By the way, guys: It is much more important to have a flexible hand than a big one. I used to have problems with the last few left hand chords in Rachmaninoff's prelude op. 23/1 (actually I don't think you should play them arpeggio). But then I found out how I can improve my hand span.

Just put your hand on the chord keys, press them down to the keybed and leave your fingers there for a while. If necessary stretch the fingers (very carefully!) with your other hand. Repeat this from time to time. After a while you will be able to play chords you couldn't play before - of course within your natural possibilities.

I think this is the ability which contemporaries reported about Chopin's hand.

----------

http://www.pianistenschule.de

I remember reading a comment by one of Chopin's students that Chopin sometimes wrote chords he himself had to roll. He was also quite willing to take two keys with one finger if helped the situation.

I have small hands. I can reach an octave comfortably, but full chords are sometimes a problem. I sometimes have to roll them, and use the pedal to sustain the sound. Purists will frown, but it is the best I can do. Sometimes I leave out notes that are doubled. Gaby Tu

Depends which tenths. Eb/G,Ab/C,Db/F and Bb/D are uncomfortable in Waller basses so I break them. The rest are all right quite fast, even filled in. I can play an eleventh but it's hardly worth bothering. My left hand has a wider span because my left fifth finger is a few millimetres longer than my right one.

It is worth remembering, when considering spanning intervals, that physically similar looking positions actually have small differences in stretch.

1. The centres of the key shanks, black or white, are equally spaced.

2. The borders of the white notes are equally spaced.

To take the case of sharp key tenths, which caused me to notice this effect:

For these particular tenths therefore, what matters for stretching purposes is the distance between the upper border of the lower white notes and the centre of the upper black note. Well, strictly speaking , the lower border of the upper black notes, 1/24 of an octave less, but for comparative playing purposes in this example this doesn't matter.

Let the distance of an octave be unity. Then the centres of the key shanks are therefore at 1/24 + 2n/24 and the borders of the whites at m/7.

For an E tenth:
The upper edge of the E is at 3/7 and the centre of the G# is at 41/24
Stretching distance = 41/24-3/7=215/168

For a D tenth:
The upper edge of the D is at 2/7 and the cente of the F# is at 37/24
Stretching distance=37/24-2/7=211/168

For an A tenth:
The upper edge of the A is at 6/7 and the centre of the C# is at 51/24
Stretching distance=51/24-6/7=214/168

For a B tenth:
The upper edge of the B is at 0 and the centre of the D# is at 31/24
Stretching distance=31/24-0=217/168

There are very tangible variations in the span of any physically similar grips involving two colours. In fact, because of the arithmetic no black/white pairs can have identical spans.

This is very important to mention, indeed. Only very few (even professional) pianists know that the black keys are not always right in the middle between two white keys.

----------

http://www.pianistenschule.de

Of course, there are differences between the same intervals.

I can do a 12th with my right hand but only a 11 with the left.

Wow all of you are so...stretchy.

I can do a tenth with a little bit of stretching. My most comfortable is probably a 9th. But it depends, usually on my hands.

Both hands a 10th, left is able to reach a 11th with a lot of streching.

It's hard to compare the pianist's handspan from the past with those of now, because I've you've noticed they are building keys wider and wider... On a 19th century Pleyel or Erard Chopin played the keys are much narrower.

I can reach a tenth if I have a moment to prepare for it. I have practiced playing larger tenths (D - F#) broken, but very quickly emphasizing the top note. On a good day, these sound quite acceptible. I also agree w/the posters who talk about developing flexibility. I was taught to expand my hand from the palm rather than to strain to reach from the fingers. Struggling from thumb to pinky actually restricts motion a lot like those chinese finger toys that only pull you in tighter the more you try to pull out.

It is natural for all humans to have bigger left hands than right. I can reach an 11th on good days.

Most unusual since most people have bigger left hands.

Is it unusual then to have absolutely equal sized hands like I do?

I can reach a 14th!

just kidding.. I can comfortably play a 9th, and reach a 10th with both hands.

I wish my hands were bigger but can quickly substitute an 'emergency' note in the other hand if necessary to complete a chord.

a 12th both hands, never have to really use it though.

How many people's hands have expanded since this thread was initiated three years ago? Is that a good reason to revive it?

From the perspective of those of us with a much smaller hand, who experience difficulty and fatigue more easily when playing broken 10th LH accompaniments, or sequences of large chords... believe me, you "use" it all the time, even if you never actually play 10ths or 12ths in a chord.


