SURVEY PLZ!

[gilded_glamour]

IF YOU ARE A MUSICIAN OR KNOW ANY MUSICIANS, PLEASE READ THIS!

Comments

[gilded_glamour]

I know, I was thinking people would copy-paste but I realised posting links would just be easier. I'll make it public now. :) Thanks for pointing that out.

[hope_24]

1. Classical guitar
2. Classical guitar (second is voice)
3. Twenty years (since I was eight)
4. Carcassi's Etude #7
5. Twenty-one centimetres. (I have hitch-hiker's thumb, though, so my thumb bends backwards. I also have some hypermobility, which I don't know whether you're factoring in)
6.
7. Fine
8. Nope.
10. Nah! :)

[gilded_glamour]

Thank you! I'm slightly double-jointed too, and I find it helps a lot when I play the violin so that's definitely something I'd like to know. :)

[hope_24]

YW :)

It's actually a pain for guitar, and messes up both my left and right hand positions (the left constantly tries to bend back when I'm gripping the neck, which overloads the joint, and my right one gets in the way in tremolando). It's probably handy when it comes to big stretches on my left, though.

[gilded_glamour]

Hahaha I can imagine. I'm only double-jointed in my thumb, so shifting to higher positions is slightly easier. My violin teacher broke his pinky finger so he can actually stretch it in a really weird way that makes it much easier to play 4th finger notes than it is for normal people. Some people are just lucky that way haha.

[veradee]

1. one; the recorder

2. I play both descant and treble recorder

3. 28 years; since I was seven years old

4. None actually, but one of the last pieces was a suite by Henry Purcell from "Abdelazer". All in all I play a lot of Renaissance and Baroque music.

5. 19 cm; I've got really small hands and I don't think I'd be able to play tenor and bass recorders

6. ---

7. geordie96 AT web.de

8. No.

10. No.

[gilded_glamour]

Thank you very much! I don't know many people who play recorders so that's an interesting one. :)

[veradee]

That's because most people switch to piano or violin after a year or two. ;)

[ariadne1]

1. How many instruments do you play?

Piano, harpsichord, recorder.

2. Which instrument do you consider your principal instrument? (e.g. I play 4 instruments & I sing, but I consider the violin my principal instrument, having played since I was 7 and focusing on it the most.) You may name two, if necessary, but not more.

Piano.

3. How many years have you played the instrument(s) listed in question 2?

40

4. Name a piece you are currently working on.

Liszt's "Hungarian Rhapsody #2 in c#"

5. Please splay your hand such that your thumb and pinky finger are as far apart as possible. Measure the length from the tip of the thumb to the pinky using a ruler and write down this measurement. You may answer in inches, but centimetres is preferred.

Fingers Curved (as though hitting keys with only thumb and pinky): 21.5 cm
Fingers Flat (as though mashing hand down on all keys in between thumb and pinky): 22.5 cm

6. FOR PIANISTS ONLY: what is the largest interval you can reach?LH: Comfortably, a 10th, but I can squeeze out another half-

[ariadne1]

P.S. I think finger length may have something to do with all this - I know people with huge hands and stubby fingers who can barely reach an octave... And I remember doing stretching exercises to get that 10th when I needed it for Gershwin... *waves*

[gilded_glamour]

I agree. My gut-feeling at the moment, though it remains to be confirmed, is that people often assume that playing the piano requires longer fingers and a longer hand-span, and thus it is GENERALLY those people who end up playing the piano, and it has turned into something of a self-fulfilling prophecy, I guess. As I said, it's just a hunch, and one of the things I would definitely like to explore, hence the survey just to get some kind of idea of where I'm going. Thanks so much for participating :) If there's anyone else you know who plays an instrument, please let them know about this!

[tinytexans]

1. How many instruments do you play? Just one

[gilded_glamour]

Thank you! I find it interesting that you say you have small hands, since I have the same hand-span as you and I consider my hands to be quite large! I guess it's relative to height. I should probably factor that in too.