Hand and finger differences and their contribution to playing.

[debussy symbolism]

Do you think individual hand and finger differences contribute to playing? Personally, I don't think so, as it is the brain that works. What differences do you think may contribute to playing advantages or disadvantages?

[bjahdc]

I think hand differences make a difference in piano playing...If someone had my problem (where there isn't enough of a cushion of skin between my nail and the keyboard, no matter how close to the skin I'm cutting my nails to) but with all 10 fingers, then I would think this person would have a much more difficult time playing the piano  because they would not be able to curve their fingers properly.

[pianistimo]

i think hand and finger differences can be huge obstacles at first.  for a long time i couldn't understand why chopin and rachmaninov were just man-handed pieces.  i would attempt some of them with ill ease.  then, either in a book or on the internet - see the actual SIZE of these composers hands.  of course they composed for themselves (their individual reaches) and for their particular techniques at the  piano.  chopins fingers being very thin and long - and rach's just plain huge (like his feet).

now, i think many things can be overcome - but why the relative ease for a particular lady who tried playing on a keyboard with slightly smaller keys - and all of a sudden chopin was EASY for her.  i've thought about this a lot.  i mean, i have average hands - and i've always played mozart and beethoven quite easily.  i don't think it's because i can't handle the technique.  it's that the reaches are so FAR.  they don't feel comfortable.  i mean - for completely relaxed playing - unless i've practiced relaxing or bringing the hand in and out so that the hand itself will relax no matter the reach.

i think i was under a misnomer that debussy would be just as hard to play as chopin's works.  but, surprisingly - the reaches - though a bit of a stretch are quite easy because he employs that scarlatti trick of hitting two notes with one finger and uses it on several chords with the thumb in particular.

[debussy symbolism]

Okay, so we have the size of hands and their span. What else?

[pianistimo]

keeping your neurons firing smoothly.  we don't want to get jerky in old age.  maybe i am under an illusion of sorts - but i always thought that oiling the joints by eating as much olive oil as possible - drinking a lot of water - and eating bananas (for the niacin and potassium) would keep those neurons firing well.  but, also there's having enough oxygen going around in your body.  exercise is the musicians real friend (besides diet). 
and, to get enough sleep!  that's always a dream in college - but seriously, i think students should keep a log of how much actual sleep they are getting and go home for break if they need to catch up!

[rc]

Finger size can decide how easy it is to get between the black keys.

Injuries/disfigurements...  If somebody had chronically damaged their shoulders, it would make it hard to move across the keyboard.

I've heard that people with giant hands sometimes have a harder time with intricate, close fingerwork than a smaller person. 

So yeah, physical differences can make things easier or harder.  But I think there are always ways around it (omit notes, roll chords), if I want to make music I'm not going to let anything stop me!

[ramseytheii]

i think hand and finger differences can be huge obstacles at first.  for a long time i couldn't understand why chopin and rachmaninov were just man-handed pieces.  i would attempt some of them with ill ease.  then, either in a book or on the internet - see the actual SIZE of these composers hands.  of course they composed for themselves (their individual reaches) and for their particular techniques at the  piano.  chopins fingers being very thin and long - and rach's just plain huge (like his feet).

For me the most interesting thing about Rachmaninoff's writing is not the thick chords or big stretches, but the fast passages in notes that are incredibly close together.  My theory is that his hands were so huge, he had to train them specially to have them play in smaller spaces.  Look at the prelude in c minor, for instance, from op.23, or the prelude in e-flat minor, or several passages from the Corelli Variations, the b minor etude, I could go on and on. 

Rosen wrote about how his teacher Edwin Fischer had ideas about how the kind of hands a composer has determines their music.  So Brahms, with his thick, stubby Teutonic fingers, wrote also thick-textured music.  Chopin, with his spindly digits, wrote light, lyrical and long lines.  Rosen disagrees because there are so many examples which contradict the thesis. 

Walter Ramsey