A piano can be described as being the most finger-dependent instrument of all. Each hand is required to work in sync with the other in order to produce beautiful music. Most pianos have a standard key width and length. If your hands are small, it may sometimes be difficult to play the piano.
This problem is particularly faced by younger students when trying to reach the chords and perform the octave passages. It is easily for a player with large hands. However, with some creativity, there are several ways in which you can also play the piano with smaller-sized hands. Below are some tips for playing the piano with small hands. This list of tips is generally shared by piano tutors with their students and the results are very effective.
Stretch Your Fingers
Whether you have large hands or small hands, it is important to stretch them out. When you stretch your fingers, you maximize the fullest extension of your hands, increasing blood flow and your ability to play the piano more fluently. Generally, beginners come into lessons with tight fingers and if they also have small hands, it really obstructs their piano-playing ability. For this purpose, you can follow basic but effective stretch protocol.
Start with your thumb and pull it back slowly until it has been completely stretched out. Next, move on to the index finger and so forth until you have reached the pinkie. Then you should go back to the thumb, completely extend it and drag it straight up with the index and middle fingers of the other hand. Lastly, you should give your fingers a wiggle and a shake. This method should be repeated for both hands in order to completely stretch them out. If you want, you can also stretch out the palms of your hands.
Breaking Up Chords
More than likely, the chords are going to be the most challenging thing for a pianist to play if he or she has small hands. Luckily, a student can split up the chords so that one group of notes can be played before the other. Another thing a pianist can do to deal with this issue is to redistribute the fingering. You may play the chord without rolling if you used 5, 4, 2, and 1, or even play two notes with one finger. These are some possibilities but in reality, it depends on the size of your hand.
Omitting Notes
In addition to breaking up the chords, a pianist with small hands also has the option of omitting notes. You should not omit everything that you see because it may ruin the structure of the piece. Beyond the chords, there is passagework that may contain the hard-to-reach areas.
In particular, the octaves are more ideal for omitting notes because it is simply the doubling of the pitch. You should listen to the character of the piece and then you can decide if the thumb or the pinkie needs to be left out. On many occasions, it will be the account that will be left out by you, but sometimes it will be flip.
Using A Custom-sized Keyboard
Pianos are created in a standard size, particularly concert grands. However, in the past, it was a major issue and unless you had a lot of money, you could not get a custom-sized piano. But these days, pianos come in all shapes and sizes. Some of them have narrower keys. Others have wider keys, and there are some pianos that have fewer octaves or they are simply for kids.
However, you should refer to such a piano only if you are a really young student under the age of six years. At that point, a child would be in preschool and not in the position of playing a normal-sized piano anyway. On the other hand, if a child is six years or older, they should simply wait and grow into the instrument with time.
Playing On The Sides Of Your Fingers
The real technique of playing with small hands is different from what has been taught to most of us. Nearly every method book will tell you to grab a tennis ball and use that as a form for curved fingers. However, this method may not work, especially in the event that you are not able to reach the keys.
Sometimes it is effective to play on the sides of your fingers. This is particularly true when it comes to reaching those octaves that the pianists can learn into notes and also into the chords. Although it may not appear to be the prettiest course, with this method, you can get through.
Playing Higher On The Keys
Pianists with smaller hands can also play higher notes on the keys. In this way, the meaning is not to be literally closer to the fallboard. Generally, this would be useful for chord clusters, but will also prove to be effective in the case of scalar passages as well.
However, some serious choreography is needed to pull this off or else the sound will become jumbled. There are also drawbacks to this, including the loss of speed because you will be somewhat shifting positions on the keyboard. Although it is not a favorite solution, it still works, particularly when used correctly.
Flattening Out Your Fingers
This is nearly the same as stitching and playing at the same time. If you have seen some of great musicians playing on YouTube, you must have noticed that they flatten their fingers significantly. However, this is a technical skill that is specifically available to some persons, and if you have small fingers, this is one of the good options available to you.
It is also recommended that you play with some curvature to your fingers. You should not be afraid of flattening and lowering your hand so that your technique can look good. In the case of the octaves, flattening your hand really appears to be helpful and at the same time, it also frees you to move around. In the case of some chords, the player can also splat down if the notes are close enough.
Conclusion
If a pianist is young, it needs to be understood that with time, their fingers are going to grow. There will be certainly some pieces that you may not be able to play right now, but that is completely fine. Even if you are an adult, working on your hands little by little will make both flexible and allow them to reach further on the keyboard.
