These are some of the benefits:

• It will take less time to learn difficult music.

• Leaps are shorter.

• Some of your fingerings will become more efficient.

• You’ll be able to play stretchy pieces exactly as the composer wrote them without changing things to suit your hand size.

• You won’t have to leave notes out of chords that contain notes that are out of reach for you.

• You won’t have to use your left hand for right-hand notes, and vice-versa, redistributing chords you can’t reach.

• Your elbows and arms won’t be flapping or moving as high when they need to be used to move at the piano.

• The rotation of your wrists and arms will be several degrees less, requiring less effort

• Your body will not need to travel as far to the left and right to play very high and very low on the keyboard.

• You won’t need to think about technical issues while you’re playing and will be able to simply express yourself comfortably and without strain.

All of our partner brands offer keyboards in 6.0-inch octave sizes. Steinway & Sons and Steingraeber also offer 5.5-inch octave keys.

The 6.0" octave is comfortable for most people. Even pianists with average-sized hands report increased control and relaxation! The 5.5" octave tends to be suitable for hand spans under 7.6 inches.

Either size will be helpful for children learning the piano or older players struggling with flexibility.

We have also met people who want to play 5.1, 5.32 and 5.75-inch octave keys. We can help you order a piano with fully custom keyboard dimensions. Daniel Barenboim and Josef Hofmann played custom-built keyboards with a 6.25-inch octave.

This depends on the player.

We have seen skillful concert artists whose hands fit narrow keys play without mistakes on their first or second time switching from 6.5-inch keys to 6.0-inch keys, playing difficult virtuoso material. We have also seen young kids who don’t practice much making many mistakes.

However, once any player who has hands that fit stretto pianos spend 15, 30, 45, or 60 minutes playing, they are usually convinced that they can practice and express themselves better on keys that fit them and allow them to play octaves and ninths easily, with correct technique. Many can quickly play tenths. Some can play elevenths and twelfths.

Many people who know they want narrow keys have been purchasing stretto pianos and retrofitting their instruments sight unseen.

As we plan our brick-and-mortar showroom in the not-too-distant-future, we encourage everyone to attend Stretto Piano Events live, in-person concerts and lectures where we always offer audience members the opportunity to play stretto pianos after each concert, one by one, on the stage. 

Yes, you’ll be able to switch from a narrow keyboard to a conventional one.

The size of piano keyboards has only been standardized for about the past 150 years. Prior to the late 19th century, there were many different sizes of piano keyboards. Switching between keyboard sizes was a normal part of being a musician.

Today, there are still countless musicians who regularly play keyboard instruments of different sizes, switching between piano and organ, harpsichord or fortepiano.

Most of us who have owned both narrow and conventional keys have been switching from 6.0 to 6.5-inch octave keys for over 20 years because our careers required this.  Some of us also play 5.5-inch keys.

Good news — different sized piano keyboards can be switched out in a matter of minutes! Several of our piano makers are now offering fully convertible pianos. Contact us to learn more about this option.

Beyond our convertible pianos, we encourage people to consider who in their household will play the piano the most. A small-handed pianist might be totally unable to play certain chords or intervals on a standard piano. People with large hands will not have trouble reaching intervals on a 6.0”-sized keyboard, and many will adapt with ease.

A convertible piano is a good solution, but not the only one.

The success of small-handed virtuosos is the exception rather than the norm. A Stanford research study showed that among advanced piano students, a third were discouraged from playing standard repertoire because of their hand size, while almost half had been injured or feared injuries from practice.

Regarding Alicia de Larrocha, our founder Hannah has the following story:

In 1996, I heard Alicia DeLarrocha perform a solo recital at Carnegie Hall. I was in the process of ordering a narrow keyboard for my Steinway grand. I went to find Madame DeLarrocha after the concert and explained my project.

Exhausted after a rigorous solo program, Madame DeLarrocha looked at me with trepidation. "I have been waiting for this for my entire life," she said.

We put up our hands against each other to measure. Our fingers and palms were the same size. However, Madame DeLaroccha's thumb and finger could stretch a straight line -- 180 degrees. She had an enormous stretch from playing difficult pieces since her child prodigy days, but her hand size was small.

Would she work together with me and Steinway to help introduce the first pianos with narrow keys?

Madame DeLaroccha laughed.

"My dear, I'm too old," she said. "You do it."

Great music belongs to everyone, and playing big chords without rolling is enjoyable and satisfying. Why should these things depend on the size of your hands?

We believe that all artists should be able to play the music that they love, free from strain or injury. Even if your passion is for Mozart or Bach, we want you to make that choice.

Please schedule a call with us and we can explain what your options are to acquire a stretto piano for your school. Be prepared to give us a rough budget or we can tell you how much money you’ll need. We are connected to the DS Foundation and have helped schools get loan grants from that nonprofit.

We have also helped schools acquire stretto pianos and keyboards without the foundation’s help.