Giving up guilt: Strategies for average to small handed pianists
The piano offers a richer and more varied repertoire than any other solo instrument. We can play as many notes as our ten fingers allow, which gives us an enormous range of sounds and colors. Unfortunately not every pianist’s hand is large enough to physically reach some of the intervals that have been written for us. But this does not need stop us from practicing and performing the full range of the keyboard repertoire.
I. Keyboard size:
Historically the width of an octave has varied considerably on keyboard instruments, from as narrow as 125 mm to as wide as 170 mm. Octave width became more standardized in the 19th Century, with the keyboard being tailored to the needs of large-handed (and mostly) male virtuosi. While this allowed for greater sound projection in big concert halls, it put pianists with average to small-sized hands at a disadvantage. It has also contributed to near epidemic numbers of professional pianists with RSI injuries. My own suspicion is that it plays a significant role in fewer women winning major competitions despite so many staggeringly talented women graduating from major conservatories and universities.
There has been a movement to make smaller sized keyboards more widely available, but the challenge remains that playing on a piano other than your own will likely involve a standard sized keyboard. The focus of this post will be to discuss approaches to playing virtuoso repertoire without hurting our hands while still projecting the composer’s intention.
II. Inner fingers:
Much of the discussion of hand size usually involves the distance between thumb and fifth finger but it is often the distance between inner fingers and outer fingers that causes the greatest problems. 5-2 in particular can be a major stretch for a small hand. Whenever possible I recommend avoiding this fingering over the distance of a major 6th or larger.
A. Choose fingerings that avoid stretching whenever possible:
This exciting passage from the Brahms Handel Variations features a string of the 6ths cascading up and down the keyboard. Editors will often make great use of 5-2 in order to make a legato connection.
As a result the fingers are unecessarily stretched and the incisive, weighty sound that Brahms was looking for is compromised. By altering the fingering not only is the passage less stretchy but the sound is better because each interval is supported by the forearm.
In this passage from Beethoven’s Sonata in Ab op. 110, many editors suggest playing Beethoven’s sparkling passage work in one large hand group. By having such large distances between the fingers they remain unsupported and control of the sound is affected. Also, it’s really uncomfortable.
Using the thumb to create two hand groups reduces the stretching and allows for greater control.
B. When re-fingering is not possible:
There are some situations where using too many thumbs, thumb crosses, or changes of hand position in a row becomes onerous. Strings of melodic 6ths as are found in the Chopin Berceuse are a good example.
In these places the use of a scissors-like technique can allow for greater distance between the fingers without the stretch.
To do this the hand needs to adjust its balance by tilting to the side. Dorothy Taubman taught this technique but was cautious about giving it to students for fear that it might cause injury if misused. Be sure to regain the balance of the hand and forearm so that the palm faces the floor as soon as the passage is over. The fingers should feel easy and soft throughout. This solution should be used sparingly.
C. Take advantage of the space between 1 and 2:
The widest distance between consecutive fingers is 1 and 2. Take advantage of this distance whenever possible. For younger students I call this “mitten hands.”
D. Add a “sixth finger”
Pianists are often afraid of replaying a finger for fear that the passage will not be legato. Playing a finger twice in a row can feel like adding a sixth finger to the hand and avoid awkward shifts and uncomfortable stretches. By shifting the weight of the forearm from one key to the next a legato sound can be maintained.
In this passage from Samuel Barber’s Sonata both a double fifth finger and a double thumb are recommended to avoid stretching.
III. Octaves and large intervals:
For many small handed pianists even an octave can be a stretch. When playing an octave:
a. Play towards the inner edges of the key to minimize the distance
b. Play near the edge of the key when possible where there is less key resistance.
This may require some careful planning when it is necessary to move in towards the fallboard for a thumb on the black keys.
c. Allow the hand to return to a comfortable position in-between octaves.
Dr. Teresa Dybvig calls this “open but unstretched.” Our muscles are designed to alternate between contraction and relaxation and these alternations can be measured in micro-seconds. Even in the fastest octave passage there is time for a moment of release. Just be cautious of not overdoing this movement or it will become too athletic. Most adult hands will feel unstretched at the distance of a 6th or 7th.
D. Only use the fifth finger for octaves
Most standard editions alternate 1/5, 1/4, or even 1/3 on octaves.
For an average to small sized hand this is not only stretchy, it causes the hand to deviate at the wrist towards to the fifth finger.
A legato sound in slower, cantabile passages as in this excerpt from Schumann’s Kriesleriana, can be achieved by staying at the bottom of the key for as long as possible and playing slowly into the key. If you find this stretchy let go of one of the voices. In double note passages only one voice needs to be legato to create a legato effect.
E. Wrist height:
The smaller the hand the higher the wrist will need to be when playing large intervals. This is due to the main knuckle group becoming too flattened to act as a fulcrum. A higher wrist is needed to bring stability to the hand. Find a height where you feel you can get the keys to descend without extra pressing of the fingers. A wrist that is too high is also problematic so be cautious of not going higher than necessary.
(Yuja Wang’s octaves)
IV. Interpreting a score without guilt:
This is the segment of my blog post that may get a bit controversial. In the 20th Century a philosophy of music-making arose between the World Wars in which the score was treated as biblical text. In a world that was violent and chaotic treating written texts as unalterable and unquestionable gave a feeling of stability. This led to some wonderful music making by artists like Claudio Arrau, Artur Schnabel, and Rudolph Serkin but it has also caused a fair share of problems, particularly for pianists who do not have their large hands.
If we view the score not as an instruction manual but rather as a visual representation of sound we can achieve results that stay faithful to the composer’s vision while also protecting the health of our hands.
