6 ms·

My college degree was in piano. My hand size is average, I can comfortably reach all ninths and most tenths. (F# - A# pisses me off.) It always bugged when my t

My college degree was in piano. My hand size is average, I can comfortably reach all ninths and most tenths. (F# - A# pisses me off.) It always bugged when my teachers would take umbrage about hand size complaints, they always had some piano pro to point out that had smaller hands than me. Yeah, I get it, I can arpeggiate, but you still can't make me learn Rachmaninoff. There's this Brahms 2nd rhapsody that I just love, but the climax of the entire piece is this chord that I can only hit if the stars align, and it just hurts my heart to arpeggiate it.

Johanx64 6y ago
Yeah, every time I hear stories of those "great pianists with small hands". Somehow those "small hands" always translate to "can comfortably reach 10ths or 11ths or more" and not octave at most. Which just drives home the point of how gigantic hands are taken as a reference point. And those supposed "greats" that do have smallish hands aren't all that great and have a severely limited pokey repertoire.
- TheOtherHobbes 6y ago
  If you can comfortably reach 10ths you do not have small hands. I have the opposite problem. I have thick sausage fingers and they don't fit easily between the black notes. This isn't a show stopper, but it's certainly a handicap compared to someone who has much thinner fingers.
spekcular 6y ago
Do you remember the opus number of the Brahms piece? I just looked at the Op. 79 rhapsodies and couldn't find the part you mentioned, though maybe I missed it.
- tunesmith 6y ago
  Shows how long ago I played it, I got it a bit wrong. Sorry, it's actually the first rhapsody, op 79. Seven bars before the bridge, beat 2, left hand - two beats after the climax. It's actually notated arpeggio but it always felt like a wet noodle in my hand and I always felt like I could rip it off with authority if my hand was just a bit bigger. That middle section more than makes up for it though...
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
Wowfunhappy 6y ago
> It always bugged when my teachers would take umbrage about hand size complaints, they always had some piano pro to point out that had smaller hands than me. Perhaps your complaints were logically valid, but your teachers were responding in the way they thought would help your education? After all, they can't do anything about the size of your hands, or—realistically—the standard piano key size. They wanted you to focus on playing your best, and on overcoming your limitations.
- tunesmith 6y ago
  Yes, you're right. I think I recognized that at the time, though, but the barrier still bugged me. :)

Johanx64 6y ago

Yeah, every time I hear stories of those "great pianists with small hands". Somehow those "small hands" always translate to "can comfortably reach 10ths or 11ths or more" and not octave at most. Which just drives home the point of how gigantic hands are taken as a reference point. And those supposed "greats" that do have smallish hands aren't all that great and have a severely limited pokey repertoire.

TheOtherHobbes 6y ago
If you can comfortably reach 10ths you do not have small hands. I have the opposite problem. I have thick sausage fingers and they don't fit easily between the black notes. This isn't a show stopper, but it's certainly a handicap compared to someone who has much thinner fingers.

spekcular 6y ago

Do you remember the opus number of the Brahms piece? I just looked at the Op. 79 rhapsodies and couldn't find the part you mentioned, though maybe I missed it.

tunesmith 6y ago
Shows how long ago I played it, I got it a bit wrong. Sorry, it's actually the first rhapsody, op 79. Seven bars before the bridge, beat 2, left hand - two beats after the climax. It's actually notated arpeggio but it always felt like a wet noodle in my hand and I always felt like I could rip it off with authority if my hand was just a bit bigger. That middle section more than makes up for it though...
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]

Wowfunhappy 6y ago

> It always bugged when my teachers would take umbrage about hand size complaints, they always had some piano pro to point out that had smaller hands than me. Perhaps your complaints were logically valid, but your teachers were responding in the way they thought would help your education? After all, they can't do anything about the size of your hands, or—realistically—the standard piano key size. They wanted you to focus on playing your best, and on overcoming your limitations.

tunesmith 6y ago
Yes, you're right. I think I recognized that at the time, though, but the barrier still bugged me. :)