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Hey,

I was wondering. What kind of hands are the best to play a Piano with, should you have thick fingers or thin? large or small fingers?

I really dont have any idea, it probabably doesnt even matter, i gues? just curious.

i would say it doesn't really matter. but, someone who can barely reach an octave, for example, would have more difficulty playing Rachmaninov than someone with a larger reach.

The best kind of hands are the kind that practice a lot

good answer frank.

strong, supple, flexible of whatever size -do Liszt's exercises and Hanon

I agree with Frank, and would add: The best kind of hands? The one's that are attached to my own wrists.

But I can't resist the literal answer... Not too long, not too short, not too thick, not too thin, and very limber but not overly loose.

How's that?!

Hehe thanks for the replies. I know it is a bit of a weird thread ;-) but thanks for the repleis

I would say a chimp's hands are best because their fingers are very long, even longer than Rachmanov's.

I would have to say, fairly large hands. For a woman I suppose one would have to say, rather long fingered hands.

Reason is tenth intervals. Depends on the piece, of course. But some composers just riddle their pieces with tenths. Alexander Tcherepnin is one.

I am currently playing a new book of Christmas music I just purchased. A couple of the pieces have numerous tenth intervals.

All I will say, if I had very small hands I would be selective about what I chose to play.

There are a couple of other tactics -- such as to roll chords, but here, one must realize one is not playing what was intended by the composer. When composers want a roll, they mark it.

Another alternative is to actually change the chord. Sometimes I actually do this because a particular chord just irritates me -- sounds "dead" for example. Keep a pencil near the keyboard.

Good luck--

the hands with thin and long fingers are certainly the best! my hands are small though, and though fingers are thin, they're not long enough.

NOT clean hands!

Go wash your hands with soap and then go play the piano; very sticky to do!

I sometimes "blow dry" or even use some powder on my hands to really get a nice touch to the keys. You don't want that super-ultra grip squeeky clean feel in your fingertips as it can really slow you down.

Very dry fingers seems to work good too. Like I said, try blow drying your hands and fingers for a minute before playing, you may find a huge difference.

Bowlers and pool players do this all the time.

Hands with six fingers.

Signa--

If I were in your place, I would consult with my teacher if I happened to start on a a piece with quite a few tenths. I'm sure your teacher encounters this all the time.

And if you are selecting a piece for purchase, quickly leaf through the score in the music shop, so at least you can see what kinds of reach the piece will demand.

Usually you don't find tenths in anything below a "book four" or so, since young people generally could not span a tenth. And frequent tenths are seldom appropriate for mid-grades learning.

Just to mention, I am re-learning Myra Hess's arrangement of Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring. It has frequent tenths. Some are marked to be rolled, and some not.

Best luck--

i just selected that yesterday to relearn.. Christmasy..

Great tip Mr. Hunk

Glyptodont,

You hit it on the head. Although people with a wide variety of hand sizes and shapes can be very successful pianists, large hands with relative slim fingers would seem to give you an advantage. [I almost said it would give you "a leg up," but that would have been horrible!]

I know those Tcherepnin pieces, and long fingers certainly help you play the tenths without mashing other notes. My son is starting Gershwin's Prelude #2, and that's another piece with tenths. He can't quite reach it, but in another year or two the problem will disappear (his mom has exactly the right hand shape).

While learning rhapsody in blue, originally I could barely reach the 10ths. The secret I discovered was to stay loose when playing them; it increases your reach at least .5in. I was tensing up in an effort to really hammer those FFF 10ths in some spots, what I learned through my teacher was that if you stay loose and use more the weight of your arm and shoulder, sort of using your fingers as an extension, you can achieve longer reach, and volume with a tone, as opposed to just volume.

The best fingers are the fingers with great technique.

thanks for advices. i haven't encounter any pieces yet with 10th so far. only piece with 9th is Moonlight 1st movement, where i could barely reach those 9ths from keyboard edge.