Last night I appeared at the Edinburgh International Book Festival, discussing my latest book with broadcaster Kate Molleson (see picture of me turning away from the piano after playing one of the pieces we were talking about).

Conversation turned to the idea of keyboards for smaller hands. The piano keyboard (to cut a long story short) was designed by men with men’s hands in mind. Most women have smaller hands than men do. Yes, some men have small hands too, and some women have large hands, but as a general rule, women’s hands are smaller. Women often find it difficult to master the parts of the repertoire which call for a hand that can stretch more than an octave or a ninth. (Romantic piano music is full of such things.)

Until now, people with small hands – including children –  have been stuck with the standard piano keyboard. But now there is a move to make piano keyboards with slightly narrower keys so that smaller hands can stretch large intervals without strain. I knew about such pianos, but had always assumed there would be no point in having one at home because it would make it so difficult to adjust to the standard keyboard anywhere else.

Last night, a knowledgeable member of the audience stood up and told us that there is now a smaller keyboard (ie a keyboard with narrower keys) which can be ‘dropped in’ to an ordinary concert piano – once the standard keyboard has been removed, of course. A good technician can replace one keyboard with the other in ten minutes, apparently. There wouldn’t need to be an entirely different piano for those with smaller hands – just a different keyboard.

This opens up the possibility that concert halls could have both kinds of keyboard available. They’d need experienced technicians on hand, naturally, to take one keyboard out and fit the other.

Many pianists would welcome such an option, I’m sure. But how many concert halls would be willing to invest in the ‘alternative’ keyboard and technicians who knew how to swap keyboards when a visiting pianist asked for the other one? At present I don’t know of any concert hall which offers these things, but perhaps someone will tell me otherwise.

For anyone interested in knowing more, here is a link to a website which explains the benefits of smaller keyboards. It reminds us that many instruments have small versions of themselves so that children can learn on, for example, a quarter-size violin. No such option is available to a young pianist. Food for thought indeed!