“Narrower Keys: A Game Changer for Pianists”

Conrad Winn just like you judge them now: by best performance!  Violins etc  have different sizes,why shouldn't pianos, too. Atm women and small handed men have disadvantages. The option to use a narrower keyboard would make judgment fairer!

In Mozart competitions you have much more women winners amd finalists than in romantic competition where chords have bigger intervals. Women are much more likely to get injuries!

Linda Gould Tat Hien Khoa I tested a DS 6.0 at a fair. Took me 3 minutes to get adapted when looking at the keys. I guess in 1 or 2 days I'd get used to the distances blind as well.

Dagmar thanks for your information! Since we can’t adapt immediately, that means at a time (in a show, a contest,…) we could only stick to one size of piano to play all pieces rather than switching sizes frequently to suit each piece.

Tat Hien Khoa as far as I know you csn adept immediately once you are used to the smaller keyboard as well as the bigger one. There are videos, where people switch within a piece, and it works well. (I saw one where someone plays Maple leaf rag between 3 sizes, I think.)

Tat Hien Khoa It doesn’t get harder but it can become impossible. For example, I simply cannot play Chopin Op.10 no.4 on a regular size piano at anywhere close to the speed it usually goes. On narrow keys it becomes doable and very satisfying. Dagmar Did you enjoy playing the 6.0?

Linda Gould yes, enjoyed it so much. I dream of getting a 6.0 but Yamaha told me they don't offer the transducer b.

It's very expensive to ask a piano builder to change the keyboard, plus transport etc... 

And I would love to get the opportunity to try a 5.5 as well, because on a 6.0 I still can't reach a 10th. But I am a bit afraid that a 5.5 might be too slim for my thick fingers in the black key spaces..

Dagmar Like you, I cannot reach a 10th on a 6.0 but I can on a 5.5 (so satisfying).  Also like you, my fingers are not slender enough to glide in between black keys on narrower keys, which is why the black keys on the narrow digital 5.5 keyboard are narrower and allow for this.   

After talking to my piano playing husband, many men cannot play easily in between the black keys and angle their finger when necessary to compensate.  With small hands we have been fortunate to play in between the black keys with room to spare.  It's an easy adaption to make and you can play Bach fugues with lots of intricate dancing between the black keys with no issues.  I'm thinking of creating a video on this as this question comes up a lot.  

Linda Gould oh I'd love to watch that! And I am still hoping that one day stetto pianos get more affordable and common in Germany. I have to talk to Steingräber again at the next fair. It can't be that it's +20000€ - not on an upright. 

However I wouldn't want to buy blind. I don't dare to order a Hailun, because I don't know how they feel and sound. I find it so important to really love to touch your instrument, as it is a companion every day!

At the piano camp I qttended we could play on many different uprights and grand, and I was baffled how different they all were. Some of the uprights I wouldn't have wanted as a gift, I so much more enjoyed my digital at home. Others instead were great.

So that's what I am afraid of, especially when I decide to have the keys custom made for a high price.

Linda Gould I only got to try Hannah’s 6.0 in NYC last year and decided that my hand would enjoy a 5.5 more.  I dream of playing the lush Romantics without pain.

Dagmar Yes we are in the beginning phase of narrow key options and I hear your frustrations.  Consumers are used to low prices and lots of choice which is one of the main reasons the BIG companies haven't dived into this yet. It needs a large commitment of people, customers and cash to create something this new.  One hundred years ago an upright piano was a major purchase and took up a lot of space in a home.  It was played by almost everyone as it was a major source of entertainment (before radio and TV replaced it) and it was a major commitment of cash.  There were no music stores in rural areas and I know my Grandfather bought the piano my mom learned on off the back of a wagon in northern Alberta.  Interestingly that was the piano I learned to play on too.   We are paving a new way and that is hard but it's worth it.   Can't wait to tell you about a new option near the end of the year but must keep it under wraps for now!  

Linda Gould ooooh so excited! Can't wait to hear the news!

Linda Gould wow, immediately change sizes is a posible. Do you think it would get harder to adapt the more complex the piece is?

Tat Hien Khoa I think it's like taking stairs: once you know how stairs work, your body won't fall, no matter how small or large the steps are. It just adepts in relation to the step height.

When you play narrower keys you get used to the relative distances. Maybe for leaps you can't watch but need to play blind you might practise a bit more, but most of it will come intuitively.

I was amazed how quickly I could get used to the 6.0 looking down and blind smaller skips. Not more than 3 minutes! So have it at home and play for a week and you're fine!