What Your Hand Size Actually Changes About Your Playing

Measurement

Many players assume that having smaller hands is a significant limit to their ability to play the piano, or conversely, that having larger hands is a big advantage. Some players may even consider it to be a kind of natural selection for those who will be good at the piano, in the same way we might consider height a natural selection for basketball players. However, that is not really the case. I distinctly remember a pianist who studied alongside me when I was studying at music college who was unable to reach an octave on the piano, yet she was perfectly able to play a lot of repertoire and was still a very well-rounded and able pianist.

So, how is that? What limitations does hand size actually bring?

Well, in every discussion about hand size at the piano, there is always one composer's name that gets brought up: Rachmaninoff. He was known for having particularly large hands and wrote many pieces that require larger stretches that are difficult for many players. However, there are also many examples of pianists with smaller hands who have gone on to become incredibly accomplished. One example of that is Daniel Barenboim. He is perhaps considered one of the greatest living pianists, yet he can only just stretch a 9th (one note above an octave). In fact, he had a piano built that has slightly narrower keys. An octave typically spans 6.5 inches (16.5 cm), but Daniel Barenboim’s piano has an octave that spans 6.2 inches (15.7 cm).

The interesting thing about the hand span on the piano is that it isn’t a static, fixed stretch. The gap between each of the fingers is different, and the thumb, for example, uses a different joint and therefore has a lot more mobility and range of motion. This means that we actually don’t have one specific reach on the piano. You may be able to reach a 9th when reaching from a middle C to an octave higher D between your thumb and little finger, but can you reach a Bb to a C, having to stretch at a different angle from a black note to a white note? Or can you stretch to the same notes when other notes are required in between?

Mobility

Of course, having a larger span does make it a little easier to remain relaxed when you are trying to play chords with a larger stretch. However, it does make more condensed movements much harder to navigate. Whereas having smaller hands means that staying relaxed with bigger stretches is harder, but playing in more condensed positions is much easier.

Imagine that you are in a shop and you are a shorter person and want something on the top shelf. That will be much harder for you to reach, and you may have to implement the trusty “tiptoe tilt” in order to reach it. But you will also be able to reach the bottom shelf with much less stress. A taller person will have no problem reaching for the top shelf, but might throw their back out when reaching for the bottom shelf. Both people are equally as advantaged and disadvantaged.

Larger hands are able to span the piano much more easily but are much clumsier with intricate, confined sections of music. Smaller hands are less able to stretch comfortably but will have a much easier time working around quicker, more intricate running passages.

This means that playing music is not really an issue of hand size at all, but more a question of how you deal with the natural challenges that you have. Every player will find certain aspects of playing more challenging than others and, equally, some aspects easier. So what do you do?

Method

Well, there are three things that someone with smaller hands can do when coming across a stretch that is more challenging for their hands.

The first is spreading the notes. Many players who are unable to reach certain notes will simply play the notes in quick succession, one after the other, with the pedal held in order to sound the notes together. There are, of course, some advantages and disadvantages to this, though. An advantage is that it requires you to build an ability to jump between notes by rotating your wrist and will help you build accuracy. The disadvantage is that many players don’t like feeling like they have altered the music in an audible way.

The second is redistributing the notes between hands. There are many situations and pieces where it will be entirely possible to still play the music as written, but you may need to switch which hand is playing the notes in order to reduce the stretch needed in either hand.

The third is omitting the least significant notes. There is a hierarchy of notes in any moment in a piece of music. Typically, you will want to retain any melodic ideas that are happening. You will also want to keep most of the notes that give you the underlying harmony, particularly the bass note. However, there may be some notes among those middle harmony notes that are doubled from somewhere else in the chord or don’t make such an impact if omitted.

Finally, you can adapt the music. There may be some cases where it will work if you slightly tweak the notes given in the music so that you get the same effect and convey the same ideas, but in a slightly altered way. I would be very sparing with this and only do it where absolutely necessary, but it can be done.

Having said that, for many players, the stretches themselves are not actually impossible, and it may just be necessary for you to work on the technique in order to be able to play them while staying relaxed. The most common culprit and reason for being unable to reach a stretch that may not be a hand-span problem is the placement of the wrist. Many players will keep their wrist locked into one position, and this will become most obvious when your hand needs it to move to be able to reach the notes. So practice keeping your wrist mobile and your hands as relaxed as they can be, and see if it’s possible to reach the notes. If it isn’t, then try one of these four ways of adapting the music.

It should never be the case that repertoire is off-limits for you because of the size of your hands. No matter if you have big or small hands, some pieces will be easier for you than others, but with some practice and, where necessary, some adaptations, you should be able to play the pieces that you want.

Matt