Workaround for Chopin Military Polonaise Op.40#1

[hawa1]

Hi,
My handspan is just a barely-make-it octave. But some chords in the Military Polonaise span up to two notes above an octave (10th). Is there any way to work around this?

Thanks,
yen

[eddie92099]

Surely spreading is the only option,
Ed

[robert_henry]

Yen,
How old are you?  Is your hand going to grow?  If so, just wait a few years and be patient.

Robert Henry

[dj]

well you could always roll the chords that you can't reach; however, this particular piece would sound much better if u didn't have to so i suggest waiting until your hand grows a bit

[hawa1]

Thanks for the replies, guys.

Ed: Does that mean one/more notes for one hand are played with the other hand? That's a good idea, but bcoz the left hand has mostly octaves as well, it doesn't work for this piece.

Robert_Henry & dj: I wish they can still grow! But sadly I'm an ancient 24 year-old, so...

dj: I will try rolling the chords, but yeah, I agree with u it'll sound much better if I don't need to do so (and simpler to play, too).

Errr... don't kill me if I tell u I attempted to butcher this piece just a minute ago...   Well, I tried to ignore the lowest or highest note of an unreachable big chord, depending on which sounds better. What do u think?

thx again.
yen

[allchopin]

You can always attach a short splint to your pinky to reach the high notes

[eddie92099]

Ed: Does that mean one/more notes for one hand are played with the other hand?

No, it means rolling the chords.

Errr... don't kill me if I tell u I attempted to butcher this piece just a minute ago...   Well, I tried to ignore the lowest or highest note of an unreachable big chord, depending on which sounds better. What do u think?

Don't do it,
Ed

[shatteringpulse]

The Military Polonaise a wonderful piece...and it is very ostentatious because of all the repetitions of chords!

However, it can also cause injury! I can reach a 10th, but I still had trouble with some of the chords Chopin throws at you...I even had to take two notes per finger in some passages  

If your hands are too small, I would suggest some of Chopin's other exuberant music, because the overall effect is ruined if you prune them or roll them--some pieces this is acceptable, but certainly not this one...

You should try one of the more virtuosic waltzes, or perhaps the C# minor Polonaise, which I recall has no large stretches (if you distribute the notes differently in some editions). Even the C minor, I believe, never necessitates more than an octave, but I could be wrong!

[hawa1]

You can always attach a short splint to your pinky to reach the high notes  

I like this idea -- that means I don't need to butcher the piece, and still don't have to resign to my fate either! But I've never used a splint before... where can I get one?  I tried a search at google and out came all sorts of finger splints for medical purposes. Are they the ones? Sorry for my ignorance...  

[srdabney]

Another more radical, but quite effective, solution ...
Play a Hofmann keyboard (6 inch octave instead of 6.5)... or a D/S keyboard which I think is a 5.5 octave.

This may be heresy in a piano performance forum ... but you mentioned your hands are not getting any bigger.

Who knows, there may be days in the future where certain competitions are held on non standard keboards. Not likely ... but at least you'll be able to stretch what the big boys can, so to speak.

Its even more interesting, because potentially someone with a span of a 12 on a standard will start composing on a smaller keyboard so they can play a 14th. That would be something scary ... harmonically speaking.

Cheers,
Scott  

[hawa1]

Hmm... I wanted to ask why do they make the keys so wide, wouldn't it be easier for everyone if they're just a little bit wider than our finger? Then it struck me that some people might have big fingers as well.  Ah well... there's no such thing as a universal size, I guess.

Oh, that sort of reminds me of mobile phones nowadays. In the strive towards extra tiny handset, they actually make the keypad so small with all the buttons cramped together -- I wonder how many ppl can actually dial them? Or am I the only one with extra chubby fingers? Sorry to digress from piano to handphones...

[eddie92099]

Oh, that sort of reminds me of mobile phones nowadays. In the strive towards extra tiny handset, they actually make the keypad so small with all the buttons cramped together -- I wonder how many ppl can actually dial them? Or am I the only one with extra chubby fingers? Sorry to digress from piano to handphones...

Quoting the writers of The Simpsons:

The fingers you have used to dial are too fat. To obtain a special dialing wand, please mash the keypad with your palm now.

Ed