Piano's Darkest Secret

There's a dark shadow in the piano world, an unspoken acknowledgement that having small hands is a deadly curse for a pianist. Whenever the topic appears, people quickly hush each other and avoid it, as if dwelling on it for too long will bring out an evil spirit. But the true secret is even darker: the curse has a cure, but it's being suppressed. You go to the doctor for a disease and they prescribe you everything except the one treatment that actually works.

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NOTE: One of the researchers commented additional references:

Awesome video and thanks for using our data. If anyone is interested, here are a few references for research conducted at UNT.
Shamoto, Yoshiko. Piano-related musculoskeletal disorders: Posture and pain. University of North Texas, ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 2013. 3579241.
Yoshimura, E. Risk factors for piano-related pain among college students and piano teachers: Possible solutions for reducing pain by using the ergonomically modified keyboard. University of North Texas, ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 2009. 3399464
Yoshimura, E. Chesky, K. The Application of an Ergonomically Modified Keyboard to Reduce Piano-Related Pain. Music Teachers National Association E-Journal. (2009). 1(2), 2-13.
Yoshimura E, Fjellman-Wiklund Paul, Aerts, Chesky. Risk factors for playing-related pain among piano teachers. Medical Problems of Performing Artists: 23(3): 107-111. 2008
Chesky K, Yoshimura E; Furuya S Hand size and PRMDs in Japanese female pianists. Medical Problems of Performing Artists 2007. 22(1):39-40
Yoshimura E, Paul PM, Aerts C, Chesky K. Risk factors for piano-related pain among college students. Medical Problems of Performing Artists. 2006. 21(3):118-125
Pak CH, Chesky K . Prevalence of hand, finger, and wrist musculoskeletal problems in keyboard instrumentalists: The University of North Texas Musician Health Survey Medical Problems of Performing Artists. 2001. 16(1):17-23.
Pak., C. Prevalence of hand, finger, and wrist musculoskeletal problems in keyboard instrumentalists: The University of North Texas Musician Health Survey. University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth, ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 2000. 1402611

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[imgaryrb]

Who ever genuinely saw Rachmaninoff and Liszt's hand and said they were “standard” really wanted to see the world burn

[MusicalBasics]

It took me 5 months to compile the footage for this video. I traveled many hours to far off locations in Germany and Pennsylvania, because it's a topic that needs to be addressed seriously and I wanted to do my best to do it justice. It's my hope that people will watch this and do one simple thing: to remember this video, the next time they consider buying a piano or keyboard.

[TheGuitologist]

This is absolutely fascinating. Not something I've ever considered, but OF COURSE pianists should be given a choice. Guitarists have many choices to suit our custom specifications, so why not pianists?

[Adam_Pianist]

Thank you for doing all this research and making this video. I got out my ruler, and it turns out my hands are exactly 8.5 inches. It would be so nice to try one of these pianos with more narrow keys, and I absolutely think that piano manufacturers should start making these.

[Claske]

As a non-pianist this was still the most moving and inspiring thing I've watched in a very long time. I hope you get the awareness-ball rolling so that more can play the piano in a relaxed fashion. The footage of the woman crying from just barely touching the smaller width keyboard was the absolute best part. Thank you for a great video!

[KMikeSavoy]

I'm not gonna lie, I got choked up myself thinking back on the frustration I witnessed in a girl I loved. So passionate and so good despite her petite build, her frustration unfortunately led her to stop pursuing her passion and eventually just stopped playing at all.

[mooster]

I'm a little amazed that you didn't mention that a smaller keyboard would be so much better for young students. It's remarkable when you consider that small violins for beginners have been the norm for a very long time. Little ones can learn it long before their arms would be long enough for a full size instrument, and the same is obviously true of the piano. Thank you so much for this well researched and thoughtfully presented video!

[oliviahart]

My daughter loves playing piano, but small hands run in the family. She is excited for her hands to grow, but sadly I know that might never happen. Wish this option was more widely available.

[SKySWiM]

What a surprisingly simple solution to a problem nearly every pianist suffers from. I am guessing that the average piano player would assume that it would be bad to learn on a narrower keyboard, because they could not adjust back to a wider one. I thought this too. This video needs to go viral, to build a demand for narrower keyboards. Thanks for the video!

[NahreSol]

Definitely a very important topic! Thanks for covering this and bringing awareness on this subject. Keyboard size is one of the reasons I like the world of synthesizers, despite awful non-weighted action sometimes :)))

[nasri]

Massive respect to Mr David Steinbuhler. I hope this video eventually brings him so much business that those mega piano companies will have to eat their words and scramble to make smaller pianos for this "insignificant" market share.

