I often hear people talk about hand size in terms of how large an interval they can reach with the thumb and fifth finger. I rarely hear them talk about how large an interval they can reach with other fingers.

I can reach a 9th with 1-5, a 9th with 1-4, an octave with 1-3, a 5th with 2-3, a 6th with 2-4, a 4th with 3-4, and a 6th with 1-2.

How do my finger stretching capabilities compare to other pianists? I am aware that only being able to reach a 9th means I have a teensy hand, but I am curious to know how flexible other pianists' hands are.

I wouldn't call that a "teensy hand"! (Maybe because mine is roughly the same - and it doesn't stop me playing anything I really want to play)
Actually, I have a 9th with 1-5 and a 10th with 1-4.

It doesn't matter.

The only time when this should be a concern for anyone should be when hand size prevents one from playing the reperoire one wants to play. Flexibility - is that another word for "finger dexterity"? - can always be improved; it's part of our technical growth and development.

Regards,

I'm not at the piano but it doesn't make sense to me how someone could reach further with 1-4 than with 1-5.

I can reach a comfortable tenth with 1-5 but can't imagine doing a fifth with 2-3.

Siloti had one of the biggest hands for a famous pianist that I've read about. I can't remember the details but I do remember being shocked when I read them.

I assume that's a typo?

-J

No, and actually I didn't notice it myself until a few years ago. I thought I didn't have a 10th at all. I have a longish 4th finger, I suppose. Or a shortish 5th.

If your hands are "teensy", mine are definitely more than challenged. I can reach an octave now. Finally. I'll never be able to reach more.

I can only do an octave too. I can't do a chord of 1st, 3rd, 5th and 8th, or whatever the proper term is. At least not with my right hand, I can with the left. Some music I've come across already which I'm learning calls for more than that, so if it's a chord I just play the notes I can reach, or those that I think best produce the intended sound. Otherwise, when notes are in succession, whereas most people could do it easily, my hands just have to leave the keyboard to jump around more. It's no problem, just a challenge, which makes it all the more intersting.

Honestly, it depends MUCH more on your technique than your hand size.

I can only play 9ths, but I'm making great headway without running into any trouble regarding reach or flexibility on Rachmaninoff's 1st piano sonata and Brahms' 1st piano concerto. The only piece I've encountered that will probably render you lots of problems purely because of reach is Schumann's Toccata Op. 7, but I'm still trying to find a way around that, too.

EDIT: Wait... The O.P. said she could reach a fifth with 2-3?? Really??

I can reach the same with 1-5 and 1-4. A 10th as long as I don't have to play anything before or after. A 9th for all practical purposes. I'm not surprised that some can reach further with their 4th finger than their pinky. Many people have 4th fingers as long as their middle finger. I can also securely play a 9th with 1-3 and a 7th with 1-2.

@OrangeSK.. I can reach a 5th with 2-3, but it hurts.

I can reach:
1-5 (10th)
1-4 (9th)
1-3 (9th)
1-2 (Octave)
2-3 (5th)
2-4 (6th)
3-4 (4th)

with my RH. For some reason my LH has a much bigger reach.

Right hand, using the corners of keys:

1-5 (11th)
1-4 (11th)
1-3 (11th)
1-2 (9th)
2-3 (6th)
2-4 (7th)
2-5 (octave)
3-5 (6th)
4-5 (4th)

Left is similar. Before I started really working on Dohnanyi and some pretty flexy etudes, most of these were probably a note less, some maybe even two. And like C., my 1-4 is slightly bigger than 1-5, but not enough to grab an extra key.

Elizabeth, my hands are smaller than yours but I can play most things. My playable stretches:

1-5 just barely a 9th
1-4 an octave
1-3 7th
2-3 4th
2-4 5th
3-4 3rd
1-2 6th

...and there are always workaround when something is too big.

I can reach an octave but my hands are super flexible so it's not bad. Although I have to watch out in "big chord" sections do I don't develop carpul tunnel.

Do that mean you have some unplayable ones? I guess I don't understand what you mean...

