Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Pianist Corner Online petition to big piano manufacturers...

The conventional piano keyboard is never going to be abolished ! It's just about offering many pianists more size choice and playing on a keyboard more comfortable. For most women and children the current size has always been actually to large, but has never been seriously questioned until now ....

This is a funny post.

I meant whole. R and L aren't even near each other on my keyboard.

Pianos are already bloody expensive as they are now. Making them offer more variety will just make them even more.

In that case, please edit your post. It is offensive.

Only because some uninformed people have made it funny, though. The concept has already been proven, the trick is creating a marketable demand that major manufacturers can take advantage of.

No, but there are people who have more than one action for their piano. There was one who posted here about having the hammers voiced differently and swapping them out quite often.

So, this solution already exists. What's the point of the petition?

Aren't those actions with differently voiced hammers but the same size keys?

I'd think the most logical solution would be a midi controller, something like a cheap VPC1. That would be the cheapest and most versatile solution to test the water.

I could see it being quite popular with the amount of kids taking up piano in the asian countries, not being able to play an octave locks you out of a huge amount of repertoire, and as noted in the petition even if you can just reach it (which would be the reach of a large amount of asian females) the strain can be very injury inducing.

Do you have any evidence that Asian females often can just reach an octave? There are an awful lot of Asian females at music schools and conservatories in the U.S.

Just google and you will find research on hand size. Not only Asians but many females everywhere (even some men) can just about reach an octave. Those who can't probably never become pianists. Part of the selection process that depends on the instrument rather than skill.

BTW. I don't know how true it is, but I have heard that some Asian women serious about the piano have gone all the way to surgery to expand their span.

There are small manufacturers who propose this solution. Steinbuhler specialises in reduced-size keyboards and a few independent piano makers will make them on command. The petition is directed at the major piano makers: Yamaha, Kawai et al. If you want to know what the petition is trying to achieve, you can read it.

Read the petition and you will find information on this subject. For more statistical details on hand spans, here is an article sumarising recent surveys.

I still don't get it. If you want a smaller sized keyboard you can buy one from the "small piano makers" and if there is enough interest then larger manufacturers will surely notice. Vote with your wallet! It's basic economics. Oh, you want cheaper ones? Well, sorry, but that's not how the free market works.

Maybe not classical, but a seventh is enough for a lot of pop and jazz. Or just get one of those retrofit 7/8 keyboards.

I see enough in my studio to draw a conclusion. I've had to re-finger many, many passages for these full-grown kids, including boys! And there is a limitation on repertoire when parallel octaves pose problems for these people.