Thank you for visiting my website. I started this project initially to simply provide an outlet for my own research, thoughts and ideas. I wanted to record some of the challenges, techniques, revelations and workarounds of playing the piano with a small span. I also wanted to explore the techniques of famous pianists with smaller spans. I would like this website to be a bit of a go-to site for information, to provide links to other websites on the topic, and to explore the instrument itself and the current options for modified keyboards that can accomodate smaller spans. My hope is that the information presented here will be useful and of interest to other pianists. 

 

What is the definition of a small hand?

 

Over the years there have been many attempts to define a small hand. Here is a list of some of the most common definitions with regards to piano playing:

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• a finger 1 to finger 5 span of 8 inches or less (David Steinbuhler)

• a finger 1 to finger 5 span of 8 1/2 inches or less

• an inability to reach a 10th (Tretip Kamolsiri)

• an inability to comfortably play an octave

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Definitions such as these are always going to be problematic, since every hand is unique, every circumstance is individual, and perceptions will always differ. My own octave stretch is not particularly comfortable, but what I think of as a comfortable stretch may be completely different to what you think of as comfortable. I can stretch to a maximum of just about 8-inches, but I can also force-stretch a 10th if I really, really try. You could also make a distinction between small / large for women vs small / large for men. Lora Deahl and Brenda Wristen, in their excellent book "Adaptive Strategies for Small-Handed Pianists", consider the concept of a small hand to be "self-defined". Essentially, you have a small hand if you perceive your hand span to be causing problems for your own pianistic development. Of course, your own perception of what is causing a problem could in itself be mis-guided, but at least this is a more tailored approach that moves beyond simple definitions. 

 

In my view, what is important is not so much defining a specific boundary for a small / large hand, but determining the unique qualities of the individual hand (maximum span, palm width, finger flexibility, finger length, strength and abduction of the fingers) and then considering the techniques that will be most beneficial for the individual. Ideally, this would also involve matching the hand to a piano that is correctly scaled for the individual, but at the moment this remains beyond the reach of most pianists. I have often dreamt about a time when narrow-width keys would become widely available, and although that time is still in the distant future, a lot of positive change is starting to happen in this area. The first narrow-width stage piano, named Athena, is currently in production at the time of this writing (summer 2025). More manufacturers are now building either pianos, or bespoke keyboards with smaller keys and the technology to produce these keyboards is getting better. Information about ergonomically scaled pianos is becoming more widespread, but there is still much to be done to spread the word and to convince the major manufacturers to get on board in order to increase availability and to bring the costs down. 
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Are there any advantages to having a small hand?

 

If you consider yourself to have small hands, there are, thankfully, some silver-linings to this particular cloud. Firstly, a small hand, or thin fingers, can arguably navigate the keys better than a large hand, or wider fingers. Delicate chromatic, scalic, or onamental passages can often be easier to control. For larger-handed pianists, large or long fingers can get in the way. Smaller-handed pianists typically don't have this problem. Pianists with wider fingers can sometimes struggle to squeeze the fingers in-between the black keys, whereas thinner fingers can do this with ease, slding the hand backwards and forwards to gain the best position. Longer fingers often hit the fall board at the back of the keys. Not so for shorter fingers. For those with wider fingers, there is a greater chance of hitting two notes at once. For narrower fingers the surface area of the keys is greater in comparison to the finger tips. FInally, if like me, your smaller hand span has spurred you on to seek answers, to research, to find solutions, then you will have benefitted from the time spent wrestling with your small span! From my own perspective, I know that I am a better teacher and performer due to this drive to overcome technical challenges. When I do finally own an ergonimcally-scaled instrument that fits my hands, I know that I am going to appreciate it all the more, precisely because of the struggle.

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Narrow-key pianos

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The idea of narrow-key pianos, or ESPK's (Ergonomicall Scaled Piano Keyboards), tailored to the individal hand, is a relatively recent phenomemon, but the idea of building keyboards with varying key / octave widths has been around as long as keyboard instruments have been around. Prior to the mid-19th century it was more common to find pianos with narrower octave widths than today's standard of 6.5-inches. The differences in key-width between one piano and the next was admittedly generally not that large (certainly no more than around half an inch), but the point is that pianos did indeed vary before the advent of mass manufacture. Today, the standard 6.5-inch octave reigns supreme. Most pianists do not have a choice when it comes to selecting a piano to fit their hands. Short of giving up playing entirely, you either have to soldier on and adapt as best you can with the repertoire you want to learn, or you have to restrict your choice of repertoire in order to avoid large stretches.

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Hand span and piano playing-related pain and injury

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Pianists with small hands tend to over-stretch the hands more frequently than those with larger spans. When this is done repeatedly and / or rapidly, for instance when playing consecutive octaves or large chords, the risk of pain and injury is also likely to increase. From my own perspective, I do a lot of practice almost every day and I regularly have to adopt technical workarounds in order to avoid large stretches. My knowledge of piano technique helps me to maintain relaxation in the hands and fingers. Despite this, it is frequently necessary to over-stretch my hand, for example in order to play consecutive octaves, 9ths, or complex chord structures. Some people say that pain and discomfort are always avoidable with good technique, but I disagree. If stretching your hand to play an octave causes discomfort, even with good technique, then there is little that can be done, short of avoiding octaves alltogether. When practicing pieces that require a lot of large stretches, invitably fatigue sets in and I start to notice soreness and eventually pain in my right hand. My right hand is 1/4 inch smaller in terms of span than my left hand, and interestingly I do not suffer the same discomfort in my left hand. This may be purely a coincidence, and the pain could have more to do with the fact that the right hand, espeically the 5th finger, is a key compenonent in voicing a chord and bringing out a strong melodic line. That being said, it will be interesting to see if the soreness and pain continues once I am in posession of my own ergonomically-scaled piano and have road tested it for a while.

 

by Anthony Fountain

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