-J

It's true, there can be advantages with a wider span. But a comfortable octave and a good understanding of how to move is all that is required. Still, I wish I didn't have to concentrate so hard to play LH in the d minor Chopin prelude!

To be honest, three years ago I could only play a ninth and now I can play a tenth.

I'm so glad to know this about Chopin's hand size. Do you remember the source?

I see evidence everywhere in C.'s passage work of his need to compact the hand, yet still cover great expanses. It's a window into his technical insights I find very interesting.

I have a comfortable octave, a possible ninth and a sneaky tenth.

I seem to be the only full grown adult here only able to do a 7th. I can't really do an 8 because I can't seem to apply the pressure on both keys equally at the same time and can only touch the keys with the very tips of my fingers. I often slip when trying. Until now, I have been in denial thinking lots of people have small hands. From the comments I see here, not quite that small though. Even beginner music requires me to do lots of jumping and fast movements to compensate. At times it completely ruins my attempt to play legato If I have trouble now at beginner level, how can I ever hope to play more complicated music?

On the upside, I can easily play between black notes with lots of room to spare.

Do the best you can, and do what you can.
Including, sometimes, simplifying/modifying what's in the score. Rolling chords, breaking chords, and maybe especially just leaving out some notes. Even the highest echelon of pianists sometimes do those things, or at least most of them do. Some people who see this might say it's not so, but it is. I'm not saying they do it a lot, but some. The only difference for you is that you'll need to do it more -- a lot more, but so what.
Most people with your issue probably would be discouraged from playing serious piano at all. It's great that you're not.




There have been moments where I would have gladly traded with you.

I can reach a tenth, the most difficult tenth I can reach fairly well is from one white key to another. Anything beyond that I have to roll.

Some passages in "Soaring" by Schumann really annoy me... Because that stretch Bb-Bb-Db is too big for me. I can just touch the Db with the tip of my pinkie, then the pinkie slips down. I would prefer not to reach the Db at all! I feel like Tantalus instead...
I did found a trick - playing it with the LH of course - very easy in the first measure of course, and when the LH is supposed to play something else, like just a couple of measures later, use the pedal (luckily the evil stretch is not at the beginning of the measure, and it is easy to use the pedal to sustain the octaves in the LH and then use the LH to help the RH.)

There's definitely hope. It's called practice, just way more than most people. If you are a beginner, your hands should stretch the more you play but most importantly, the precision will increase.

Some of my 5 year old students have larger spans than I do LOL. I too am a grown adult who can only play a 7th comfortably. Octaves on the very edges and tips of my fingers are possible; with my pinky and thumb stretched out, it's close to 180 degrees. I've played since I was very young, so I can stay on the keys and learn to fake it as long as they are not chords. Fast running octaves, broken or chords (ex. Beethoven's Tempest), can be achieved through a ton of practice to make sure you don't slip off though it may hurt while practicing due to slips... then hanging on a nail even when they are very short, OUCH!

Kid gloves (and shoes) are cheaper than adult ones that are exactly the same =).

I just bought some kid gloves without fingers yesterday for only 2 dollars. I though who knows, maybe they are nice for playing when my hands are really cold in winter. They fit me.

11th or 12th (depends on the notes). But, along with many other comments I skimmed through, most of the time stretching your hand isn't necessary and actually bad (in terms of tone). Technique usually calls for the hand to stay relaxed, loose, and rotating instead of stretched and sprawled over the keys. . . of course, big hands help when showing off to people who are not educated in piano technique.

I can only just get an octave on the edge of the white keys. I've been doing research on hand size and piano playing, have had some stuff published and given conference papers down here (Australia).

I also have a 7/8 keyboard in my grand, custom made by David Steinbuhler of Pennsylvania (www.steinbuhler.com). Until you have experienced a smaller keyboard, smaller-handed players simply do not realise how much EASIER everything is, how much faster it is to learn, and how much more enjoyable the whole experience is. It's far more profound than simply being able to get certain chords.

I've summarised hand span data that's readily available on my website: www.smallpianokeyboards.com (see page called 'Hand size and the piano keyboard'). For males, the mean is around 9 inches for total thumb to 5th finger stretch, for females it's about 8 inches, which translates into being able to play a 10th and a 9th (though not comfortably) respectively.

This difference is approx the same as the difference between the 7/8 and conventional keyboard.

I'm currently compiling my own database and will later report on an analysis of this, including left hand versus right hand differences and ethnic differences.

My total thumb to finger stretch in the LH is 9 and 3/4 inches...but my RH stretch is only 9 and 1/2 inches. Until now I never realized that there was a difference between the two.