“The fact that we can make music is thanks - in part - to our hands. What they have to achieve is determined by the instrument and our musical requirements. What they can achieve varies greatly from person to person,” explains Prof. Christoph Wagner, who has conducted fundamental research into musicians’ hands. Pianists with a smaller hand span often find it difficult to cope with standard keyboards, resulting in pain or injury over time, and are at a further disadvantage because they need longer practice times to master musicality or are simply unable to play certain pieces, which can limit career opportunities. Pieces of music from the 20th century often require larger hand spans than literature from the 17th to 19th centuries. Gender and age are also issues which the conventional keyboard does not accommodate: studies have shown that women have approximately 15 per cent smaller hands than men on average, and children’s hand spans are very small. At AUGUST FÖRSTER, we recommend the stretto keyboard 6.0, but versions with a 5.5 keyboard (corresponding to 14.1 centimeters) are also available upon request.

The standard keyboard of earlier centuries was narrower. In the period between 1750 and 1850, for example, when a great deal of piano literature was written, the keys were narrower than they are today. The now customary key width came about in the 1880s, when pianos and grand pianos were fitted with cast iron plates and cross-bracing to produce more sound. Manufacturers agreed on the standard we know today, and in Germany this was laid down in a DIN standard. However, the established standard led to the aforementioned difficulties for people with smaller hands. Our stretto version is designed to alleviate these difficulties.