Head back in time throughout the history of the piano and you’ll find it to be predominantly male. No surprises there, right?
While men of high status were encouraged to increase their cultural activities by getting degrees and learning to play the piano, women were refining their cooking skills and learning how to be proper wives. Therefore you’ll find a lack of women pianists prior to the 20th century.
Then things began to change.
Women began taking up the piano and soon were making names for themselves across the platform. But like many industries, the further up you get, the more successful men are over women. When you look at the music world, male pianists outnumber female pianists four to one. When men choose to follow their musical inclination, they do well in the musical world.
But is there a difference between the way men and women play? Is there an inherent difference that causes one to be better than the other? With a lot of research behind us, the answer isn’t what you would think.
When it comes to the differences, the way we play or the ability to create music has little to do with if we are male or female, instead, has to do with our size.
Playing the piano isn’t just a “finger touching the keys” action. Instead, to play the piano, it takes the work of your entire body, from your height and weight, to the size of your hands.
A large man with a wide hand reach can play larger chords more effortlessly. A small woman with a short hand reach will put more into her body movements, use her forearms more to create a similar sound.
So in many cases it would seem that a person with a smaller body size and a shorter hand reach would be at a disadvantage. And in some cases that may be so. However, like all activities, it depends on the passion within as much as it does the physical approach.
Some of the best female pianists barely reach five feet tall. Yet watching their performance will quickly show you just how talented they are.
You approach piano playing from within. What you desire to produce comes from the way you approach it. And when the desire is there, anything is possible.