small hands?

[LorenzoFlute]

Yup, small hands.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHYWISCh40k

That's an Eb flute

[Denny]

he used ta be a piano player

[Nanohedron]

Stretching out your right hand, measure distance from the tip of the thumb to the tip of the pinky...

I'm never sure why this method of measuring is useful, as you don't use your thumb to stretch at all - says nothing (directly) about the stretch between your index and your second and third fingers, or how far you can fork your fingers apart...

he used ta be a piano player

The measurement paradigm of thumbtip-to-pinkietip would certainly be pertinent to piano players. Frankly it's as arbitrary a standard as any, and for our purposes of no real use to flute players, IMHO.

I have notably small hands for a man - mine compare fairly much with most women in my locale - not to mention unusually short pinkies ("dinky pinkie syndrome", as I call it; my right pinkie's tip extends only slightly past the midpoint of my right ringfinger's midsection), but my thumb-to-pinkie spread at fullest stretch nevertheless measures 8½ inches. Yet this spread has nothing to do with the fact that I can finger most regular D simple-system flutes with little problem.

The reason I can do it has to do with my grip. While what would be pertinent to our kind of fluteplayer is pretty much limited to solely the stretches between only three fingers, depending on grip, and hand size, even that is a negotiable standard. Back to my case: on the right hand between index and middle finger, a stretch of 4 inches from midtip to midtip. Between middle and ring finger, 3½ inches. Just for the sake of considering working a C foot's keys, between ring and pinkie finger, 3¼ inches. But these are extreme measurements of a flattened hand, and, moreover, static ones that don't take into account the fact that a stretched series of fingers (mine, anyway) array radially at their tips, whereas a flute's fingerholes are usually in a straight line. Aha! Now we have a whole new nest of bees to deal with: how, then, do we deal with this?

On the lower half of my flute's body there is a roughly 1¼ inch spacing, give or take, between the mipoints of of the three fingerholes. Reasoning based on no direct experience would assume that given the numbers, in theory there should be no problem for me in the slightest. But yet a "standard" grip for me is untenable: experience in the form of persistent mechanical difficulty, strain, and tendon damage - reversed over time, thankfully - from trying to force the issue in conforming to a classical standard has proved this. I can only chalk it up to hand size and my particular finger configuration and proportions; it was certainly not for lack of trying, but for the neverending natural resistance of my hands to that method which, in its use of curved fingers and the tips contacting the holes, definitely challenged me with an uncomfortable stretch. As those fingers curve, their freedom to comfortably stretch apart decreases for me.

What has been my solution? A reversion to the so-called "piper's" grip. What I find fascinating is that while there is measurably less spread between the middle areas of the fingers compared to the tips (of course), given the numbers, spread is not the issue: facility is. So I go with what works for me, offers me my best facility in Irish ornamentation (for that is the music I play), and keeps my hands healthy. Thankfully, on a simple-system flute this option is acceptable.

Mind you, this is not a blanket endorsement of one kind of grip over another. What it is is ONE small-handed player's solution to a problem, and a perfectly workable and reasonable one. Every grip style will have drawbacks peculiar to it.

[Rob Sharer]

There once was a Mod called Nano,
Who attempted to play the piano,
But his ivory-tickling,
Was so cochlea-pickling,
He was banished to El Altiplano.



R

[david_h]

Can't remember what Casey's web site used to say. But I read it, measured my span thumb to fourth finger at a bit over 7.5", bought his small handed folk flute and would not want to reach much more. I have picked up various other flutes and been able to stretch my left hand across the holes ('classical hold') by planting one first but would not want to go from no fingers to three fingers fast. 'Pipers grip' would probably be OK though.

[Nanohedron]

There once was a Mod called Nano,
Who attempted to play the piano...

Indeed I did. My career was, as you may well understand, comparatively brief due to my...um...shortcomings.

Speaking of which, I can't reach the spread on most low D whistles well, sometimes at all. The conical-bore flute is pretty much where it ends for me. But that's okay.

[workbased 2000]

Hi, if you are still looking for a good small handed flute, then a Grey Larsen Preferred, (GLP), made by Terry Mcgee is excellent.

[m31]

Yup, small hands.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHYWISCh40k

That's an Eb flute

You sure he wasn't playing a D flute in Eb? (just kidding)

I have a right handed D flute with an Eb corps de rechange (obviously by the same maker):
L1-L3 spacing, center to center: 73mm vs 68mm
R1-R3 spacing, center to center: 69mm vs 63mm

My hand stretch is 8" and I can play C and Bb flutes reasonably well.

[crookedtune]

I'm never sure why this method of measuring is useful........... OTOH (left or right), measuring your hand size does approximate finger size, and stretch.

[talasiga]

I am span 8
in line tonehole cylindrical bore low C# flute no problem
in line tonehole tapered bore low Bb tried once or twice no problem
practical value of this info for anyone else here :-
NIL

[Gordon]

I'm never sure why this method of measuring is useful........... OTOH (left or right), measuring your hand size does approximate finger size, and stretch.

My point being, that - while it approximates size and stretch, particularly from thumb to pinky, it says very little about one's ability to cover the six holes required by a wooden flute. It doesn't tell much about an individual's stretch between the first, second and third fingers, which varies depending on individual hand anatomy, how good your stretch is after playing said flutes for awhile, and how you hold your flute in the first place.

I have a good nine inch stretch, by crookedtune's method, thumb to pinky, but my fingers are thin (artistic and damned graceful, in fact), and not easily inclined to cover the holes of my Hamilton, in spite of my stretch. That said, they do cover them, rather well, because of the positioning of my hands (more of a classical grip - I can't manage a piper's grip at all). Also note that, once I became accustomed to a large holed Pratten type flute, my right hand, in particular, tends to cramp after a few hours of play with smaller holed flutes... too close together!

A person unaccustomed to playing flute, large or small holed, should try to get used to a flute for a bit, if they can play it at all, before deciding their hands are too small/big to play that sort of instrument. Flutes are not shoes - selection need not be based on a pre-selected size, especially if only measured from thumb to pinky.

[Leonard]

Hi all! It's been a while since I wrote here but this subject talks to me.

I have quite small hands. I played on a Hamilton for 2 years. Don't know the precised mesuring but the Hamilton is a little demanding on the strech. Any way, I seemed to be a matter only for me because I've been told by several players that my hands would get use to the strech. But they didn't. Actually, at every playing sessions, it always took my hands at least 30 minutes to get warmed and used to it, I could never play for more than 2 hours and always had hard time finishing long sets of reels.

I realised I never got used to it when I got my new Terry McGee Pratten (normal one, not small hands ...). The difference in holes spacing between this one and the Hamilton is tiny but I makes all the difference for me!! I don't need to get used to the flute for 30 minutes at every playing sessions, I can play for hours without getting sore and I can play very long sets of reels with no more fatigue.

So according to me, hole spacing made really big difference on my playing. Acually, I'm so much better now!!

http://www.myspace.com/matchingkeys try The Fool-Chinese Bus

[LorenzoFlute]

http://www.myspace.com/matchingkeys try The Fool-Chinese Bus

Is it you playing on a mcgee pratten? Sounds great!

[Leonard]

Yep!

Me playing on my McGee Pratten with my small hands and my big heart.

[radcliff]

Yup, small hands.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHYWISCh40k

he is closing the holes with his fingertips.... that flute is definitly Not an Hamilton....
I think it is safe for those who has small hands to play flutes with small holes (as german flutes)
while playing a pratten style flute could be harder and slower executions.