Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Pianist Corner >1 octave spans

Let's not.

Possibly the thread title is skewing the results by appealing more to those whose span is over an octave?

I'm 6'1, sorry, didn't realize we were keeping track of height as well.

C'mon now, don't tell fibs. There's no way Art Vandelay is any taller than 5'6".

Now that you mention it, I hope than no 5'6" snowflake ever falls on me, let alone two of them!

LOL. Actually, my height makes my reach seem rather pathetic, really. Seems I should be able to reach more, given all the sub-six footers here with the same reach.

That's a good point. One of my habits is to stretch to reach notes instead of moving my hand, and I'm realizing that stretching takes considerable muscle power and it puts a lot of strain on joints, particularly the wrist. My fingers are very webbed so they will move apart but only with considerable effort, and after multiple bouts of swollen wrist bones I'm starting to reexamine my fingering and technique.

I guess most people who say they can reach a 10th mean they can play a C-E 10th blocked (in which case they should be able to play all minor 10ths and white key to white key major 10ths). I wonder how many people here can also play 10ths like D-F# or Eb-G. I can play a C-G-C-E chord comfortably with the right hand, but I can't even touch the F# with the pinky when holding the D with the thumb.

At a scant 5'4" (the only thing I have in common with Mozart...), I'm checking in with both hands as a solid nine, but, oh, what I wouldn't give for that extra note...(to say nothing of being able to grab things from shelves in my own kitchen without fetching the stepping-stool)

At 5'8", my former teacher had small hands like mine, but a generous amount of flex in the tissue between thumb and index finger on both hands--she's good for a tenth chord in either hand. I've tried gentle stretches over a couple of years, but haven't noticed any improvement at all. Scar tissue from a now-healed 4-stitch gash on my left pinkie didn't help either...

Height and span do correlate, but there are exceptions. For example, I know a woman who is 5'1'' and can reach a tenth.

Unfortunately, the white to black keys major 10th is where my reach fails. I have to roll the Eb-G and Fb-Ab intervals in Leibestraum. Also, some minor thirds are more difficult than others, for example I can block F-Ab, but I have to slightly roll C#-E.

There's also an 11th in Liebestraum, but it should be rolled anyway.

LOL, I always mess up that spelling.

female - 5'2"
9/10 (depending on the 10th)

I exceeded the 6-hour time limit to keep editing my original post with new data. So here is our hand span chart again, fresh.

"Span" means useful hand span in notes. For example, you get a "10" if you can span and play any, but not necessarily every, 10th.

Span | Height | Name
. 8 . . . . . . . . . . MelbourneMark
. 8 . . . . 5'4" . . .jdw
. 8 . . . . 5'8" . . .MikeN
. 8 . . . 5'10" . . .BrainCramp
. 9 . . . . . . . . . . gooddog
. 9 . . . . . . . . . . Svenno
. 9 . . . . 5'4" . . .ec
10 . . . . . . . . . . Derulux
10 . . . . . . . . . . Verbum mirabilis
10 . . . . . . . . . . JoelW
10 . . . . 5'2" . . .currawong
10 . . . . 5'6" . . .TwoSnowflakes
10 . . . . 5'9" . . .argerichfan
10 . . . 5'10" . . .carey
10 . . . 5'10" . . .the nosy ape
10 . . . . 6'0" . . .trigalg693
10 . . . . 6'0" . . .Francisco Scalco
10 . . . . 6'1" . . .Vid
10 . . . . 6'1" . . .Parks
10 . . . . 6'1" . . .Art Vandelay
10 . . . . 6'2" . . .Brad Hoehne
11 . . . . . . . . . . Polyphonist
11 . . . 5'10" . . .wr
11 . . . 5'11" . . .Ataru074
11 . . . . 6'1" . . .doctor S

I can scrape a 10th on the edges of the keys. Depending on the specific interval, I can sometimes play an octave 14 and play the upper third with 5. But I wouldn't want to keep my hand in this position very long...

6'1" - can span most 10ths, I think something like A to C# is beyond me.

my ogre hand can get 11ths on black keys and the black - white 10th.
my thumb is pretty "elastic" thanks to years of volleyball.

Oh, lol, I thought the span was in inches . In that case, I can reach a tenth.

I can touch the F# barely if I am trying to not hit other keys. If you allow the E to be depressed with the thumb as well, I can hit the F# with reasonable comfort.

I can get the F# too if I depress the E, barely avoiding depressing the F above the E.