Narrower Piano Keys
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A classical pianist I know has written an illuminating essay about her experience with a narrow piano keyboard. But I can’t find an easy way to link to it. However, if you are on Facebook it’s easy to find it. Just look up Heather O’Donnell. I met her in Europe some years ago.
There’s a German company that’s making these keyboards. An octave measures 6 inches instead of the standard 6.5. A godsend for smaller hands.
The company itself calls it Sirius 6.0, but I haven’t found a website in English.
@RealPlayer you were probably looking at the FB page for this group:
PIANISTS FOR ALTERNATIVELY SIZED KEYBOARDS
https://paskpiano.org/Maybe this:
https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1C3jUD6KYr/?mibextid=wwXIfrI have always wanted to play a 6.0 keyboard, but I’ve never had the chance. But I’ve read enough about it to think it makes a lot of sense to have the option.
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On one of the college and university technician forums, I remember one tech writing about how they had a duplicate narrow keyboard made for one of the performance pianos. Voiced and regulated as close to the original, so they could quickly be swapped out in case there were performers or students that preferred the size. They may have also had some practice pianos with the narrower ones, I just can't remember...
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On one of the college and university technician forums, I remember one tech writing about how they had a duplicate narrow keyboard made for one of the performance pianos. Voiced and regulated as close to the original, so they could quickly be swapped out in case there were performers or students that preferred the size. They may have also had some practice pianos with the narrower ones, I just can't remember...
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It occurred to me that the more interesting question is why the wider keyboard came about at all. Weren’t historical piano keys narrower? Is it an improvement nobody asked for?
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Found this:
https://paskpiano.org/keyboard-history/
"Today’s keyboard size dates back to about 1880, when male virtuosi were still actively involved with, and being promoted by, piano manufacturers. To produce a bigger sound in large concert halls, piano design started to incorporate cross-stringing and bigger soundboards, incorporating wider keys in order to minimise the angle of key flare.As virtuosi performers were large-handed males (such as Paderewski and Anton Rubinstein), the slightly wider keys would not have presented a problem. The basic cross-strung design from that time, with its ‘standard’ 6.5 inch octave keyboard, has since been adopted by virtually all acoustic piano manufacturers, in both grands and uprights"
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Thanks, Ron. I was aware of the push for bigger sound (cross-stringing, bigger soundboards) but never heard of key flare. Is that the “bend” in the key stick like what you see in clavichords?
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