Quote:
Originally posted by sugar and spice
Ladies were expected to be accomplished, not proficient. If you read Jane Austen, for example, you'll realize that addition to playing a little piano, young women were expected to be able to sing a little, speak a little French, speak a little Italian, draw a little, etc. They were not expected (or in many cases even allowed) to become masters of one craft, but to become decent at many.
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If you have very tiny hands, and can barely reach an octave, it makes it harder to even become "proficient" in piano playing. In the 19th century, being able to play the equivlent of "big note piano" does not make one "proficient".