Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Teachers Forum Small sized keyboard on display Boston

Falcetti Pianos (Yamaha dealer in Boston, MA) is hosting a DS6.0 keyboard on display in the Yamaha CFIIIS concert grand piano. Please see their Facebook page for details - I don’t believe it has been announced yet.

Anna Arazi is lined up for the first concert to introduce the keyboard to the Boston musical community. The piano is at the store and ready to be played by visitors. Feel free to contact the store if you would like to stop by (and please spread the word.)

Most women, all children and some men would benefit from these keyboards. Pianists have successfully transitioned back and forth between sizes within a week so it is not a limitation to use these. For more information on small sized keyboards please see the PASK website or the DS Standard Foundation. There are opportunities for retailers and institutions to borrow these keyboards.

We are trying to raise awareness so that manufactures will realize that producing a digital version or an acoustic upright version would make these keyboards and the piano more accessible for everyone. Many skeptics have been pleasantly surprised after trying one.

Thank you!

Very interesting, and my family might benefit from a smaller sized the keyboard. My boys had been the smallest person in their grade in their elementary school years.
They have (had) to stretch so hard to reach the octaves.
Both of them had to wait to play the repertoire with octaves. And if you look at the graded music, after a certain level, it seems playing octaves is a big thing, virtually everywhere.
For a long period of time, they could only play octaves on the white keys at the very edge, still the case for my younger one.

What are your stories teaching students with small hands? Or learning piano with small hands?

I have small hands. I entered a university piano performance program and stopped after 2 years because of an injury. Long story. I’d like to finish my RCM exams - it’s been 20 years - but I still get pain. I have tried one of these keyboards and I was absolutely delighted at how much less strain there was. Only time will tell if it is a solution for me. As for teaching I’m very careful not to push any student toward something that looks like it could cause an issue. However I do see a lot of young kids online playing very advanced material and it makes me wonder whether these keyboards would potentially be healthier for young hands, and old hands, and small hands. There certainly seems to be an argument for it. Everything else in life is either sized or adjustable. Why not the piano too?

While we are at it, we should also be able to change the height of the piano via some hydraulic system, as well the distance of the pedals from the base of the piano. So many small children cannot use the pedals properly because their legs are too short, and most of the pedal extensions available are bulky, inconvenient, and difficult to adjust properly.

Also, some people with big hands can benefit from a piano with wider keys. Thick fingers have a difficult time fitting in that narrow strip between black keys.

However, it is not economically feasible for piano manufacturers to make pianos to suit every need.

Who knows, maybe one day all pianos are custom made by 3D printers......

But until then, anyone has small hand stories to share? How did you overcome it? (as a teacher or a student)

I am unable to play a comfortable and secure RH octave even after 8 years of piano study with a teacher. My solutions have been: Select music that fits my hands better and music where I can compensate with pedal without ruining the sound, creative fingerings and owning an older piano with lighter touch and smaller key travel to avoid injury when practicing. Also lots of Baroque music, which I fortunately like too.

Pedal benches aren’t real? Wow who knew. I guess kids just don’t need access. Nor do those with small hands. I’m just going to go skate with my size 14 skates and call it a day.

Oh but wait! Manufacturers are actually taking this seriously!! If you take every person who can’t reach large 4 note chords comfortable guess what? They out number those that can. That’s called a market.

Several universities and competitions are using these keyboards. Does it hurt anyone? No it helps, it helps a lot. So much so people spend 10k for them. It’s time to make them more affordable

That will make an interesting thread. Why don't you start a new one?

Hailun USA has just released 3 videos on the subject of smaller sized keys for anyone who is interested

Hailun USA supporting PASK

I've only heard about these keyboards recently, and think it a very interesting idea.

I have pretty small hands. I'd never have become a world class pianist because I didn't practise enough lol, but it did and still does make a difference.

I also play accordion, and have never had any difficulty moving between keyboards, often at the same rehearsal.

Also, I would have imagined it similar to the experience of a violinist who also plays viola, or vice versa.