Spanning tenths

[eleanorrigby]

Hi,
Firstly I'm new, so hello. I really want to be able to span tenths on the piano with the same kind of ease and fluency as Fats Waller (as if, I know), I can span a tenth in the bass but not comfortably and with some inaccuracy, does anyone know if there are any stretching exercises or techniques I can use to improve this?
Thanks,
Eleanor

[nearenough]

Don't try any painful mechanical tricks like Schumann and Scriabin did. Roll anything you can't hit with one blow. Hoffman had small hands and had a special piano built for him with narrower key intervals.

[richard black]

does anyone know if there are any stretching exercises or techniques I can use to improve this?

Yes, I know, and no, there aren't! Not that have been proven to work with reliability and without a high risk of damage to the hand. Your hands sound as if they are absolutely average size: we would all like bigger, more flexible, etc. etc. hands but as the old saying goes, if nature gives you lemons, make lemonade!

[Bob]

I've played ninths over scales and that helps a bit.

[thalbergmad]

I remember seeing a documentary about Fats Waller a few years ago and it was claimed by an old stride pianist that some of his fellow pianists, not blessed with a large span, cut the webbing between their fingers. I have no idea if this works and would not suggest trying it.

I also remember the same chap saying that some others used a finger extension on their little finger.

Not being able to stretch a comfortable 10th is a blasted nuisance sometimes, but I expect there is a reasonably large list of great pianists who could not. Henselt supposedly had small hands, but after years of practise could reach a 12th. Don't know how he did it.

Thal

[ted]

Like absolute pitch, it is one of those abilities which attains a totally unnecessary mystique. Luckey Roberts had a really freakish span of nearly two octaves but did it mean his musical output was proportionally better ? No, of course not. Stephanie Trick has small hands but plays stride, including the big Waller solos, beautifully. Also, don't forget that split tenths, either upwards or downwards, are in their nature much more rhythmically interesting than banged down straight tenths anyway.

Don't hurt your hands by trying to stretch them. Use your mind to invent ways of playing, perhaps using varied voicings and jumps, which produce musical results for you. Chances are the results will be effective for everybody else as well.

[nyiregyhazi]

There's a very simple stretch that involves simply pulling the thumb backwards. You just have to be careful not to overdo it or force anything. Apparently De Larrocha was obsessive and did thumb stretches constantly. Some pianists have thumbs that can extend almost perfectly sideways. I'm nowhere near that, but have gone from a 10th to a very comfortable 11th (I can span a 12th if I block two notes with the thumb- not that it's any great use). Also, playing chords that don't stretch you to your full limit and squeezing slightly inwards (not outwards) against the side of the keys generates a reaction force that can actually open the hand out more. Again, you don't want to go crazy though.

[fleetfingers]

I have very small hands, and it used to be hard for me to play octaves. I could never count on playing them accurately because my fingertips were barely reaching the edges of the keys. One thing I would do is stretch my hand out by pushing it up against the edge of the piano, like doing the splits. In stretching regularly and not shying away from pieces with octave runs and jumps, I've greatly improved my octave playing. I am quite comfortable and accurate with it now. When I encounter a passage that hurts because it stretches me to my max for too long, I play as much as I can each day and it does get easier.

Perhaps you will be able to improve your accuracy and comfort in playing tenths, as I have in my  playing octaves. I wish you the best!

[eleanorrigby]

This is brilliant, thanks so much for your help!

[mike_lang]

Let me just say that there is many an instance where it is perfectly acceptable to break those tenths . . . That said, you have probably noticed that you can play larger intervals toward the edge of the key, but this is less reliable in terms of accuracy, in certain situations.  The thought of stretching exercises makes me shudder . . .

[venik]

When both keys are white I like to, and find it easier to, play them from the front of the piano. My wrist will be straight, and pinky and thumb will be just an extention of this. Since you aren't dodging the 2nd and 9th keys you can bend your fingers later.

When both keys are black I do the same thing from the top.

When ones white and ones black, I do the first one with the tip of the black key. And a downward attack on the white key.

[edubia]

There's a very simple stretch that involves simply pulling the thumb backwards. You just have to be careful not to overdo it or force anything. Apparently De Larrocha was obsessive and did thumb stretches constantly. Some pianists have thumbs that can extend almost perfectly sideways. I'm nowhere near that, but have gone from a 10th to a very comfortable 11th (I can span a 12th if I block two notes with the thumb- not that it's any great use). Also, playing chords that don't stretch you to your full limit and squeezing slightly inwards (not outwards) against the side of the keys generates a reaction force that can actually open the hand out more. Again, you don't want to go crazy though.

I always do this before practicing, and it helps alot. It might not sound like it does much, but it really makes your fingers more flexble.

[rmbarbosa]

Instead of only stretch your fingers, there are some easy exercises to stretch the palm of the hand. You may want to have a look about this in "fundamentals of piano practice" by Mr. C.C. Chang. Stretching the palms is not harmful.
Best wishes
Rui