I can just stretch an octive so long as my hand is flat - fingers not curled much. On the white keys this means I'm limited to touching the near-side edges of the keys. The three fingers in the middle are not very mobile in this position. Some pieces have chords that require spanning an octive and also using those middle three fingers for other keys. It's either darned awkward of physically impossible for me. Sadly, I'm afraid that a lot of piano work will always be "out of reach" for me....Pun intended.

I don't suppose those male enhancement pills work on fingers? Maybe tying lead weights to my fingers will stretch them out. I wonder if a finger lengthening prosthetic has ever been tried. Is there a way to minimize this problem I don't know about?

Hey, Ludwig -

Yeah, there's a lot of us hand-span challenged folks around I just posted in another thread that I'm busy figuring out how to cheat on some of the octaves in a Scott Joplin piece so that it still sounds good but I can actually play it at speed :\

So, that's my solution. Cheat

Howsomever, my hands *have* gotten more flexible and capable of stretching as I've played thru the years, and now an octave in my left is fairly comfortable, not as much so in my right. Like you, I have to hang off the near edge of the white keys, and playing chromatically, white key octave to black key octave, is a little further for me than it would be if I could play the white key octaves from the top of the keys. So for fast passages - I cheat. I use only the bass note.

Other folks, who play classical, will have some other suggestions for you, but I think many of them with small hands have worked out ways to play some of those pieces that you might fear are out of your reach, and they'll chime in.

Cathy

Just get one of those.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/videos/2005/1001-perfectfit_piano.htm

Luwig,
How long have you been playing, and what level are you playing at? There is repertoire that can help you stretch your hand span so that an octave can at least be more comfortable. That is generally all you need anyways. Some older pieces from Romantic period and earlier (written on pianos whose keys were smaller) might ask for more than an octave, but you can always redistribute so that the other hand plays one of the notes, or you decide to drop one. No big deal. You work with what you have to the best of your abilities. That's all anyone can ask.

I have the same problem as yours.
I've been practicing Canon in D for a month,
finally, I damaged my left baby finger(5th one) playing the piano.
Now I've been having a pain on the outside of my 5th finger.
I can't play the piano until it heals but I don't know what to do for healing it.

Here's the company that makes reduced size piano keyboards:
http://www.steinbuhler.com/

Like Cathy said there are a few options:
- First off, the more you play, the more flexible you become and this can increase your ability to play larger stretches.
- Rolling chords is another option.
- Playing notes with the other hand when possible.
- Least desirable, but still an option, is to drop notes altogether.

There have been several other discussions about hand size.

Rich

I am either avoid those "out-of-reach" music or cheat. And when it doesn't work out well I turn to Bach for comfort. (well...I know I am really not helping. I am just a beginner, by the way.)

Be careful with those weights. They might make your arms longer instead.


TinyHands

Make careful choices in the music you select and if the piece is something you absolutely positively must play then play the most important harmonic notes in the chord or passage. Most importantly enjoy making the most wonderful music you can with the hands you were given.

Dr. J - the more you play the better your day - and the more flexible your hands

The guy in this video has small hands ... and he can play Rachmaninoff with ease!



With a little help from his friend.

I also have small hands that can only just reach an octave by hitting the edges of the keys, but I wouldn't really say that I'm "limited" by it. I mean, yes, it's dedinitely not easy or comfortable when playing octaves or huge chords, but that doesn't stop me from tackling and playing pieces that have lots of octaves or huge chords, though sometimes I'm forced to drop a note in a chord because my hand is just too small to play it properly at the desired speed. I seem to manage alright, although I do wish I have bigger hands.

Small hands are not only an obstacle with huge chords or intervals but also when it comes to playing not-so-big reaches in a relaxed way. I CAN get pretty much everything an octave or smaller but still my teacher can do it easier because his hand is not pre-stretched. I feel I have to release extra tension than he does on these occasions if that makes sense.

However, there is no use complaining - I have to work with what I've been given by mother nature. Which means: being quick, being creative and using the work-arounds already mentioned.
Hey, and my fingers will never get stuck between two black keys ...

i have very normal sized hands...so i hv nvr encountered this problem..my right hand can reach 10keys but only at the edge of the key. However,when i was younger...i noticed that my hands could reach more notes when i practised songs which required me to stretch my fingers.i'm not sure whether this only applies to kids but maybe if u keep practising songs with notes u hv trouble reaching, it'll solve your problem?

Count me in for the Small Hands Team.

At the moment that doesn't worry me too much. There are music within my hand span enough to fill 50 lifetimes (my own, at least).

I also have small hands, and I also cheat. Cheating is an art. Sometimes you simplify chords, sometimes you stagger them, sometimes you take it with the other hand. It's just being opportunistic.

I also take an octave with my hands down, not over the keys. Start slow, work up speed. What happens is the hands have further to travel (e.g.to get to a black octave), but they get better at travelling. Accurately.

