Do Men and Women Play Piano Differently?

Although the structure and size of pianos tends to be very universal, especially with larger manufacturers like Yamaha pianos, there are still questions as to whether there is a difference in the way that men and women play the piano.

The answer is a rather infirm yes: in that whilst there are no differences in the way men and women play, their physical stature might create difficulties or ease:

Physical Stature

Of course, the hand sizes of men and women to tend to be (for the most part) different. Whilst men tend to have larger hands, women’s fingers tend to be longer. Of course, there are exceptions to every rule but for the most part, the above is true.

When playing the piano, hand size is very important. Someone with large hands but small fingers might have trouble stretching across a number of notes in order to play a scale or chord. On the opposite hand, a person with smaller hands but longer fingers might find a larger difficulty in playing the black keys.

In a similar way, arm size and length also makes a big difference.  The larger the arms the more likely someone is to be find playing chords easier. This is because their longer arms mean they can play a larger selection of notes from the same physical starting place. Again a generalisation would be that men tend to have larger and longer arms than women although, again, this is not always strictly the case.

All of the above being said, those people whose natural frame and size might find them at a disadvantage tend to find a way of compensating for their own body and any limitations it gives them. There are seemingly no hands or arms which are too small to play the piano – it is simply a case of finding a way to work with the body rather than against it.

Finding the Right Piano

Of course, a great deal of the ease or difficultly of playing the piano comes not from body size or limitations but from finding the right piano. Experts recommend trying a wide variety of pianos out when choosing one from piano shop London as each model is likely to give advantages and disadvantages to different people.