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Comment by drewm1980 | Hacker News Reader

drewm1980

Large handed composers will start composing works with intervals you need large hands AND a small piano to reach. It's probably already happening on mini digital keyboards.

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In that case, there is another benefit: more ambitious compositions. And while you may be right, there are still numerous older compositions to play.

Not if these composers use a large keyboard and players with small hands use a small keyboard, as suggested in the article.

The classical guitar has been available in multiple sizes for many years now. I don’t think the situation you’re describing has become a widespread problem there.

The point of GP was that, if smaller keyboards are introduced, nothing stops composers with large hands from using them, resulting in even bigger chords. Hence in competitions you could end up with just smaller keyboards for everybody, unless you "regulate" the size based on hand size.

If the small keyboard was better for everyone then presumably we would already have them. But my guess is that a keyboard that's too small is just as bad as a keyboard that's too large, so the current size is a compromise based on the average hand size of pianists in the 19th century.

That's why they want 3 sizes. Humans haven't changed -that- much since then, just a bit taller and no doubt on average a little bit more finger reach. This will help solve that issue. I think it's a good thing.

Actually, a large-handed composers' large hands will stop them from using small keyboards. Their wider fingers causing unintentional adjacent note triggering, frustrating them as composers, and losing them competitions as players.

I used to play the harpsichord, whose keys are about 3-5 mm narrower than piano keys. I have huge hands with big fingers, so it was a challenge at first, but after a week it felt normal. I doubt that smaller piano keys will be much different.

Is that a problem? I thought piano competitions would be about piano-playing skill, not physical hand dimensions.

In the same way that basketball competitions are about basketball skill, not height.

Maybe...

But at least competitively, this is probably self leveling. Large handed composers they play big chords on a small piano, but they'll probably struggle to play "regular" music on this undersized piano.

There's only a problem if everyone has to use the same piano. If everyone can choose their own size piano then hand size isn't a factor

I don't think this matters much for competition though? The existing classical repertoire will still be playable by a much larger percentage of women, bringing them into greater parity. Just let everyone use whatever size piano they want and it'll be an equalizing force, just like how reducing the height of the basket would be an equalizing force for height in dunk competitions.

Then you simply make an extra small version for small handed people to reach those intervals, if this becomes popular.

Doesn't matter, their repertoire will most certainly not be in those competitions.

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