Very Tall Piano Player

I am about 6'-7' tall. If I sit at virtually any piano that I have tried, my knees will hit the front of the keyboard. I cannot put them a little ways under the keyboad, like most pianists do. I am just one of those odd sizes!

I guess I just have to sit back farther so my kness just touch the front of the keyboard to play, leaning forward accordingly.

Anybody else have this situation?

Thanks.

Get a piano with a high keyboard then. The steinberg has high keyboards, and suits me quite well. But i duno what 6'7' is, I'm 1.85m tall.

Jon

That's about a half-foot (15cm) shorter, which is just about my height and I've never had much trouble with the regular keyboard height. The original poster may have considerably more difficulty even with the higher keyboard, but I suppose it's worth a test. It doesn't particularly help for gigs away from home, though.

I can only assume that a person with such long legs would also have long arms, making it easier to simply back the bench up a bit until you (and by 'you' from here on I mean the original poster) find a comfortable spot. This may mean you have to adjust your playing style if you usually play a bit scrunched in. In that case, it's probably best to change anyway. In fact, don't rule out the possibility that the problems may stem from the way you carry yourself at the piano more so than just sheer height (your height may just make the problems more problematic than they otherwise would be). Bodywork like the Alexander Technique is a very pricey option, but one worth looking into.

And, of course, you should experiment with how you position yourself on the bench. It's typically recommended to sit on the front edge (or atleast the front half of the bench), but if that doesn't work for you there's no reason not to try other positions.

If you don't have an adjustable bench, it would definitely be a good idea to look into it. Failing that, find a chair that's the right height, and if you need to, take it along with you whenever you need to play away from home. I've seen professional pianists who travel with very. . . um. . . UN-professional looking benches all in the name of comfort. Brad Mehldau uses a little adjustable bench that typically sells for about $15 at a store like Guitar Center (those can usually go very low to the ground). Jason Moran usually uses a stacking-style chair (not sure if he takes the same one with him everywhere or just borrows one wherever he can find). It's all about whatever happens to suit you.

Hello,

Rachmaninov was very tall and he did quite well.

Have a look at this photo:
http://www.rdpl.red-deer.ab.ca/villa/ricardo19.gif

Regards, Jakob Frandsen

Ron,

beeing 6'4'' I have at least an idea of what you're talking about. I don't feel uncomfortable with every piano, but there are some.

Here's what helped me:

I use a customized bench which is a little lower than usual piano benches. I've put my grand piano on glass insulators (which gives a little more height of the piano) and that's it. Now I have about 1'' clearance between my knees and the keybed. But usually I sit a little more away from the piano, so that my knees are just in front of or slightly under the front rail of the piano. Once I had adjusted to this position I was able to play almost any piano. When I play gigs, I take my bench with me and everything is fine.

OK, now you're a little taller than I am. Here's another suggestion: If you can't adapt to sitting completely in front of the piano you could put the piano on custom-made wood blocks, 3'' in height (or whatever you feel comfortable with) and that should solve your problems. Of course, the higher you lift it, the more difficult it will be to use the pedals, allthough they could be modified too, to work at at different height.

Best regards,