[tancha]

I always blamed myself for not being able to reach some notes or play smoothly with relaxed hands like some others, until I saw the Chopin piano part of this video

This is a serious issue for pianists worldwide

Thank you for your dedication to reveal this

[codybill]

As a manufacturing engineer, it doesn't surprise me at all how much money that guy has spent in making those keys of different sizes. High-quality one-off or low volume production is very expensive for a number of reasons. What an interesting video.

Also, I'll be honest, I'm not a pianist. I've never played, and never used to find it even that interesting (until your channel). But I sincerely hope that the industry begins acknowledging and accommodating these very basic differences. It's such a simple idea, and you really seem to be on to something. The data definitely seems to support your conclusions.

[rdpag]

You have my deepest respect in speaking up and spreading awareness to let other pianist know that there are alternate keyboard sizes out there.

[QueenRaven]

My story here is a bit long, so please bear with me...

I started playing piano when I was 7. I'm 172 cm (or 5'8"), but I have genetically very small hands (maximum stretch only 18.5 cm, a 2 cm short from an octive). I've always envy people who have long fingers because I can barely reach an octive. I could never properly play Turkish March because I struggled so much, even with 2 hours of daily practice until I turned 18, passed all the exams. Still, I thought that maybe I'm just not very good at it...if I were, why would I struggle so much?

I picked up the cello at the age of 25. I never thought too much about the size of the cello since I was already a grown up, so naturally I picked up the 4/4 cello. In the first lesson, I told my teacher I was classically trained, played piano for many years but I wasn't very good at it...

I turned 40 not too long ago, and started playing jazz bass as well. I noticed my teacher's hands from day one, secretly admiring her long fingers. Today, I finally said to her, "I wish I have fingers like yours, I would've been a much better piano player."

Then she said something that hit me.
"If you think that it's you, it's not, it's the music industry." Then she quoted something from your video, "80% of women have smaller hands and they all struggle to play piano."

Why didn't I think of that before? Cellos come in 1/4, 1/2, 3/4, for people in different sizes. My 4 year old plays Ukulele and that comes in different sizes, but Pianos don't.

I own all 3 instruments, play my cello and bass everyday, but not the piano because it reminds me of 'I'm not very good at it" everytime I (attempt to) play an octive. My whole life I thought I wasn't worthy of it, it only took me over 3 decades to realise that, it wasn't me all along. If I get to play a narrower keyboard, I'd cry as well. Thank you for the enlightenment.

[warpzone]

It's honestly insane how ingrained the hand size = talent mindset is in the piano community. So many commenters saying they'd never considered a smaller keyboard and instead wished for larger hands, as if the piano's standard size is God-given and immutable

[wesleymango]

My hand size is actually the same size as yours. I've always been concerned about it and I thought I'd never be good enough to reach an advanced level. I'll probably never buy a custom keyboard, but just knowing that you (someone I assumed had larger hands) have a similar hand size to mine and is also so talented gives me so much more confidence.

[paulwolter]

The demand "isn't there" because the people with smaller hands quit

[iturea]

I can play all the 10ths and a couple of the 11ths without moving my hand. It has helped learning the piano a lot by having large hands, and me being only 7-ish months into piano I can handle most things with rapid octaves or big jumps, wondering why they were considered to be so hard. I totally agree with this video, because when I was a kid, I hated playing the piano, my hands always felt stretched and uncomfortable. Here I am now, regretting I quit, and wishing I could've gotten a smaller keyboard

[bryand]

before watching your video i didn't realize just how much this topic emotionally impacted me. it's always been there in my periphery, but as you said, instead of asking "why dont they sell pianos in different sizes, " my train of thought turned inwards to the path of self-hatred- "why wasn't i born with larger hands?" no one talks about the possibility of smaller keys, NO ONE. only after watching a video about the history of piano (and the instruments leading up to it) did i even learn that keys used to be smaller on similar pre-piano instruments.

it's always been, "how to play an octave with smaller hands" or "it's ok you don't have to play the octave." but i do want to!! and i want to do it comfortably! it feels so insidious that pain experienced b millions of people is ignored because manufacturers want to stick to a one-size fits all model. like someone already commented, it would be ridiculous to expect other instruments (like the guitar) to only be available in one size, so why is that the case for the piano? david is doing amazing work, and i hope his mission catches on. thank you to you for making this video! it was very informative, revealing, and entertaining :)