Legato: Often pianists mistake connecting finger to finger for legato. But a connected finger will not necessarily create a legato sound. A legato sound can also be created without a physical connection. Re-conceiving legato not as solely physical act but as a quality of sound can be a revelation, but it requires giving up some of the guilt that we may have internalized as young musicians.
A. Plan when to disconnect
In passages where a legato sound is wanted we should play physically legato whenever possible. Playing non-legato unecessecarily leads to a feeling of hovering and does not produce the desired sound quality. However, strategically picking places to release allows the hand to maintain a neutral posture while still creating a legato effect. In this passage from Chopin’s Nocturne op 27. n. 2 most editors choose a fingering that looks torturous for all but a Rachmaninoff-sized hand.
By separating the low pedal tone from the rest of the figuration the hand is free to shape the musical line. A more legato effect can be created by feeling when the passage descends a legato connection between the fifth fingers through use of the lateral motion of the forearm.
B. Tone and pedaling:
Another sitiuation where pianists often develop feelings of guilt is when a long note plays over inner voices. To assuage their guilt they hold the long note as long as possible creating weak, unsupported sound and fatiguing the hand.
As soon as a sound is produced on the piano there is nothing we can do to alter it other than engaging the dampers. If we produce a rich tone on the long note we can use the damper pedal to carry that tone for us while we let go and play the inner voices as can be experienced in Schubert’s Gb Impromptu.
C. Rolling and breaking chords and intervals:
For situations in which a chord or interval is too large for the hand either rolling or treating the bottom note/s as grace notes can be an effective solutions. Again, some pianists feel guilt doing this but it was common practice to roll and break chords all the way up through the early 20th Century. In fact, many musicologists have argued that when large interval is encountered in Romantic period repertoire not only was it permissible to roll/break, it was expected.
Rachmaninoff, despite having enormous hands, often rolls and breaks in his beautiful recordings as can be heard here.
We can hear two approaches to climactic nine note chord of the Chopin A major Prelude. The first is the small-handed Alicia De Larrocha who chooses to break the chord here at 8:19.
The second is the large-handed Moritz Rosenthal (a famed student of Mikuli and Liszt) who chooses to roll it here at 3:46.
d. Redistribution:
I had an excellent undergraduate professor but he was tall enough to be a basketball player and had the hands to match. I can remember feeling enormously uncomfortable in this passage from the Chopin Barcarolle and him asking with a smile, “you can reach this can’t you?”
He said it in a kind way but I came out of the lesson believing that stretching the hands as much you can was what was expected. When entering my graduate program my professor Janice Weber (who eats Liszt and Godowsky for breakfast) worked with me on the Prokofiev 7th Sonata. I was pleasantly surprised when she showed me several brilliant hand redistributions. “If the other hand is free you might as well use it.”
A few months later I attended my first Taubman seminar and was pleased to see this solution to the Chopin in the example book:
Excepting a few places in the repertoire (perhaps the openings of the “Hammerklavier” Sonata or op. 111?) there is rarely a good reason for sticking to the way the notes are laid out on the page if redistributing will lead to greater technical and tonal control. Often composers notate the way the do simply because it looks neater on the page and it better distinguishes the voices. What matters in the end is how the music sounds or, to put it another way: the proof of the pudding is in the eating. .
e. Leaving out notes/re-voicing: This is perhaps the most controversial suggestion I have to offer but if you have an average to small hand, in certain situations, it is a must. There will be places, particularly with composers like Brahms, Liszt, and Rachmaninoff, where it is not possible to play all the printed notes. One solution is to simply not play these compositions but I believe that great music should be played, not left on a pedestal.
In graduate school I took a wonderful Schenkerian theory course. There are some limits to Shenkerian analysis but what it does teach is the understanding of music in terms of line and voicing. Without getting into too great a level of detail, the art of this approach is gradually taking the foreground (the score) and reducing it to its barest essentials (the background). In working this way it is possible to understand which notes are most essential to the line and harmonic progression and which are there for color and sonority.
Fortunately you don’t need a graduate degree to make smart choices about which notes to leave out. A good ear is all that is required (although some knowledge of 4-part chorale writing and species counterpoint won’t hurt!)
Some tips:
-Look out for stretches, especially between 1-5 and 5-2.
-If a voice is doubled it is usually expendable.
-Another doubling can be added to help maintain the sonority and registration if it does not alter the function of the chord or the direction of the line as can be seen in this excerpt from the Brahms Handel Variations:
V. Special thoughts on working with children:
With children it is best to avoid assigning pieces with intervals larger than a 6th until the hand has grown. Fortunately there is a wealth of great music out there written for students. Unfortunately, some editions written specifically for students still choose fingerings that are meant for adult hands. Scores should be re-fingered to meet the needs of the individual child. Schumann’s “The Happy Farmer” is often giving to elementary aged students who do not have large enough hands for the large stretch of a broken 2nd inversion chord with the root doubled.
Crossing the thumb keeps the hand in a natural shape. Notice also the double thumb which avoids stretching and too many changes of hand position in measure 3.
One important things to watch out for is many methods have children stretching over a five finger position, one finger per key.
For an adult hand this may not feel like a great distance but for a small child this can be equivalent to stretching over a 6th or 7th. Practicing non-legato with a neutral hand alignment can help students to avoid unecessary stretching (you can read more about this in my blog post here). So can playing pieces that make use of the whole keyboard rather than gluing the fingers to the keys.
I hope you have found this post informative. This has been intended to be a broad overview and each situation will require a unique solution. As a rule of thumb: if it feels good in the hand it will sound good too.
Special thanks to Teresa Dybvig with whom I have worked on many of the pieces used as examples.
I’d love to hear your own experiences and the experiences of your students in the comment section.