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 could finally use the correct fingerings. Broken-chord formations could be played on one hand position, instead of two. The sensation of what it feels like to play with the proper fingering is easier to remember, more reliable in terms of accuracy, less painful, and ultimately better sounding. That is because the fingers that must bring out specific pitches in concerted sounds are aligned more directly over the keys. The whole hand-shape is less stretched out, and so power can be directed down into the keys.
- Wide, sweeping, left-hand arpeggiated figures so prevalent in Romantic music become possible, and I could actually get on with the business of cultivating the right sound, rather than repeatedly practicing the same passage. The larger the sweep, the greater the difference. On a 7/8-size keyboard, a two-and-a-half octave sweep is two-and-a-half normal key-widths smaller. That is about two-and-a-half inches! When the smaller-handed player attempts a sweep like this, the hand must be very loose, and it is almost flung from top to bottom to cover the distance. Landing in the right place is the great achievement. With a larger hand, landing in the right place is so easy that the force with which you land there is now an option. With the smaller keyboard, those washes of sound could now be controlled and manipulated.
- There was an increase of power. A small-handed person playing on a 7/8-size keyboard will sound like a larger person. The distance to travel is now proportionate to the size of the hand. Much of piano technique is about allowing the hand to be in its natural position as much of the time as possible. If the hand has to stretch itself like a pretzel for every task, the hand tires faster. Alternatively, when the hand, in its natural relaxed position, is already in the position it needs to be, the percentage of time that the muscles are engaged is reduced significantly, and the ability to rest the muscles is increased. Therefore, power and stamina are increased.
- It was easier to make large leaps, and I could do so accurately, with greater speed.
- It was easier to achieve proper balance. Getting the right amount of tone out of the lead melody-line in the right hand (or any internal line) was possible and enjoyable.
- I was able to “walk” (legato finger) octaves with a 3,4,5 fingering. This created more bel canto playing, but it also made achieving speed and accuracy easier when I performed the famous octave pssages in the repertoire.
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.
