How far could the great pianists stretch their hands?
Did you know that Daniel Barenboim, one of his generation's most respected pianists, can manage to straddle a 9th on the piano, where Rachmaninov and Liszt could handle a whopping 13th?
Rachmaninoff was 6ft 6in tall and is believed to have had a hand span of an incredible 12 inches. His colleague Cyril Smith once saw him take the mammoth chord of C-E flat-G-C-G in his left hand.
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| Rachmaninoff in 1901 |
I can just barley reach an octave! I can't even imagine being able to reach 13 notes.
ReplyDeleteI can reach up to a 9th but not so fast. I wish I had bigger hands!
DeleteI can't even reach an octave :( And I didn't know Daniel Barenboim had such small hands! I bet no one has hands as big as Rachmaninoff's.
ReplyDeleteYou can still play works from the Classical era! (Just don't try playing Rachmaninoff's 3rd Piano Concerto.)
DeleteIt's my understanding that Van Cliburn could span a 13th.
DeleteThis is crazy!! I can reach up to 10th uncomfortably
ReplyDeleteHey that's great! I can't really reach that far.. I have to break some of the big chords when I play.
DeleteAn 11th is comfortable for my right hand which has tightened up in my old age - it used to match the 12th of my left hand. My family used to call me spider hands.
ReplyDeleteCliburn could span a 13th.
ReplyDelete