I want a larger hand span?

Question:I need to be able to play 9ths on the piano (an octave and one note) but can only just manage an octave. How can I help my hand span grow? Are there any technical excercises available?

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: I need to be able to play 9ths on the piano (an octave and one note) but can only just manage an octave. How can I help my hand span grow? Are there any technical excercises available?

Play Hanon exercises. They're quite tedious, but I've gone from an octave to a ninth and I'm tiny! Hanon's pretty easy to find...any music store with classical books should have his stuff. It will also strengthen your fingers and allow you to play faster. Good luck! And be careful not to get tendinitis! (Pulling and stretching your hands until they burn will surely get you a lot of trouble in the tendinitis department...)

PS. For a song that really stretches your hand, I recommend Rondo Alla Turca by Mozart.

It is possible to increase your hand span. It takes practice, which basically means that when you're sitting on the bus, or standing in line, you can remind yourself to spread your hands out as far as they will go, and then practice piano a lot. I once knew someone whose left hand stretched out a good inch and a half more than her right hand because she played guitar for years and her left hand had stretched to allow her to hold down the strings. Since you play piano, you should stretch both hands. This doesn't mean using one hand to stretch the other, but using the muscles in each hand on itself. You have to convince the muscles and tendons not only to stretch, but to be capable of moving the fingers outwards themselves. If you're doing it properly, the webbing between your fingers will burn. Your thumb will be able to move the farthest out because your hand is built that way, but you can increase the range of every finger. Good luck!

The link below is to the website of the Finger Fitness guy, a former music student from Miami U (Ohio) who first started working on these exercises for precisely the same reason as you--he wanted to play piano better. Have fun!