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I can reach a 10th somewhat comfortably in both hands.
LH can get pushed to an 11th!
But I really struggle with F# to A in both hands!
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Dominic Cheli
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Dominic Cheli I can reach a 10th.
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Surprised that Scriabin can only stretch an octave given some of his compositions! I am pretty comfortable with octaves (maybe a 9th here and there too).
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8th comfortably in either of my small hands, up to a major 9th on a good day ;)
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If I drop to the edge of the fingerboard, I can play 10ths in both hands.
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I can reach an unassisted 12th(from C-G) in both of my hands, but it鈥檚 easier in my left hand which is slightly bigger. I can reach an assisted 13th in my left hand.(from C-A)
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David Robinson WOW!
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David Robinson
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I can reach a 10th. I can play a 9th.
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Even Scriabin has a bigger reach than I do! I can force an octave but adding even a third or a chord is tricky. I do it, but it's kind of painful...I've been eagerly awaiting the first run of Stretto (narrow) keyboards being produced right now, and I'm going to hop onto their waiting list as soon as I hear reviews from the first crop of brave customers.
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Gail Starr I'm in the same boat of maybe an octave (on edge of the keyboard, or I'll have to bend the pinky). This was a good improvement compared to when I restarted in my mid 20s. Over the years I'm stretching my hands out enough that I could play octaves somewhat okay (eg. Schubert 960), but definitely requires hand stretching.
Please Keep me posted how the stretto keyboard works out for you! I have vested interest!
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Lc I am actually going to the Stretto Festival next week in NYC, so I hope I can try one in person! I'd be too nervous to buy one without trying it first, and there is no "sales center" in the US.
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Gail Starr wow!! I didn't know about the Stretto Festival! How exciting! I had been asking around and checking the website but never could figure out how to try one. I can't wait to hear your feedback on it!
I think some of the challenges remains - how would one take classes (at the teacher's studio) or college when there's only regular size keyboard. -
Gail Starr Hi Gail. My partner Kathy Strauch and I are the people making the NK 5.5 narrow digital keyboard. I am doing one of the online Stretto Festival concerts and I play on the NK 5.5 as well as a Yamaha grand fitted with a D.S. 5.5 keyboard. I've played on narrow keys for 25 years and it has been a transformative journey. I can still perform on the large keys but it is a chore compared to the JOY I get performing on narrow keys. With the digital keyboard (and a small grand piano case) I have so much more opportunity to perform on narrow keys now. I really hope you get a chance to try them out in NYC! I wish I could be there too! Hopefully next year. We have shipped 6 keyboards so far and the response has been amazing. Our goal is to make it more accessible for people to try.
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Linda Gould Hi Linda! I actually changed my schedule for the entire week so I could stay in NYC to attend the Stretto Festival in person (my old friend, Chris O'Riley is playing)!
I have been dreaming of trying a Stretto ever since I discovered your work, and now that I've developed some annoying hand pain when I play, I'm REALLY inspired to try one...and then get on the waiting list. Can't wait for the Festival! But, I'm sorry you can't be there this year.
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Gail Starr Enjoy! (I'm envious :-)
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I can reach an unassisted 11th, but in the context of playing a piece, it would be a "one and done" event, and then my hand would have to relax into something smaller for a moment. On the other hand, I can fairly comfortably play short passages in 10ths, for example in Brahms' Gigue in A minor which we learned recently for the Brahms mini challenge (see last bar of the 5th system and first bar of the bottom system).
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Alexander Weymann
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Like Dominic, I can reach a 10th in both hands, and from there my LH can push out to an 11th.
BTW, what was Glen Gould鈥檚 reach? Do we know? In the below YT of him playing AoF contrapunctus 1, he plays the first 8 measures with his RH alone. I think measure 6 would require a pretty impressive reach.
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Nine comfortably. 10th as well but white to black is easier than white to white.
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I can squeeze out a 9th at the edge of the keys with both hands on my regular sized piano but I can reach a comfortable 10th on my narrow key pianos :-)
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An octave is feasible in the context of most music for both hands. However, sometimes it is difficult to have all the notes within.
Meanwhile, I occasionally use forced 9th for slow passages.
I completely changed my technique over my graduate studies to perform Rachmaninoff with such hands.
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I can reach miner 10ths easily but just a couple of major 10ths.
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I can comfortably strike a tenth in both hands and s-t-r-e-t-c-h to an 11th. Although sometimes I wish I had shorter fatter fingers because, combined with a meaty forearm, these pianists seem to get the best tone. Anyone else notice this?
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