A post of your hand showing your reach...

[gruffalo]

How do you find fiddly stuff, Bach and the like?

i havent played Bach since completing the grades years ago, but im learning concerto in D minor this summer. i have problems with left hand in C major scale for some reason, on the part returning from the top, the first octave coming back down.

[alejo_90]

ah, i remember this thread. i worked out that mobile phone camera wasnt too bad when the pictures are viewed on a PC. so:


my hands with me:




squeezing a 12th:




and an 11th:

Holy Crap !

[henrah]

Can I see you playing an octave gruff?

[steve jones]

Mate, dont you dare, I'll cry for sure!

SJ

[gruffalo]

pic or vid? i dont get it, why do you want to see an octave when ive given you a 12th?

[henrah]

pic or vid? i dont get it, why do you want to see an octave when ive given you a 12th?

Cos your hand looks gross when you stretch a 12th

Either picture or video will do. If you do a video, could I see how fast you can play octave runs? And maybe some other technical feats, just an added bonus

[gruffalo]

i can do a 10th with thumb and index if you like? my technique isnt good at the moment, i am doing exams, so i havent been practicing that much. i have a concert in a week, so i can get you a vid of liszt - jeux d'eau a la villa d'este, although you probably wont be able to see my hands, just me.

[henrah]

Eeewww that sounds ever grosser.... but hell yeah I wanna see it!

Why won't we be able to see your hands in that video of Liszt Jeux d'eau?

[lostinidlewonder]

Ha, how some of these hands are positioned at the piano are funny. owch! What about some actual comfortable playable stretches?? I wonder if any of you could play these mad stretches with any velocity, that would be very entertaining to see.

[henrah]

There was someone here who mentioned they could stretch a 14th. I think it was in a thread about stretching and whether it's good or not, and s/he was wondering if they could stretch it even further to two octaves.

Image playing two octaves! :O

[steve jones]

Ha, how some of these hands are positioned at the piano are funny. owch! What about some actual comfortable playable stretches?? I wonder if any of you could play these mad stretches with any velocity, that would be very entertaining to see.

As I mentioned, I cant 'play' the 11th. Usually these stretches are an interval beyond what is practically playable.

For me, 10ths are my maximum playable stretches. Some I can hit with ease, others I had to break.

SJ

[henrah]

10th is my maximum stretch, and it's pretty unpractical. I can play 9ths, like the 9th that appears in the Raindrop prelude between an Ab (repetitive drop) and a Bb (top note of a chord). It really annoys me that I can't play a minor 10th; but the one that appears in the stormy middle section of the Raindrop prelude I just play the top note with my RH.

[gruffalo]

you wont be able to see it because the last time i performed there, they just filmed the performer from a camera near the audience. i just played it last saturday on a Steinway D, which was very nice and it went extremely well, but this time i have to play on a Kawai baby grand which my legs dont even fit under.

[tyler_johnson]

Left Hand:



Right Hand:



Both Hands:



I think I have pretty big hands

[steve jones]

10th is my maximum stretch, and it's pretty unpractical. I can play 9ths, like the 9th that appears in the Raindrop prelude between an Ab (repetitive drop) and a Bb (top note of a chord). It really annoys me that I can't play a minor 10th; but the one that appears in the stormy middle section of the Raindrop prelude I just play the top note with my RH.

Henrah,

I bet if you stretch a little you could nab that tenth. Just compare how the angle between 1-5 in your photo and in Tyler's.

He is just reaching a 12th, so Im guessing he can practically get the 11th without to much difficulty. But his fingers are almost at 180 degree for this. You are getting the 10th in yours, but your hands are hardly stretched to the max. Far from it.

You could get that stretch pretty comfortably if you spent a little time each day working it. No problem I would imagine.

I mean, your hands are probably a similar size to mine, but I can just get to the 11th at full stretch (obviously not practical).

SJ

[gruffalo]

the only problem i get is that sometimes my fingers get wedged up against the piano at the vertical board at the top of the keys, and on an upright i cant have the music holder down coz my hands keep hitting it, but i dont play with music anyway so that doesnt matter.

[tyler_johnson]

yeah you gotta lay that pinky parallel with the keys for sure.  180 degrees between 1 and 5.

You COULD take a knife and cut the webbing between your thumb and pointer to allow that

[instromp]

Well heres mine, I can S--t--r--e--t--c--h an 11th

Left hand


Right hand


Both hands


As you can see my hands arent big at all, they are average, but i am able to stretch an 11th though

[kriskicksass]

I can squeeze out an 11th with either hand, but I thought it more practical to show some big chords I can play. Each hand can do a c minor over a 10th (c e-flat g c e-flat) and a d-flat major over a 10th (f a-flat d-flat f a-flat). And yes, I got that d-flat chord from Rach's D-Flat Major Prelude.

Oops, 2 pics will have to go in the next post.

[kriskicksass]

Here's the other 2.

[pies]

I can reach an 11th easily. 12th I can do but with extreme stretching. I might take a few pics in a day or two. Such size doesn't seem to be an advantage for me. I suck at octaves.

[letters]

thats the most and its pretty impractical. its the same for the left hand as well



theres my eventually uncomfortable octave stretch... i only have little hands!!

[bflatminor24]

Hand size is like penis size....

It's not how big it is, it's how you use it.

That said, I can play 11ths in both hands (sorry I don't have a picture....)

Let's just say size has never been a problem of mine.

However, I find quick repeated notes kind of bothersome, anyone have good ideas?

~Max~

[nicco]

However, I find quick repeated notes kind of bothersome, anyone have good ideas?

~Max~

Struggled quite a bit with this on the 1st liszt PC, but after some experimenting i found a way of using the wrist more actively, and with a very slight movement "scraping" the repeated note.