Try these practice tips when learning to play a piece of music with two hands. You need to break down your tasks into smaller pieces.
- Start by playing hands separately.
- Begin with the right hand (RH) in the first example.
- Then, play the left hand (LH) in the second example. For your convenience, I’ve included finger numbers for each note.
- Next, one bar at a time, put your hands together slowly.
To help you, I’ve included hands together lines and hand icons (including finger numbers) in the examples below to show how the hands line up. Also, I’ve provided soundtracks so you can hear how it sounds.
Some students have a hard time figuring out which hand should play when.
- Try tilting the score 90o to the right (see the rotated example below).
- Notice that RH and LH on the piano now line up with the treble and bass staffs in the score.
- As you move forward in time (using the red and blue counting numbers), ask yourself which hand plays?
- It’s all about keeping track (at any given time) of whether you play RH, LH, or both.
- That’s how your brain learns to play the piano with two hands.
- Once you’ve gotten comfortable playing the tilted score, turn it back to its normal position.
If these examples are too hard for you, apply these concepts to a piece at your playing level.