. I sometimes stick my thumb outwards instead of keeping it slightly curved towards the other fingers. My teacher suggested that in my spare time, I should try to place my thumb inside of a closed fist, reinforcing the curved shape. The thumb also has the tendency to overemphasize the notes that it plays. 'Shadowing' the notes that the thumb plays can help prevent accentuation. It is tricky at first to not play the thumb's notes in practice but the end result is usually fantastic!
The February MTNA journal has an interesting article about the thumb and lists a few different exercises that can be done to strengthen and realize the muscles of the thumb. One exercise, called 'thumb push-ups', has the thumb lay underneath the hand and across the palm. By pressing the thumb downwards, this causing the hand to move upwards, or do a 'thumb push-up'. It was fun to try all the different exercises and now, even as I am typing, I am trying to feel the muscles being used!
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