So I can play a Joplin rags, with parallel octaves, but what I can't do is oactaves quickly in the RH if I also need to get finger 2 in to play the 3rd (the Entertainer has a lot of that). I'm sure I could train my hand to do it if I really wanted.

Meanwhile, don't ever once feel sorry for yourself. If you ever find yourself going down the self-pity route, just take up guitar. Then you will learn the true meaning of 'an awkward stretch'.

Yes, those are the ones that are not a possibility for me. The way I do it is to play them as 6ths, and leave out the bottom of the octave, on the theory that in this case it's the harmony that is more important to the sound of the piece. But I've also decided to do only the upper thirds in the right hand rather than the octave with thirds on top, because it took me a couple of years to even get to the place I could do octaves in the left for oom-pahs, and while I'm willing to keep working on the octaves, I'm not willing to put off playing the piece until I can do them. So maybe some day, before I die, I'll be able to play them, in the meantime I think I'll still cheat

I think if I had been playing all along from when I was 15 it might be more of a possibility in less time, but that 35 years off. . .

Cathy

Doing them as 6ths is a good compromise. You lose a little, compared to the 'real' thing, but not a lot, and I don't think it's worth all the duff notes that I get if I go beyond my capabilities.

I remember struggling with the Revolutionary, many years ago, and someone told me that Listz did it with octaves in the left hand. Good for him. Me, I've got to play with the fingers God gave me.

Ten: I get what you are saying and appreciate especially this last paragraph. However, I don't like to call it "cheating" because it has a negative connotation to it. There is nothing, *NOTHING* wrong with redistributing and/or dropping notes as needed. Especially redistributing between the hands. I do it all the time, and I can reach a 10th in the right places. It is a common thing to do, but there always seems to be a guilt complex that goes with it. It's all about communicating the mood of the piece, so what's wrong with leaving out a note or two? Who would really notice, and of those who notice, who would really care?

My teacher summed it up perfectly for me:
"you play the hand you're dealt".

Oh, Morodiene, I think it was me that first used the word "cheat" in this thread! Sorry if it was taken wrong. I don't think of it as guilt, I think of calling it cheating as being a smart aleck But I can see how others might feel differently, particularly if they are used to thinking of music being played "as written", which is not the kind of music I play. I've been altering music so that it's playable since I started playing again after 35 years off - but I play folk music, so it's expected anyway. Joplin is as close as I get to stuff that might be played as written, at least the first time thru a section. But I'll take a little more care to put the word "cheat" in context next time .

Cathy

I also use 'cheat' without any pangs of guilt. Like I say, it's an artform.

To answer the original question, no I'm not limited by small hands.

Well, maybe, just a bit!

Ya, that is how I see it as well, and I could tell you did. I was just addressing those that think of this as a negative thing, as if they can't play piano like they "should" or something.

I can reach one octave comfortably, but it took me a year to get that flexible. I'm more into pop/rock than classical so I don't know that it would be a problem for me but my favorite songwriters all seem to have smaller hands anyway.

I found a chord sheet for one of my favorite songs on the internet that stated a particular chord in the song was "best played as a ninth if it is possible to reach". I found that kind of amusing since the song was written by Elton John and he claims he reaches "barely one octave".

I think I have small hands too, simply because I'm small, but since I had prior experience and could play octaves, it's given me little trouble now. I did have some problems at first, like playing that particular passage from Mozart's Rondo alla Turca, but I played it slowly, and then just got better at it. I also did find out how my hand hurts from playing that because playing octaves puts stress in my hands unless I "relax" it. Doing that makes me hit other keys as well though, so I'm not sure if that's really a good idea. Unless it's just getting used to it.

And that Youtube link made me laugh so hard.

I can just reach an octave ok, but not a 9th. As I mainly play jazz, I just modify the chord, or play the top note with the right hand.

If you want some inspiration, here's a girl born with only 2 fingers on each hand, playing better than many with 10 fingers!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRdaVnq4S7g&feature=related

That's amazing. I cried.

Okay, I'll stop complaining.

My hands are on the small side, too, but I'm lucky in that they're very flexible, almost double jointed. Well, I do pretty much what Cathy and others have said, roll the chords, etc. (I use rolling tenths quite a bit with left hand). Also as mentioned, make your own arrangements. For Joplin's "The Entertainer", I made up my own by-ear arrangement just by figuring out the chords and playing in a ragtime style. I use what I can from the original arrangement where possible, too.

I think I will watch this video whenvever I feel discouraged...and then say to myself...what are you complaining about???? Get busy and practice!

Oh that was for the second video...by the way. The first video...well, I just wish I had as much fun playing!

Just for the heck of it I measured my hand span, and it's very small for a man...7 1/4 inches. But I suppose because I've been playing since I was a kid, I'm pretty flexible and can easily reach 9 notes, and in a pinch especially with left hand can reach 10. So hands can be stretched over time...

When I want to feel inadequate I compare hands with my son. No contest. I lose ...... badly. :-)

Both Herbie Hancock and Keith Jarrett have relatively small hands. It certainly hasn't limited them.