7/8 Keyboard

[Avery Todd]

List,

   Does anyone have any experience with the 7/8 keyboard? We have several
Oriental students with very small hands who are excellent pianists but
have a lot of difficulty in playing certain repertoire. They're always
having to decide what notes to leave out just to play the piece and then
it doesn't sound right.
   I was discussing this with the chairman of our piano department today
because some new students are coming in and they have very small hands.
During the discussion, a few questions came up:

   1) If these were used, wouldn't the pianist have a lot of problems
when going to competitions, giving recitals elsewhere, etc. and having to
play on "normal" keyboards?

   2) Are they designed as just a keyframe and keys and one just
installs the regular action on that frame? Or do you have to get the
entire thing?

   Is there a web site pertaining to this? I just tried to access the
archives because I think it's been discussed in the last year or two but
couldn't get on right now. Wasn't there also a Journal article about
them?
   Would it be feasible/practical, especially in an institutional setting
to consider getting a couple of these? One for a teaching piano and one
for a performance piano? Just some rhetorical questions possibly, but an
interesting possibility.
   Thanks for any help.

Avery

mailto:atodd@uh.edu                 I'd rather be over the hill
                                         than under it.
Avery Todd, RPT
Moores School of Music
University of Houston
Houston, TX 77204-4201