5 Pro Tips For Small Hands at the Piano

It's not only about how far you can stretch your hands. It's how you use them.

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Chapters:
0:00 Intro
1:14 No. 1
2:42 No. 2
3:20 No. 3
3:36 No. 4
4:38 No. 5

[JD-]

Thank you for covering this topic. I am also a petite woman with smaller hands than larger people have. As an intermediate pianist, I do fine with most pieces I attempt to play. But recently I tried a piece that had many many octaves consecutively throughout the piece and I started to notice tension in my hands. The problem is that my hands had to stay in the stretched out position much of the time instead of being able to contract back into a rounded position. I decided to scrap that piece even though I was just a few measures from having learning it all. I decided there were other versions that also sounded pretty but easier on my smaller hands. Thank you. It’s nice to know I wasn’t just being lazy.

[lindimashinini]

Just started learning keyboard... started with what I thought was a simple song, but I soon realized my little T-rex claws are gonna make it challenging, i'm trying not to let this discourage me, so thank you for the tips

[salanimillward]

Thank you so much for this video. I have arthritic hands that don’t stretch so far but I still want to play and this has given me such hope and confidence . Thank you again, God bless you 🙌🙌😇😇

[georgezhu]

"I can't play everything I want" enlightens me, thank you!

[lawrencetaylor]

Merci. I can cover an octave. I tried stretchy exercises but that aggravated my FURS Syndrome so I stopped right away. I have a problem with both shoulders, and don't do crossover techniques. I sleep well at night.
If any of you are playing with pains, I have a video on exercises and treatments for pianists, Oh My Aching Bach.
There are also smaller keyboards. There is a video of someone that sought out people that benefit from playing this keyboard, and it was inspiring.
There is one scene of a young lady sitting at the keyboard, trying out a tenth, and then she's overcome by emotion. I can understand the years of humiliation she must have felt.
Hailun, Narrow Keys, Steingraeber.

[josephusk]

Super video. Very warm and sensitive. Very sensible and practical. Thank you so much!

[loripage]

Really good and useful video. Thank you very much.

[musical_lolu]

In the YT video 'Piano's Darkest Secret', the answer is clear. Smaller size keyboards have to be the way forward.

[thriftTDvelvette]

thank you for sharing these tips! they're helping me really solidify everything i've picked up here and there about playing this instrument with tiny hands!

[mattrogers]

lots of good tips here, thanks! Well presented in concise format. As a mid beginner halfway through Faber adult book 2, really enjoying your content.

[andrewag]

Excellent tips. Thank you for posting these lessons. By the way, can you provide a list of small-handed pianists? I'm sure many are longing to see some of them playing .

[crisoliveira]

I can reach a ninth at the edge of the keys. 😊 Hands size small plus!

[dagmarintreble]

Thank you for clearly admitting that some repertory is not playable or you leave out notes. I am practicing Chopin Prélude A major 28.7 and the big chord is so impossible. To hear a professionsl pianist say that she maybe won't play all notes helps me feel a lot better in my need to find a solution and play slightly different from what's written in the music.

[kobjd]

Thank you for these insights. It so happens that for me these tips are not required (as I can reach an octave and a fifth [e.g., C past C to H] Nevertheless, I greatly appreciate your tips, and I am sure I can use them, even though I am not your target audience for this video.
After playing for +-10 years I stopped playing piano, but after about 50 years, and soon after retirement I bought a digital piano, and am trying to return to the pieces I enjoyed most.
Your practical approach is extremely helpful. Besides your great skills at the keyboard, you are also an excellent teacher! Bravo for both!

[jamrolypolypud]

A big 'thank you' for covering this topic. As a 60+ male with small hands, I was very annoyed with myself for not being able to reach all the notes, except octaves, and this meant I couldn't play all the pieces I wanted. I've only been playing a few months so I'm struggling anyway, but your video gives me hope for the future. I already have 'trigger thumb' on left hand because I was playing too much too soon....and not warming my hands first. Lesson learned 😮

[heidivanooijen-blezer]

Thank you for these tips. I am going to work with them. :-)

[stirpiano]

Unrelated but I love your voice it's very pleasant

[melianthasoenaryo]

Thank youuu for this content..this also be my problem as a pianist with small hand.. im agree with u..i cant play all the repertoire i want but its ok cuz a lot another that also beautifull..and im also not a huge fan of stretching exercise hehe..

[MathieuPrevot]

You will be jaleous. I can play the chord c3-e3-b[flat]3, c4, e4 with my left hand, or octava with right hand 1-2, c3-a3 with 2-3 or 3-4. But, still I can't play everything as written, I have sometimes to arpeggiate chords (eg., many 10th from Godowsky étude 4, like d2-a2-f#3). But that's fine. Horowitz does that too (gracefully) because the chord is too big. The thing I wanted to share is that I was not born like this, I worked on that, regularly, gently, for years, and progressively, new chords became accessible. One other thing that sometimes pianists have, is an extremely extensible thumb (highly separable from the rest); and Ravel is one of them, and one can see that in his music (yes I can't play all the chords from his left hand concerto today, I was able a while ago but I did not practice the concerto and the stretching for a while).
So: stretch gently after warmup, every day, and expect the best, over months and years. Likewise anyone can expect to do splits in yoga, but eventually it could take few years. And eat well and healthy.

[bunnyvanyplaylist]

Thanks. I have short handy too. After playing, I feel bit tired of those chords and octaves.