Do your fingers "fit" well between the black keys?

[jbmajor]

I have very little room between black keys when I play chords that involve having to player deeper into the keyboard, for ex. an octave Eb triad.  My middle finger actually brushes the sides of the black keys when playing the white key in between.  It certainly makes accuracy more of a delicate issue, but nonetheless I still like to play.


Anyone else have wide fingertips? 

[cadenz]

different black notes have different spaces between them. i think for instance theres a bigger gap between C# and D#. and a smaller gap between F# and G#. i have never really thought about it, but just experimenting i have very little room when putting fingers between the black notes, but its never been an issue. perhaps its because i've grown up playing from when i've had smaller fingers when i've been younger, yet maybe my fingers aren't quite as wide as other peoples.
when i play i sort of feel for the black notes, and if i'm going to need to play a finger between black notes they'll sink into place before they play the note most likely, do you have trouble fitting your fingers between the black notes if its put into place before playing the notes, rather than playing it instantly from a high drop?

[Barbosa-piano]

 My fingers do not fit well between the keys... I have to pull my hand back a little bit to fit them.

[ted]

Mine fit quite easily between the black keys. Having known nothing else I have never thought a great deal about it. I suppose many would view it as handy for things like chromatic shifts of position. Plenty of good pianists with wide fingers don't seem to have any problems though.

[possom46]

Mine touch both sides but comfortably. However, my dad had fingers were so wide that he played 2 white notes with 1 finger. He could also pick up a football with 1 hand and crush walnuts with 1 hand. He didn't play the piano though of course 

[thalbergmad]

My dad had massive hands as well, i am certain he couldn't fit any finger between black notes. He could stretch a 13th. Anton Rubinstein had fingers like sausages but it didn't appear to hinder him.

[apion]

Mine fit quite easily between the black keys. Having known nothing else I have never thought a great deal about it. I suppose many would view it as handy for things like chromatic shifts of position. Plenty of good pianists with wide fingers don't seem to have any problems though.

Ditto.

I find it quite advantageous to simultaneously have a large hand span and the ability to sneak easily between black keys.

[happyface94]

Yes, in fact, my fingers are so slim I have trouble staying ON those black keys

[Kassaa]

Yes, on most piano's and grands my fingers fit easily, HOWEVER, it's different for every piano. I played on a piano and my fingers didn't fit, so I was like what

[6ft 4]

Yes, on most piano's and grands my fingers fit easily, HOWEVER, it's different for every piano. I played on a piano and my fingers didn't fit, so I was like what

That surely cant be true.......if pianos were that different then how can one sight read without looking at the keys.......the intervals would be different lengths for example.....playing a piece would require completely different hand positions and so forth....sounds very odd.

[Kassaa]

That surely cant be true.......if pianos were that different then how can one sight read without looking at the keys.......the intervals would be different lengths for example.....playing a piece would require completely different hand positions and so forth....sounds very odd.

It is true, my teacher told me steinway grands are hand made, and some keys are thicker than other keys. And she was right, I played on at least 2 piano's where my finger didn't fit between two keys.

[jbmajor]

different black notes have different spaces between them. i think for instance theres a bigger gap between C# and D#. and a smaller gap between F# and G#. i have never really thought about it, but just experimenting i have very little room when putting fingers between the black notes, but its never been an issue. perhaps its because i've grown up playing from when i've had smaller fingers when i've been younger, yet maybe my fingers aren't quite as wide as other peoples.
when i play i sort of feel for the black notes, and if i'm going to need to play a finger between black notes they'll sink into place before they play the note most likely, do you have trouble fitting your fingers between the black notes if its put into place before playing the notes, rather than playing it instantly from a high drop?

I never heard about inconsistency in key width, but I could understand how some black keys on different pianos might be narrower than others. 

And for most music I play, it's too fast to find time to feel for the keys to fit my fingers between; I have to just play them and be right the first time. 

It's not all that much of a problem.  I mean, my fingers fit, but there's not really any room for error.   

