Hands size and stretching

[Daniel_piano]

After 4 years studying at the conservatory, reading this board had me for the first time worried about my hands size

I can easily reach a 9th and only on the keys surface a 10th with several notes in between
I've heard a lot of post of people reaching a 13th ... yet I've never meet people with such big hands nor when I visited USA
My uncle is 6.7 inches (199 centimeters) tall, yet his hands are well proportioned to his body and he can reach a 11th on my piano

It's also interesting that Chopin could reach a 9th only by stretching, that Liszt could reach a 10th only by stretching (he showed this to disprove the surrounding myth that he was so good at the piano because of very big hands) and that Rachmaninov suffer from a bone and cartilage disease and that's the reason why his hands were so big

Anyway, the general consensun in this forum seems to be that the best hand span is a 10th (not too big; and too big is a problem [even an aesthetic one] and not too small)

I've also been told that your pinky and your thumbs should form a straight line and also that small hands will widen somewhat because the cartilage between the index and the thumb is going to stretch during practice in the advanced repertoire
Yet the cartilage between my index and thumb is short and thight and my thumb and pinky form a V shape line not a straight one

Since I can almost reach a 10th it would require me just an additional 1/4 of an inch to play it confortably
I wonder if it is possible to stretch the hands a little by doing some exercise of playing particular piece

If that is possible could you please suggest me some book or some strentching exercises to try to enlarge my span ?

Thanks
Daniel

[donjuan]

Im sure Bernhard and xvimbi have something to say...where are you guys?

[Saturn]

I don't know about stretching exercises, so I will refer you to this thread instead:

https://www.pianoforum.net/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=perf;action=display;num=1084457512;start=

Don't worry about the "ideal" hand size.  If you can play a 9th comfortably, you should be able to manage almost everything the piano repertory has to offer (though not all of it will be easy).

- Saturn

[willcowskitz]

If I remember right, Robert Henry could "only" reach a 9th, and look (or listen to) what he's accomplished. www.roberthenry.org

[in_love_with_liszt]

Personally I stretch my fingers by using my other hand to pull my pinkys outwards, and hold it for 10-20 seconds. I do the same with my thumb, index and 4th finger. This gives me easy access to 10ths and 11ths (hah even though there's no real practical use for the 11th). Although if you have smaller hands you should be careful, it might be painful, and in such a case potentially harmful, although in my opinion it's not near the strain that trills in thirds (also known of the tremolo in thirds depending on who you talk to) puts on your fingers and wrists. Well good, luck in reaching your goals.

[xvimbi]

After 4 years studying at the conservatory, reading this board had me for the first time worried about my hands size

PianoForum must then either be better than a conservatory or utterly misleading

Yet the cartilage between my index and thumb is short and thight and my thumb and pinky form a V shape line not a straight one

Since I can almost reach a 10th it would require me just an additional 1/4 of an inch to play it confortably
I wonder if it is possible to stretch the hands a little by doing some exercise of playing particular piece

If that is possible could you please suggest me some book or some strentching exercises to try to enlarge my span ?

Whatever stretching exercises you are doing, keep the following in mind:
"Stretching" means stretching muscles, not tendons or cartilage. When you forcefully spread your fingers apart, you are not really stretching the muscles, but you are working the tissues between the fingers. That's ok, in fact, daily massaging of the tissues between the fingers can soften up that area, which will allow you to attain a wider hand span in general in addition to a wider span between the fingers. However, increasing the hand span is primarily achieved at the joints where the finger bones attach to the wrist bones. Small changes in this region will translate to rather large changes at the finger tips. It is also possible to work the knuckle joinys, but this is a lot more difficult, and the effect is not that great. Repeatedly making a fist and then spreading the fingers as far as possible should be a good exercise.

[jbmajor]

Yes stretching helps; not a lot initially, but over time (months) enough to make a considerable difference.  It helps to run your hands under warm water and then do the stretching, as this limbers up the joints and makes them more pliable.  Lightly is the key though; over-stretching to where it is uncomfortable can cause injury.