Fingering with large hand span
Found in: Accompaniment, Musicality, Pedaling, Technique
Corinne S., Georgia
To any with a very large hand span: what advice do you have for a young adult whose hands are so large that playing a chord with fingers 1, 3, 5 is as uncomfortable as playing C, E, E with those fingers would be for most of us? He easily reaches an octave with fingers 5 and 2, and his thumbs are as wide or wider than the keys. My sweet student Gabe is such an eager learner, very creative, but especially creative with fingering just to be comfortable on the keyboard. While I’m usually fairly particular about fingering, in this case it’s sometime counter-productive. Advice?
Anna J., Canada
I know many amazing pianists with what seem like very large hands. It may simply need to be a period of adjustment to what is needed in a similar way that I sometimes need to work with students with smaller hands to feel comfortable with a certain degree of stretch when playing larger chords. It doesn’t feel like a normal position in other contexts but is needed to play piano.
Maureen K., California
I’ve allowed students with large hands to finger triads with 1-2-3. I do encourage consistency though. Too much brain work if they’re always changing up their fingering.
Kerry V., Australia
I’ve left the use of 1-3-5 but have encouraged them to take their fingers right into the keys. There is a slightly bigger gap at the ends of the keys and they can play better there.