Fingers not long enough

[andy1973]

My fingers are long enough to play one octave apart, but no more. What are some suggestions for situations when my fingers aren't long enough? In one particular piece, I need to hold down A while hitting A one octave up and C to the Right. Thanks...

[j_menz]

My fingers are long enough to play one octave apart, but no more. What are some suggestions for situations when my fingers aren't long enough? In one particular piece, I need to hold down A while hitting A one octave up and C to the Right. Thanks...

That would be an eleventh, which most people can't reach. Roll it.

[hfmadopter]

My fingers are long enough to play one octave apart, but no more. What are some suggestions for situations when my fingers aren't long enough? In one particular piece, I need to hold down A while hitting A one octave up and C to the Right. Thanks...

Yes, roll it or break the chord ( play the two A's, let the lower A go and lean or roll to the C. Basically pivoting on the upper C. Sometimes just a hint of touching the pedal can help the process ( You have to be your own judge on that part, I learned to cheat with pedal a long time ago but it has to be just a hint if there is no indication for pedal)..

I can stretch for a 10th but there isn't any sense in it because I won't do it well, yet I can play and octave with 1 and 4 fingers ( on me if I spread my hand on a table top one can see that actually I span a little further with 1 and 4 than with 1 and 5. And 1 and 3 are about the same span as 1 and 5, FWIW), even 1 and 3 sometimes. A ninth is just ok, no way an 11th without breaking the chord.

[andy1973]

Thanks. I can use those suggestions. And is there ever a situation where one might change a few notes? The notes I've mentioned are on the bass clef.

[andy1973]

Thanks. I can use those suggestions. And is there ever a situation where one might change a few notes? The notes I've mentioned are on the bass clef.

I've learned more basic music theory and now realize this was a silly question to ask.

[1piano4joe]

Isn't that a minor 10th? Wouldn't an 11th be d? Also, isn't a major 10th a to c# basically a major third but only an octave higher? I think the 11th is the same note as in an "Asus4" chord but an octave higher.

When I need to find a 9th, 11th or 13th I will use a ii chord. For example, in C major, the ii chord is d minor corresponding to notes 2,4 and 6 of the C major scale which are, of course, d,f and a which make up a d minor ii chord in C major. Therefore, d is the 9th, f the 11th and a the 13th.

So, for an A chord, I would use the ii chord b minor which consists of b,d and f#. Thusly, b is the 9th, d is the 11th and f# should be the 13th. Do I have this right?

Thank you, Joe.

[louispodesta]

My fingers are long enough to play one octave apart, but no more. What are some suggestions for situations when my fingers aren't long enough? In one particular piece, I need to hold down A while hitting A one octave up and C to the Right. Thanks...

My hand is not much larger than yours, and you are obviously not familiar with my most controversial post.  However, it has been verified by applied musicologists throughout the world.

In a phrase:  your problems are over.  Josef Hoffman's hand was so small (my size)  he had the Steinway people manufacture a piano with narrower width white keys.

Enjoy the following link, and if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me by private message.  Good luck to you.

[andy1973]

Enjoy the following link, and if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me by private message.  Good luck to you.

Interesting. Thank you. Although I'm not trying to play anything as intricate as what's shown in the video, the information appears relevant. I think rolling is the best option for me, but also experimenting with the pedal and changing the notes, determining what sound I like the best.

"I Will" was the score I was attempting to play from. An easy piano arrangement from a Hal Leonard book "Love Songs of the 60's." I'll attach the measure to this post, for the record, though I feel my question has been answered. Thank you everyone.

[indianajo]

Oh, you're talking pop music out of folios from the music store.
Look the books of pop songs from Hal Leonard, Warner Bros, etc, are only approximations of the recorded performance.  The recorded performance was usually done by 3 or 5 musicians, or some number of them using a 20 track recorder at different times.  Usually the arrangements in the books for sale don't even sound much like the recorded track.  Slow down a recording to 1/2 speed, listen very carefully, you'll find that until you get into $80 "charts" that music store arrangements are not very accurate.
So music store arrangements are not necessarily possible, either.  I can play a tenth, just barely, so Hal Leonard's arranger put that on the sheet. Really it was probably a bass player on the bottom and another instrumentalist on the top two notes.  But no telling.  On pop music, do what sounds good to you: invert the chord, roll the chord, play the bass line with your feet on organ pedals, find a friend that plays real bass and likes the beer you supply him with in rehearsals.
 Classical music, it was theoretically possible in the original performance, and if you don't play it exactly the way it is written, and don't have a research paper that says the score is wrong, you get counted off each variation as a "mistake", by judges at competitions or school auditions. Classical music is it's own game.  Pop music, the fact that your voice sounds different than the original artists makes your interpretation yours, not his, so if you can't afford to pay the original artist to sing for you, make the performance really yours.  Do something original, do something different, what is on the page in a Hal Leonard pop/country/bluegrass/rap book is not correct, definitive, or even artisitic in most cases.  Its your thing, to quote an old song.  Have fun.    

[fleetfingers]

Use pedal to sustain the lower A. LH jumps up to AC.

[xdjuicebox]

There's really no sense in stretching out your hand. I mean yes, you do want the flexibility, to reach what your hand can naturally reach, but trying to force it apart will damage your hands dramatically - look at Robert Schumann! I mean you can get the surgery thing that cuts the skin between your index finger and thumb like Liszt did, but I really wouldn't.

Chords almost always sound more impressive rolled, and it doesn't really make that big of a difference in all honesty. Look at Rachmaninoff - he could easily play a 12th, yet he never wrote anything large than a 10th. There are very few instances you'll ever need anything larger than a ninth, and if you do, you can probably get away with rolling it.

I can play a 10th, but I roll it anyway because I don't get to put the full weight into it so the tone isn't as beautiful, but I can if I roll it ^^

[1piano4joe]

Hi xdjuicebox,

Chords almost always sound more impressive rolled

I just finished learning Brahms' waltz Op. 39 No. 9 in d minor. Tenths are written rolled in this piece in three different places. The left hand pinky, plays the root and then a roll to the sixth and tenth simultaneously with fingers two and one. It's written this way, of course, but I just wanted to give an example of how impressive this sounds, not to mention beautiful.

I can play a 10th, but I roll it anyway because I don't get to put the full weight into it so the tone isn't as beautiful.

So THAT, explains PART of the beauty of this piece and gives an inkling to the genius of Brahms.

What I found somewhat surprising was when I heard someone roll a chord in Chopin's Prelude in A major. I was like, "what", "what was that"? It sounded so awesome. I can reach it and if I remember correctly, it's only a ninth, but like you pointed out, I thought it sounded better rolled.

I tried to play that chord rolling it and found it actually harder than just playing as written.

Go figure, Joe.

[bronnestam]

I can reach 9th if I stretch very much but it is a bit painful and more than that is out of the question. I hate Schumann. 

[g_s_223]

No offense meant, but maybe there's a instrument better adapted for you to play? Wind? Strings? Guitar?

[fleetfingers]

No offense meant, but maybe there's a instrument better adapted for you to play? Wind? Strings? Guitar?

  Don't say that! One can learn to play piano well with only an octave reach. And there is much to be enjoyed! No need to play another instrument if you love the piano.  

[outin]

Don't say that! One can learn to play piano well with only an octave reach.

I hope even without...My right hand octaves are a pathetic mess and will probably stay that way forever

[100mm]

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