[jlh]

That surely cant be true.......if pianos were that different then how can one sight read without looking at the keys.......the intervals would be different lengths for example.....playing a piece would require completely different hand positions and so forth....sounds very odd.

You haven't played on many pianos have you?  If you had you'd realize just how different every piano is.  Yes, on some pianos there is more room in between the black notes.  I have rather large hands, so when I play on a piano that has a more narrow space between the black notes, sometimes I will play a wrong note by pressing my finger on the SIDE of a black note... it can be tight enough to be very difficult.  On the other hand, I've played many pianos that are wider and my fingers don't even touch the black keys when playing between them.  Does this affect sightreading? Not usually.  Your arguments show your inexperience -- not that that's bad -- but it's not as much of an issue as you think.  It won't require completely different hand positions or anything, and after a few minutes of playing on a piano you will subconsciously adjust to it's uniqueness fairly easily in most cases.  Adjusting to each piano's action, touch, tuning, and other issues will be more difficult in my experience.

[BoliverAllmon]

I have very little room between black keys when I play chords that involve having to player deeper into the keyboard, for ex. an octave Eb triad.  My middle finger actually brushes the sides of the black keys when playing the white key in between.  It certainly makes accuracy more of a delicate issue, but nonetheless I still like to play.


Anyone else have wide fingertips? 

I have very wide fingers and makes it very difficult to play between the black keys.

boliver

[andy1973]

This is from page 21 of Piano Playing: With Piano Questions Answered by Josef Hofmann

Broad-Tipped Fingers Not a Disadvantage

Are broad-tipped fingers considered a detriment to a man student of piano; for instance, if the finger grazes the black keys on each side when playing between them?

Unless broad-tipped fingers are of an unusual thickness I do not consider them an obstacle in the way of good piano-playing; the less so, as the white keys—whatever shape the fingers may have—should never be struck between the black ones, but only in the midst of the open space. Altogether, I hold that the shape of the hand is of far greater importance to the pianist than the shape of his fingers; for it furnishes the fingers with a base of operations and with a source of strength, besides holding the entire control over them. Studying the hands and fingers of celebrated pianists you will find a great variety of finger shapes, while their hands are usually broad and muscular.

Is there anyone who still holds to this philosophy?

the white keys—whatever shape the fingers may have—should never be struck between the black ones, but only in the midst of the open space.

[ted]

If that is true, how would you play, for example, Eb, Ab and Db major chords in root position ? Or any chord formation with black outside notes and white central ones ? What did Hofmann himself do, I wonder ?

[j_menz]

What did Hofmann himself do, I wonder ?

As can be clearly seen in the vid below, completely ignored his own "advice".

[andy1973]

If that is true, how would you play, for example, Eb, Ab and Db major chords in root position ? Or any chord formation with black outside notes and white central ones ? What did Hofmann himself do, I wonder ?

I couldn't figure how that was possible either, but was curious to hear some viewpoints. Thanks, ted. And thanks for the video suggestion j_menz.

[ted]

That's interesting, but there is no other way really is there. I wonder if he also privately ignored his stern advice, in the same book, never to play ragtime and jazz lest it corrupt one's musical sensibility. He was obviously a very bright man generally. I think he invented a type of shock absorber for cars which remained in use for a long time.

[outin]

He did have issues with drinking, so maybe he wasn't quite sober when he wrote that...

[indianajo]

I'm glad I'm a light boned little guy, when I play the Eb octave triad chord.  I can do them all chromatically up the keyboard from C# to C# with no pain.
I'm also glad American console pianos 1940-1980 have standardized keyboards.  I never played one that didn't have the same spacing between the black keys as my 1982 Sohmer and 1941 Steinway.  I don't have to worry about grands, nobody will let me play one that is not broken:  without a $200 a semester tuition fee to the college that is, and I bet if I did pay the fee I'd never get to play the grand.   Not a big desire, grands are so heavy they would wear me out.