Do you need big hands to be a pianist?

It’s true that there are certain pieces that seem to require very large hands – but such pieces are really the exception rather than the rule. In general, if your hands can stretch an octave, you can play most piano music.

Is a 10th good for piano?

Adding a 10th note would further augment your hand expansion to 8.5 inches, and so on. Around two-thirds of female pianists with average hand spans would find it hard to cover an entire octave. So, if you have an antique piano, you might find its keys and octave smaller.

Does playing piano give you veiny hands?

Why do pianists have veiny hands? Pianists, especially professionals, practice for many hours a day. And when you play the piano for an extended period, blood flows into your hands’ increases. This causes the hand veins of many pianists to be more prominent.

What is average hand span?

Average adult hand size

Gender	Average length	Average breadth
Male	7.6 inches	3.5 inches
Female	6.8 inches	3.1 inches

What is a good hand span for piano?

An important benchmark separating ‘small’ from ‘large’ hands is a span of 8.5 inches. Up to this point, the pianist cannot normally play a tenth, and more importantly, fast passages of octaves and large chords can be uncomfortable and involve pain or tension.

What is the difference between a pianist’s hands and their appearance?

In most cases there is almost no difference in appearance – however, there are exceptions: Notice that Chopin’s hand has extremely developed muscle in the palm – due to a lifetime of playing and composing. The phrase, “The beautiful hands of a pianist” comes primarily from sentimental fiction.

Why did 19th century pianists have such small hands?

1) the pianists of the 19th century, especially the female students (which comprised a majority of those taught) had very small hands that could barely reach an octave. The only private student of Anton Rubinstein, Josef Hoffmann, had a hand so small that the Steinway factory made a special piano for him with narrower width white keys.

Is hand span still a big issue?

Of course not, but hand span is still a big issue, because without a proper octave reach it is practically impossible to become really comfortable with much of the piano literature. So while the OP may be wasting his time with this, hand span is a real problem for many people.

Is it possible to enlarge your hand span with Piano Yoga?

This piano yoga specialist, Genia, claims to be able to increase your hand span organically and safely. Anyone has any experience? She does seem to have credentials so I suppose it is not the piano equivalent of enlargement pills for men. How much would you like to enlarge? I’d love to increase my hand span from a 10th to a 12th.