# The shape of the hand



## Owen David (May 15, 2020)

How much do you think the shape of the hand affects the pieces you focus on and the way composers compose? 

I think the answer is: "a lot". 

People with big hands and long digits will favour the expansive sort of Rachmaninov sound. 

People with small hands and short digits will favour those close, intricate Bach style pieces. 

I also think the shape of the hand makes you biased to certain keys. My hands/fingers seem to favour D major/G minor. That will probably influence the keys composers work in. 

Any thoughts on this?


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## hammeredklavier (Feb 18, 2018)

Owen David said:


> People with small hands and short digits will favour those close, intricate Bach style pieces.


Bach (1.8m tall) was a big guy by the standards of his time - his hands were probably not small



Owen David said:


> I also think the shape of the hand makes you biased to certain keys. My hands/fingers seem to favour D major/G minor. That will probably influence the keys composers work in.


"Chopin thought the B Major scale the most natural because it places the longer fingers over the black keys ." https://books.google.ca/books?id=TooQ84u7ReUC&pg=PA11

a number of contemplative, lyrical sections of his late extended works are in that key.


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## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

hammeredklavier said:


> ...
> "Chopin thought the B Major scale the most natural because it places the longer fingers over the black keys ." ...


I wonder if he'd have a different opinion had he played trumpet or French Horn ... or bassoon!


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## MarkW (Feb 16, 2015)

That's why I never took to American football. My hand was way too small to handle the ball effectively.


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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

Was it Alkan who had enormous hands and wrote music that hardly anyone else could play because of it? There have been plenty of pianists who simply cannot manage the demands Rachmaninoff and Tchaikovsky concertos place on the hands so they either break chords up or omit very low notes.Interesting comment about Chopin finding B major comfortable - so do most players. The key signature is forbidding. Balakirev also favored it.


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## allaroundmusicenthusiast (Jun 3, 2020)

I have big hands (long fingers mostly), and I hate Rachmaninoff


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## Allegro Con Brio (Jan 3, 2020)

For some reason my left hand is wider in span, while my right hand has longer fingers. So for a while I was content with mostly Chopin as I could do intricate RH runs and wide-spanning LH accompaniment. Now that I'm getting into playing Bach, a big problem is LH dexterity since he makes sure every one of your fingers gets an equal workout. With my right hand I can do a 10th, LH an 11th and _maybe_ just barely scrape a 12th. Sometimes I wish I had thinner, nimbler fingers so I could play some things with more fluidity. But I also think arpeggios and big leaps are easier for me than most because of that. So I've learned to accept it


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## premont (May 7, 2015)

Owen David said:


> People with big hands and long digits will favour the expansive sort of Rachmaninov sound.
> 
> People with small hands and short digits will favour those close, intricate Bach style pieces.
> 
> Any thoughts on this?


I have big hands and long digits, and I have always preferred the close, intricate Bach style pieces.

Rachmaninov never did much for me.


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## Pat Fairlea (Dec 9, 2015)

Alicia de Larrocha was small, but played Rachmaninoff with finesse. It's not the size of the hands, it's what you do with 'em.


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