Research Conclusion

Challenges

While practicing and performing Scriabin’s Sonata no.9, I faced many challenges due to my small hand size. These challenges were most noticeable when trying to play faster and forte or fortissimo. My hands would feel tense, and I often hit the wrong notes that were close to the right ones. Memorizing pieces was also hard because I had to constantly adapt my hand positions and practice a lot to improve muscle memory at some point. Despite my efforts, these issues continued, so I had to find new solutions.

Solutions

Through research and practice, I found some strategies to overcome the challenges of having small hands. These solutions can be grouped as follows:

1. Finger Techniques:

• Refingering Techniques: Sliding from one key to another (for example with a thumb from a black key to a white one) or changing the finger while holding the key to minimize hand movement.

• Playing Important Notes with Stronger Fingers: Using fingers 1-2-3 (if possible) for key notes to improve control and better voice leading (a technique learned from Anastasia in Maastricht Conservatorium). 2. Hand Position and Movement:

• Keeping Fingers Close to the Keyboard: Minimizing unnecessary movements for better accuracy.

• Oval Gesture of the Wrist and Arm: Making smoother transitions and reducing tension.    3. Tension and Stress Relief:

• Early Key Release and Tension Release: Releasing keys a bit earlier and regularly relaxing hands and arms to avoid tension buildup.

• Quick Relaxation: Relaxing quickly after each note to prevent ongoing tension.

• Returning to a Closed Neutral Hand Position: Always going back to a neutral position to keep hands healthy and ready, as emphasized often in the book "Strategies for Small-Handed Pianists." 4. Chord Adaptations:

• Rolling or Dividing Chords: Breaking larger chords into smaller parts.

• Omitting notes and Adapting Chords: Leaving out or changing some notes within chords to keep the harmony while fitting my hand size (for example playing notes in the chord an octave higher or lower - changing octave placements to make it feasible for smaller hands). 5. Key Striking Techniques:

• Fast Key Hitting from the Surface: Hitting keys quickly from the surface for better speed and precision.

• Impulse Attack: Using quick, deliberate attacks on the keys to improve clarity and articulation. 6. Stretching:

• Soft Stretching: Gentle stretching helps to increase hand span over time. 7. Pedal:

• Pedal Assistance: Using the sustain pedal to give more time for hand adjustments. 8. Musical Adaptations:

• Redistributing Notes Between Hands: Sharing the workload between both hands for better balance and coordination.

• Rhythmical Adaptations: Slightly changing rhythms to fit my technical abilities without losing musical integrity (as it happens while breaking the chords). 9. Aural Technique:

• Aural Legato: Focusing on creating a legato sound by listening rather than physical connection for better musicality.
  

The book "Adaptive Strategies for Small-Handed Pianists" was very helpful in my research. It provided many structured techniques that supported and enhanced the methods I had been using instinctively. By using these strategies in my practice, I improved my performance despite my small hand size. These techniques helped me play more comfortably and expressively. My research shows how important it is to adapt and keep learning to overcome physical challenges in piano playing.