Think ahead. Choose repertoire that suits the student's natural hand span. Check for any awkward stretches before assigning a new piece. Expect a student with small hands to take extra time to learn a piece with stretches.
Avoid injury. Pianists with small- to medium-sized hands are more likely to experience injury. Teachers have a duty of care to protect students' hands as best they can. Encourage students to take frequent breaks during their practice and to inform you if they feel any tension or pain. A hypermobile (double-jointed) student may be able to open the hand wider than is typical for their hand size. Discourage stretching – medical advice is that this can be damaging in the long term.
Aim for comfort. Pianists can perform with greater expression and a wider range of dynamics when playing within their comfortable span. A well-coordinated hand and arm, with the stronger muscles of the arm supporting the fingers as they play, will create a more cantabile sound. The expression ‘open your hand’ is preferable to ‘stretch’ – it helps the student to keep their hand and wrist soft.
Rewrite fingerings. Teachers with large hands need to be particularly sensitive to the fingering needs of students with small hands. Ask the student to try out various fingerings and decide which works best for them. Be imaginative and accommodating. For instance, a student who can only play octaves with the fifth finger – with the hand placed at the front edge of the keys – may need to play pieces with chromatic octaves at a slower tempo.
Release tension. Do not fix the hand in a stretched position. After landing on a chord or octave, check that the hand and wrist are relaxed. Also allow the hand to relax the stretch a little as it moves through the air towards the next chord. Use a sideways wrist movement to help fingers reach a wider interval. This is especially important for adults with a reduced stretch because of arthritis or similar conditions.
Rearrange. Even some virtuoso pianists with large hands rearrange passages in order to play them better. Can you redistribute the notes between the hands? Can the student release the notes early and use pedal instead? Which is more musically appropriate: spreading a large chord or playing the bass note as a grace-note? It's not cheating if the end result is musically more satisfying.
Leave out notes if rearranging isn't possible. This can transform the ease with which a passage is played. Try to retain the harmonic integrity of the chord: play the tonic, the third and other crucial notes such as the seventh or ninth, but leave out fifths or notes that are doubled. Most examination boards accept that young pianists with small hands who are playing pieces with octaves may need to play a single line instead (leaving out the bass or top line, whichever is most appropriate).
Encourage a more detached touch. Very young children with tiny hands may find even the five-finger position a stretch, particularly when playing legato. A detached touch will allow them to move their whole hand sideways to place fingers comfortably over the notes.
Introduce octaves gradually. Don't rush into introducing octaves – you can teach all the most important aspects of technique using the intervals of a fifth or sixth.
Consider a smaller keyboard. A smaller-sized keyboard can be a life-changer for a pianist with small hands. See more information about the campaign for alternatively-sized keyboards at paskpiano.org
Suggested reading
- Deahl, L. and Wristen, B. (2017) Adaptive Strategies for Small-Handed Pianists. OUP.
- Roskell, P. (2020) The Complete Pianist: from healthy technique to natural artistry. Edition Peters.
