Piano Pieces for Small Hands: What to Play and What to Avoid

I have small hands. I mention this occasionally in other posts because it genuinely affects what I can and can’t play — or more accurately, what I can play as written versus what I have to adapt. It’s one of those things that doesn’t come up much in standard piano teaching resources, possibly because a lot of piano pedagogy was developed by men with large hands who assumed that what they could reach was simply what the instrument required.

It isn’t. Some of the most-played piano repertoire was written by composers with very large hand spans — Beethoven, Brahms, Rachmaninoff — and playing it with small hands means either adapting passages, accepting that some pieces will always be harder than the grade suggests, or choosing different repertoire. All three are valid options. This is a guide to navigating them.

Piano Pieces for Small Hands

What Counts as Small Hands for Piano?
Composers Who Are Hard on Small Hands
Composers Who Are More Manageable
Specific Pieces by Grade
Techniques That Help

What Counts as Small Hands for Piano?

The standard measure is span — the distance from the tip of your thumb to the tip of your little finger when your hand is stretched. A span of under 17cm (roughly a 9th on the piano in most octave sizes) is generally considered small for piano. Under 19cm (a 10th) means you’ll find certain composers significantly more difficult than their grade would suggest.

Most women have spans in the 17-20cm range. Most men are 20-23cm. There’s considerable variation in both directions. The point is not the measurement but which intervals cause you strain — if a 9th is a stretch rather than a comfortable reach, that’s going to limit access to a fair amount of Romantic repertoire.

The good news is that playing style and technique can compensate for a lot. Rolling chords (playing notes in quick sequence rather than simultaneously), redistributing notes between hands, and using arm weight rather than finger force for wide stretches all help. But some passages genuinely require a hand size that smaller hands can’t replicate, and knowing which ones they are before you commit months to a piece is useful.

Composers Who Are Hard on Small Hands

Beethoven. The most commonly cited problem composer for small hands. Beethoven frequently used 10ths in the left hand — especially in his middle and late period sonatas — and many passages that look like they should be playable simply aren’t for hands that can’t span a 9th comfortably. The Pathétique Sonata (Op. 13), the Waldstein (Op. 53), and the Appassionata (Op. 57) all have passages that require significant adaptation for small hands.

His earlier work is more manageable. The Sonata Op. 49 No. 2 (sometimes called the “Easy Sonata”) is around Grade 6-7 and written without the extreme stretches of the later period.

Brahms. Known for extremely wide chord voicings and thick, orchestral textures. Many Brahms passages are genuinely inaccessible without adaptation for small hands. The Rhapsodies and many of the Intermezzi have moments that require rolling or omitting notes.

Rachmaninoff. Had exceptionally large hands and wrote with them. Most Rachmaninoff is significantly harder for small hands than the grade suggests. Even pieces that aren’t considered technically extreme at concert level — the Prelude in C# minor (Op. 3 No. 2), for example — have chord clusters that require either a large span or careful voicing choices.

Schumann. Used wide stretches frequently, and additionally had specific finger independence requirements (he famously damaged his own hand trying to develop it artificially) that can be taxing for smaller hands.

Composers Who Are More Manageable

Chopin. Counterintuitively, Chopin is often more accessible for small hands than his grade suggests. He had relatively small hands himself — around an octave and a ninth at most — and many of his pieces are written with a more natural hand position. The Nocturnes and Waltzes in particular tend to sit comfortably. The Études are the exception — several require large spans — but his lyrical works are genuinely hand-friendly.

Mozart. Classical period music generally uses smaller chord voicings and less extreme stretches. Mozart’s sonatas sit in the octave-to-ninth range for most passages and are very manageable for smaller hands. This is one reason Mozart is often recommended as a starting point for intermediate players — the technique it requires is difficult in different ways, not in the “can you physically reach this” way.

Bach. The Well-Tempered Clavier and the suites use counterpoint rather than wide chord clusters, so large spans are rarely an issue. Individual voice lines sit naturally under the hand. Bach is excellent repertoire for small-handed players at any level.

Debussy. Mixed — some pieces are fine, some are not. Clair de lune has some wide-reaching moments but is generally manageable with careful pedalling to blur the joins. La Cathédrale engloutie has very large chord structures in the climax that are genuinely difficult for small hands.

Schubert. Generally manageable. The Impromptus and Moments Musicaux don’t tend to require extreme spans. Some of the later Sonatas have more demanding passages, but the Grade 7-8 repertoire (Op. 90 Impromptus) is accessible.

Specific Pieces by Grade

Grade 5-6 (good for small hands)

Bach: Two-Part Inventions — the counterpoint sits naturally under small hands Scarlatti: Sonatas (the gentler ones, like K. 545 in D minor or K. 208 in A major) Chopin: Waltz Op. 64 No. 2 in C# minor Mozart: Sonata No. 11 in A major, K. 331 (first two movements) Schubert: Impromptu Op. 90 No. 3 in G flat major

Grade 6-7 (manageable with care)

Chopin: Nocturne Op. 9 No. 2 in E flat major Debussy: Arabesque No. 1 Mendelssohn: Song Without Words Op. 19 No. 6 (Venetian Gondola Song) Schumann: Träumerei (from Kinderszenen) — simple enough that the small stretches aren’t a problem Schubert: Impromptu Op. 90 No. 2 in E flat major

Grade 7-8 (worth knowing before committing)

Brahms: Intermezzo Op. 118 No. 2 — beautiful piece but the wide voicings require rolling in places; doable, just be aware Beethoven: Sonata Op. 49 No. 2 — the most hand-friendly of his more substantial sonatas Debussy: Clair de lune — the wide reaches can mostly be managed with pedal and slight arpeggiating; worth learning

Techniques That Help

Rolling chords. Rather than playing wide chords as a block, play the notes from bottom to top in very quick succession. Classical pianists sometimes mark these with an upward arrow or a small wavy line. Used tastefully, rolling chords are a legitimate technique rather than a workaround — many Romantic pieces were intended to be played this way.

Redistributing between hands. In a chord that’s written entirely for the left hand but reaches an interval you can’t span, take the top note with the right hand. This requires a bit of coordination adjustment but is often completely inaudible in the final result.

Omitting notes from thick chords. In dense Brahms or Beethoven chords where the middle notes are doubling what’s already there harmonically, removing one note often makes no audible difference to the overall sound. The skill is identifying which notes are structural and which are doublings.

Arm weight for wide stretches. Reaching a wide interval with finger tension alone will cause strain over time. Using the arm to drop the weight into the keys, with the hand relaxed, makes wide reaches less damaging and often produces a better sound.

If you want to explore what’s in the repertoire at each grade level — including notes on which pieces sit more or less comfortably under the hand — the complete guide to piano repertoire for adult learners covers the full range. And the individual composer guides (Bach, Chopin, Debussy, Liszt) include notes on hand demands at each level.

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