Questions tagged [hand-independence]

For questions about being able to play a different part on each hand and how to improve.

32 questions
86
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12 answers

How can I significantly improve my hand independence on piano?

I started taking piano lessons about 7 years ago, and stopped about 2 years ago when my teacher (the one and only piano teacher I've had) quit. In all honesty, my piano has been severely neglected without the obligation to practice during the past 2…
daltonf
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40
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8 answers

Hands-separate piano practice doesn't seem to help with hands-together playing

I'm a late starter with 'official' piano lessons and wondered if my learning experience is typical. As I'm sure many do, my piano teacher tells my to practice left and right hands separately. I can often manage to learn that quite easily and play…
Kyudos
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37
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11 answers

How does your brain learn to play the piano two-handed?

As a new piano player I find the entire concept of doing two separate things at once massively challenging. Even when both parts are incredibly simple and I can sight-read both lines mentally easily, I start playing and my hands just "lock up". Even…
Mr. Boy
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20
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1 answer

How to learn to play 'out of phase' with yourself?

There's a Piano piece by Steve Reich called piano phase, in which the same notes are played on 2 pianos (usually by different people), but over time, they shift out of phase with each other. Here's a video of it being done by one guy on…
Alexander Troup
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16
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5 answers

Piano can play hands together but not separately. Why?

At my piano lesson yesterday, my playing was OK hands together, but when directed to play hands separately to improve my playing (of course), I didn't know it well enough, and I have struggled today and feel less confident. Is this normal? My…
14
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3 answers

Piano scales: Why bother with hands together?

During my first ten years studying classical piano, the scales that I played were hands together, parallel. But the only literature that actually has scales in both hands, for more than one bar per page, is quite advanced and non-solo: Brahms piano…
Camille Goudeseune
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14
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4 answers

Pinky And Ring Finger Independence And Dexterity

I recently discovered that my ring finger and pinky seem to have the least amount of independence with respect to the rest of my fingers when fretting the guitar, and exceptionally so. I experience this issue with pinky and ring finger independence…
Kermit the Hermit
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8
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4 answers

Piano both hands, different forces exercises

I'm practicing piano for almost a year now and I'm getting very good especially at playing with both hands. But for the first time I met a piece that requires me to apply different forces on both hands. I mean I have to play the notes on my left…
6
votes
2 answers

Practice advice: Struggling with alternating left hand and off beat right hand melody

It comes up a lot but it is a massive weakness for me, and I wonder if I am just lacking aptitude, or if I'm practicing wrong. My problem is when I have an alternating bass with the left hand, e.g. alternating chord/note for 8 quavers in the bar,…
Corvus
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I'm a traditional snare drummer who has serious issues using my left hand

I'm looking for exercises to help with my motor control in my left wrist. Ever since I started heavy lifting on a daily basis at work, my left hand has become tighter and stiffer to the point where I have to use my entire arm while playing rather…
4
votes
3 answers

Getting restarted with the piano as a beginner

Nearly three years ago, I had taken lessons for perhaps half a year or so until I stopped because I didn't feel like my teacher was effective and I wasn't particularly fond with his teaching style. Additionally, I had decided to place much of my…
user26358
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4
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How to learn to exchange hands' roles on keyboard

I'm used to using my left hand to play rhythmic parts and my right hand to play melodic lines (like, I assume, many other players). What kind of approaches would you recommend to learn to swap these roles (i.e., play rhythmic parts with the right…
Anthony Labarre
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3
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5 answers

playing basic tunes on piano reading sheet music using chords

I’m an accomplished jazz trombonist and not actively playing anymore. I would like help improving my piano playing, especially my left hand chord fingering. I can sight read and play just about anything with my right hand, but when I try to add in…
Joe Shyka
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2 answers

Right hand way better than left hand -Piano

So the thing is, I can learn most new RH parts pretty fast even if it is a difficult piece like flight of the bumble-bee. The problem is that my left hand isn't on the same level so if I practice for say 5 minutes for my RH than I need about 20-30…
nour osama
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Piano both hands, learning curve

I had started learning a piece of music with both hands on piano. I have noticed that at the beginning, playing with both hands seems impossible. That is, one hand stops playing, presses wrong keys, or paces slower or faster. But, after a while, it…
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