A Man with 12 FINGERS!

[jhon]

I remember seeing in a Chinese documentary TV show an old American with 6 fingers on each hand (each with individual joints). Unfortunately, he's not a pianist. But when he tried putting his hands on the piano keyboard, he can span 14s (as in from DO to the TI of the next octave - that's almost 2 octaves in just one hand! Do you any pianists with this abnormality and is such an advantage or disadvantage?

BTW, here are some pictures...

https://www.effected.wronger.com/image/12fingers.jpg
https://www.sonypictures.com/tv/shows/ripleys/database/ep_313a.html

[thalbergmad]

Never heard of any with 6. The popular pianist Russ Conway only had 4 on his left hand.

Many years ago in England a company, who's name i cannot remember, offered a calculator for anyone with 6 fingers. They had to withdraw the offer due to the amount of claims.

According to an old copy of the Guiness Book of records, the most ever was 14 fingers.

Perhaps for Godowsky and Sorabji, this might be usefull.

[Jacey1973]

I remember seeing in a Chinese documentary TV show an old American with 6 fingers on each hand (each with individual joints). Unfortunately, he's not a pianist. But when he tried putting his hands on the piano keyboard, he can span 14s (as in from DO to the TI of the next octave - that's almost 2 octaves in just one hand! Do you any pianists with this abnormality and is such an advantage or disadvantage?

BTW, here are some pictures...

https://www.effected.wronger.com/image/12fingers.jpg
https://www.sonypictures.com/tv/shows/ripleys/database/ep_313a.html

(In Marjorie Dawes voice)..."euuuuggggghhhhhh!"

[Etude]

I remember hearing of a pianist who had a span of two octaves, and wrote music impossible to play by anyone else, but I don't think with 12 fingers.

[presto agitato]

I remember hearing of a pianist who had a span of two octaves, and wrote music impossible to play by anyone else, but I don't think with 12 fingers.

Rachmaninov?

[Etude]

Rachmaninov?

No, I think his span was a twelfth.

[galonia]

I don't think it's a very uncommon genetic defect to have 6 fingers on each hand - it's not so common that I personally know anyone with so many fingers, but in science class in high school it was mentioned as one of the more common genetic conditions (I hardly ever went to the biology/life science lessons, so this must have been one of the rare occasions so I remember it!)

[chozart]

I don't think it's a very uncommon genetic defect to have 6 fingers on each hand - it's not so common that I personally know anyone with so many fingers, but in science class in high school it was mentioned as one of the more common genetic conditions (I hardly ever went to the biology/life science lessons, so this must have been one of the rare occasions so I remember it!)

Yeah, we just studied genetics before end of school
It's called polydactyly, and you're right, it's not all that uncommon.
All you need, after all, is just one parent to have the dominant gene for it; both homozygotes who are dominant (those that have both alleles for the trait) and heterozygotes ("carriers") exhibit the trait. It's a type of autosomal dominantly inherited disorders that occurs about 1/1000 births, and it is actually more common in eastern European Jews.

Weird stuff o_O but I find it all interesting, lol