I have actually experienced “getting larger hands.” Although that sounds impossible, this was achieved by creating a 7/8 – size keyboard for my Steinway concert grand. I thus began the great discovery of what it feels like to play the piano with larger hands. It was like an epiphany. All the touches and techniques in piano studies – and I stress – all of them – were made easier by a factor of a hundred.
I would never have known this, however, if I had not had the 7/8 – size keyboard made for me. Getting that keyboard made became an obsession after the idea came to me while practicing the coda of the G-minor Chopin Ballade for about the thousandth time. I was staring at the keyboard and looking at my hands, realizing they did not look right in comparison to the keyboard to accomplish the task. (I cannot stretch a sixth between the index finger and little finger in the right hand.) I realized that my hands would never be larger, but the keyboard could be smaller! After I got the keyboard made and fitted to the piano, I made a multitude of discoveries.
I realize now, looking back, that most of the time I spent practicing was used trying to overcome difficulties because of my hand-size. My great desire is for the small-handed pianists of the world to experience, as I have, the great joy of playing the piano when the struggle of overcoming the limitations imposed by hand-size are gone.
The pain aspect of the 7/8 keyboard is quite amazing. Sight-reading probably has the most dramatic effect. When you are sight reading difficult music (especially with other chamber musicians) you do not have the time to work out the easiest way of playing a passage, you just plow through it. I am talking about pieces like Brahms Horn Trio, Saint Saens Piano Trios, Frank Trios. I have found on a regular size keyboard I can last about an hour and then my hands and entire arms start to feel tired. If I persist, within about 20 minutes I am in pain and must stop. Playing the similar pieces on the 7/8 keyboard I can sight-read for over two hours completely pain free! It simply is not an issue. I can play large chords, octave passages, leaps, huge dynamic ranges and my brain fatigues long before my fingers or arms. The 7/8 keyboard has turned an endurance session into pure pleasure. I can’t begin to describe how much fun it is to be able to access the notes so easily without fatigue.
Last year in June (2005) I had a fabulous opportunity to perform Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue with orchestra. My wonderful husband moved my 7/8 grand to both concert halls for the Saturday and Sunday performance. It was fantastic! I felt so secure with the big chords and played the piece with ease. I was freed up from all technical issues and could concentrate on making music.
A piano technician’s guild news article from Melbourne Australia by technician Warwick Dalton First 7/8 – DS Keyboard installation in the Southern Hemisphere |
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SMU Student Testimonals
Sarah Michelini
Easier to play Chopin Prelude in C on the conventional keyboard after practicing on 7/8
Barber Excursions
7/8 Keyboard
Priscilla Parrish
Jeux d’eau
Artina Hunter
Carmela Casipit
Nicole Halton – Recital Testimony
“The greatest difference that I noticed while performing on the reduced size keyboard was the level of comfort I felt at the piano. On the regular piano, I sometimes feel uncomfortable and consequently not in control of the performance. On the reduced size keyboard I was able to carefully place each chord and note so that I was more easily able to shape my performance. I felt that for the first time I was in command of the instrument instead of feeling limited by the physical difficulty of playing the piano. “In preparation for my recital, I discovered that I could memorize music more quickly on the reduced size keyboard because the patterns were easier to feel and I could create better pathways for my hands and fingers. “Also, my practice time was not limited by physical issues. On the regular piano there are some passages and some pieces that I could not practice as much as I would have liked because of the amount of physical discomfort they caused. This virtually disappeared on the reduced size keyboard.”
Lindsay Nieves
Sun Mi Goodwin
Quynh Nguyen
Chopin Revolutionary Etude
Yvonne Michalski
Initial reactions
Chopin G Minor Ballade
Chopin Etude Op.25,No.9
Touch
Power
Stamina
Relaxation
Balance in chord
Sight reading
Leaps
Jennifer Stark
Christopher Donison wrote about his experience with his 7/8 keyboard in the article:
“Small Hands? Try This keyboard, You’ll Like It”
Piano & Keyboard Magazine, (July/August 1998):41-43.
I have actually experienced “getting larger hands.” Although that sounds impossible, this was achieved by creating a 7/8 – size keyboard for my Steinway concert grand. I thus began the great discovery of what it feels like to play the piano with larger hands. It was like an epiphany. All the touches and techniques in piano studies – and I stress – all of them – were made easier by a factor of a hundred.
I would never have known this, however, if I had not had the 7/8 – size keyboard made for me. Getting that keyboard made became an obsession after the idea came to me while practicing the coda of the G-minor Chopin Ballade for about the thousandth time. I was staring at the keyboard and looking at my hands, realizing they did not look right in comparison to the keyboard to accomplish the task. (I cannot stretch a sixth between the index finger and little finger in the right hand.) I realized that my hands would never be larger, but the keyboard could be smaller! After I got the keyboard made and fitted to the piano, I made a multitude of discoveries.
I realize now, looking back, that most of the time I spent practicing was used trying to overcome difficulties because of my hand-size. My great desire is for the small-handed pianists of the world to experience, as I have, the great joy of playing the piano when the struggle of overcoming the limitations imposed by hand-size are gone.