Right. When I first got back into piano after a rebellious teenage hiatus, I could only comfortably reach an octave. I was full grown at the time, hands the same size as now.

I did not do anything specific to try to stretch my hands, never thought to. But after several years of intensive technique training, I started playing some Dr. John and others New Orleans piano music, and discovered my hand comfortably spanned a 10th.

There may be other impressive details, but the tidbit I remember is that he preferred to play the octave left hand passage from the Heroic Polonaise with a repeated 2-3-4-5.

11th 1-5
10th + 1-4, 1-3
8th + 1-2
6th 1-4, 2-4
5th 1-3, 2-3 etc.etc.
Elizabeth, your hands aren't small. They aren't exactly Rachmaninov's size (correct me if I'm wrong, but I heard he could, with one hand, play C-E-C-G, or something very similar), but I'm sure they will do for quite impressive pieces.

By playable stretches I mean that I can reliably play those notes together within a piece of music as opposed to stretching to the point of pain and barely reaching them.

Oh, okay then. I guess I was thinking that if you can play them, you can play them. I can't play a rapid sequence of fortissimo 11ths leaping all over the keyboard, but I figure it's still a usable interval for me in some instances.

Thank you for the responses.

Well, I've always been told I have small hands - perhaps teensy was a bit too extreme a word to use. It does frustrate me endless not to be able to play tenths. I can reach them if I press one key down, slide to the very edge of the key, and press the other one down, but it isn't practical.

I have several methods for dealing with chords that are too big: rolling the chord, re-voicing it, or even (oh the horror!) leaving out notes. I try to be careful about what repertoire I decide on. Nothing with too many repeated octaves for me... *sniffle*

One of the conundrums I encountered due to hand size was in the second movement of Beethoven's Piano Sonata Op. 2, No. 2. The 3rd measure of the Largo appassionato contains a LH tenth (C# to E) that I cannot reach. To roll the tenth destroys the beautiful string quartet texture of the movement; it sounds jarring. To omit either the E or the C# leaves a gaping hole in either the tenor or the bass. So I decided to play the E an eighth beat late (together with the A in the bass). It worked surprisingly well. (I wish I knew how to post a picture of the measure I'm describing; I'm not doing a very good job of explaining what I mean.)


Yes, yes, I can reach a fifth with 2-3. Is that unusual?

That fingering doesn't require huge hands - it's what I use when I read through the piece, and my hands are not exceptionally large.

FWIW, your hands are probably slightly larger than the average woman's. Your reach is slightly greater than mine.

And mine. Barely can reach an octave with 1-5, not kidding. I appreciate the comments that hand size does not matter and wish there were more of them

1-5 (11th)(Just...)
1-4 (10th)
1-3 (10th).. when will I ever play a 10th with one and three anyway.
1-2 (9th)
2-3 (6th)
2-4 (7th)
2-5 (9th)
3-5 (7th)
4-5 (5th)

i too can play a 9th (sometimes a tenth) with fingers 1 and 4. my pinky is very small, but my hands are very flexible... at least they used to be. if I measure - my 1 and 4 handspan is almost 1/2 inch longer.

and btw elizabeth.. i have been diligently stretching my hand span since grade school.. and they have surely stretched. Don't hurt yourself tho.

(i just measured and my 1 and 3 hand span is also longer than my 1 and 5, on both hands, PL)

Actually, I've read that testosterone affects the growth of the fourth finger. Males usually (not always) have their fourth finger longer than the second one.

Personally, I can reach a (minor) 10th (and the major tenths from white to white, for example c-e) with 1-5 and 1-4
9th with 1-3 (I think)
8th with 1-2

The key to playing repeated octaves with small hands, (assuming you can reach them), is to stay completely relaxed. You'll get a better tone too.

Hands do stretch. When I started working on Brahms I had difficulty reaching notes within the chords. I practiced it anyway even though it was uncomfortable. When I would finish practicing my hands were sore but gradually my hands stretched and it no longer was uncomfortable. Caveat: never stretch to the point of pain.

I can't do anything about the length of my fingers but I have increased my stretch. Even with my small hands I can now stretch so that my thumb and pinky are nearly parallel.