How To Excel at the Piano Playing with Small Hands and Short Fingers?
There is a common belief that people with long fingers and hands tend to have a smooth go at the piano. Hand and finger length matters because it helps in gliding across the keyboard effortlessly. However, it is an assumption running in the system through many ages. Piano made a presence in 1700, and the person who invented it presumably had the standard hand size of a man. Most piano designs followed the same style, and hence, they seemed more suitable for large hands and long fingers. However, these have evolved today in body, function, and size, allowing other people to try their hand at the instrument and succeed.
So, don’t shy away from picking this skill because you heard someone saying that shorter hands and fingers cannot match up to the pros. Instead, get yourself enrolled in a neighborhood music school. You can search Google or other search engines with the phrase “finding quality piano instruction near me” for accurate recommendations. Also, you can try a few tricks to overcome this challenge. Here is a quick peek into them.
The common concerns with small hands and short fingers and solutions
Whether a new or an experienced player, people with small hands face an issue when they have to stretch their fingers between octaves or add the 4th note to a chord; they move their hands in crazy ways to strike the right notes. But it may leave you with nothing but pain and frustration. Besides, you can lose interest too. Some players even end up injuring their hands while twisting or wrenching their hands. It is better to avoid these mistakes and focus on the proper methods.
For example, you have to realize that the main problem is the difficulty with stretching fingers. It doesn’t necessarily have to do with the size of your hand and fingers. If you work on stretching your fingers, the playing skills will improve, and you wouldn’t mind trying the next octave. However, you must not think it will be easy. You have to practice hard and focus on training your hand and fingers adequately. Since young kids tend to be naturally flexible, they can do well on the piano with early exposure. However, older players need to exercise a bit.
As the first step, you have to learn to keep your wrist easy and relaxed. It can influence your stretching ability on the piano to a great extent. For this, you would first need to do a warm-up round with your fingers playing a few scales on the piano. Then, you can stretch one hand before you with your palm down. Bring your other hand closer to move your fingers up and down gently. The fingers should point to the ceiling when stretched upward. The palm of the first hand that you raised should feel a little tension. But make sure it should not hurt. Also, you need to maintain the position for 5 to 10 seconds. You can copy the same process with the other hand.
At the end of this exercise, you would need to shake your hands well to help smooth blood circulation. Nevertheless, a wrist bend is the first step. After that, you can do arm rotation and finger-lift also. Once you complete these, you will focus on finger stretching, an exercise that explicitly targets your fingers. To do this, you have to bring your hands in the front with palms facing the ground—close fingers in a tight fist for up to 5 seconds. Open the fist and expand your fingers as apart as possible. Hold this stretched finger position for a minimum of five seconds. You have to repeat this exercise about ten times.
Piano playing tips for smaller hands and fingers
While exercises can help with flexibility, you can also incorporate a few piano-playing techniques to overcome your challenge. For example, students usually keep their fingers at the edge of the keys. It doesn’t matter much when you play simple compositions. However, the difficulty begins at the time of trying advanced tempos. Your playing habit can affect your speed. You can get over this by moving your hands closer to the piano, more preferably in the middle or higher up.
Initially, it can feel uncomfortable, but as you become familiar, you will be able to access most of the keys, including the ones requiring challenging spreads. However, you have to find your comfortable position as there is no hard and fast rule. Some players sit close to the piano, while others need some room to play the keyboard freely. Then, some people invert the chord if they still struggle with reaching out to the keys. In this activity, they usually pick the lowest note before increasing the octave.
Eventually, it is all about learning and growing your skills. So, don’t let any mental blockage come in your way of trying the piano. If you join a reputed music school, you can work on your limitations under the continuous guidance of your teacher and achieve excellence.
Thank you,
Glenda, Charlie and David Cates
