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Joined: Mar 2013
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So I'm proud to say that I have an astonishingly large hand span of 40 cm!
No, you don't. 40 cm=16 inches, which would give you a span of over 2 octaves on the piano. Try running your calculations again. 
Regards,
Polyphonist
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Was it just me, or was WhizBang exaggerating the thing he was measuring against, lol.
Oh, and my 'tip to tip' span is 21.5cm, sounds average.. right?
Last edited by Randalthor; 04/22/13 10:33 AM.
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Joined: Dec 2011
Posts: 947
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I have a span of 17 1/2 on the right, 18 on the left. I can reach an octave with both (but no keys in the middle if I do that.) When I first started playing I couldn't even do one octave. Is it normal for beginners? I think so. With practice our hands naturally stretch out. Scales, chromatic scales etc are probably the most useful for teaching you the board and gently stretching your hand. I think it's more important to focus on technique, sight reading, rhythm etc then worrying about how far we can stretch. 
Becca Began: 01-12-11 ![[Linked Image]](https://www.pianoworld.com/ABF_Medals/1medal.jpg) ![[Linked Image]](https://www.pianoworld.com/forumpicts/MOYD12/MOYD_2.gif) Roland RD300NX
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Joined: Oct 2012
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Was it just me, or was WhizBang exaggerating the thing he was measuring against, lol.
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Joined: Apr 2012
Posts: 275
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Steinbuhler makes smaller width keyboards for pianos. They have a chart on their website showing a distribution of people's hand sizes. You can see where you fall on the spectrum. It's here: http://www.steinbuhler.com/html/our_research.html
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Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 1,607
1000 Post Club Member
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So I'm proud to say that I have an astonishingly large hand span of 40 cm!
No, you don't. 40 cm=16 inches, which would give you a span of over 2 octaves on the piano. Try running your calculations again. Too funny. If you hand span is 8.5 inches, for example, the conversion if you don't own a metric ruler is 8.5 in * 2.54 cm/in = 21.59 cm. A 40 cm hand would look very out of proportion for anyone shorter than 10-feet.  By the way, if you measure the distance of keys on a piano, an octave is 16 cm; a 9th is 19 cm; and a 10th is 21 cm, or there abouts. However, in order to play a chord of 3 or 4 notes involving a 9th reliably, you'll need to be able to reach about 21 cm. In the last 3 years, there has been exactly one piece of music requiring a legato 10th that I was able to play where my teacher had to play non-legato, so there is one thing I could do that my teacher cannot, but there are a million things my teacher can do that I cannot, so I think unless you are 12-years-old considering a performance career, it really makes no difference whatsoever. And even if you are that 12-year-old with a smaller hand, there's nothing you should do about it.
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Joined: Oct 2012
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Too funny. If you hand span is 8.5 inches, for example, the conversion if you don't own a metric ruler is 8.5 in * 2.54 cm/in = 21.59 cm. A 40 cm hand would look very out of proportion for anyone shorter than 10-feet. But that would mean I was wrong about the size of my ruler. Unthinkable!
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Joined: Mar 2013
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I think we need an upload photo of Whizbang's hands!
Surprisingly easy, barely an inconvenience. Kawai K8 & Kawai Novus NV10 13x ![[Linked Image]](https://www.pianoworld.com/forum/gallery/42/thumbs/7728.jpg) ![[Linked Image]](https://www.pianoworld.com/forum/gallery/42/thumbs/5225.png)
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Joined: Jul 2012
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I'm thinking everybody is missing Whizbang's joke... which is probably for the best. 
"...when you do practice properly, it seems to take no time at all. Just do it right five times or so, and then stop." -- JimF Working on: my aversion to practicing in front of my wife 1978 Vose & Sons spinet "Rufus" 1914 Huntington upright "Mabel" ![[Linked Image]](/ABF_Medals/4medals.jpg) XXIX-XXXII
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Joined: Oct 2012
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2000 Post Club Member
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I'm thinking everybody is missing Whizbang's joke... which is probably for the best. True. Don't make me upload a photo!
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