# playing piano: how can I learn to get my hands to play independent from eachother? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 24, 2006, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playing-piano-how-can-i-learn-to-get-my-hands-to-play-independent-from-eachother/341415 "2006-01-24T17:31:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![cactus\_waltz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@cactus\_waltz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cactus_waltz)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2006, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playing-piano-how-can-i-learn-to-get-my-hands-to-play-independent-from-eachother/341415/1 "2006-01-24T17:31:51Z")
I recently made a bold move and purchased a digital piano. Good for me, it’s of good quality and it’s very entertaining. I used to play keyboards as a kid, so I’m not entirely unfamiliar with the instrument. However - it’s really hard for me to keep track of two different melodies, doing them at the same time is very challenging. I have played a lot of guitar until now, and to play the guitar your hands have to be syncronized, i.e. by strumming with one hand forming the chords with the other. And I can do that perfectly fine when I play piano. I form chords with the left hand and play melodies with the right, based on those chords - as long as I play simple rock I can go on. But anything that requires two melodies kills me. What do I do? ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2006, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playing-piano-how-can-i-learn-to-get-my-hands-to-play-independent-from-eachother/341415/2 "2006-01-24T17:35:55Z")
Are you learning by improvisation or by rote? Do yourself a favour before you play and pick up some training–lessons, sight reading, whatever. Working on scales, arpeggios, and written pieces for the left hand will develop your sense of rhythm and timing in it, and you’ll be able to improvise better. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2006, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playing-piano-how-can-i-learn-to-get-my-hands-to-play-independent-from-eachother/341415/3 "2006-01-24T17:38:14Z")
Just a minor suggestion that may not really work. Practice drumming – either with real drums or on a table top – with a 3/4 beat in one hand and a 4/4 beat in the other until that gets comfortable. Then move to a 5/4 in one and a 7/4 in the other. Then start going for more unusual rhythms. Sounds like a coordination issue mainly. ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2006, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playing-piano-how-can-i-learn-to-get-my-hands-to-play-independent-from-eachother/341415/4 "2006-01-24T17:40:41Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > Just a minor suggestion that may not really work. Practice drumming – either with real drums or on a table top – with a 3/4 beat in one hand and a 4/4 beat in the other until that gets comfortable. Then move to a 5/4 in one and a 7/4 in the other. Then start going for more unusual rhythms. _choke, splutter, wheeze_ Do you have any idea how _hard_ this is?!? ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2006, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playing-piano-how-can-i-learn-to-get-my-hands-to-play-independent-from-eachother/341415/5 "2006-01-24T18:41:22Z")
> [@Kythereia](#): > > _choke, splutter, wheeze_ > > Do you have any idea how _hard_ this is?!? Sure. Imagine keeping two other beats going with your feet! Any decent drummer can do at least two beats at once. And I’ve marveled at guys like Joe Morello and Buddy Rich who could _imply_ a fifth beat while doing all the rest – and at lightning speeds. The idea of the drumming exercise would be to remove the additional concern for harmony and melody until the rhythm aspect has been given time to develop. Watching pianists like Art Tatum, Cyrus Chestnut, Erroll Garner and the like, convinces me that the drumming exercise would be a snap for them. ---
**Author:** ![sandra\_nz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@sandra\_nz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sandra_nz)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2006, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playing-piano-how-can-i-learn-to-get-my-hands-to-play-independent-from-eachother/341415/6 "2006-01-24T18:56:17Z")
I’d second the drumming exercise - I’m a pianist and can do the 5/4 and 7/4 beat things with ease. I’d also recommend getting an exercise book (piano exercises, that is, although a little fitness never hurt no-one!) and also trying some of the easier Bach Fugues (depending on your proficiency). Anything with counterpoint. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2006, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playing-piano-how-can-i-learn-to-get-my-hands-to-play-independent-from-eachother/341415/7 "2006-01-24T19:24:13Z")
I have the same problem. I learned music on a Saxophone, so moving to a piano where the hands have to move independently is really tough for me. Here’s what works for me so far: GO SLOWLY. One bar at a time. Practice with the right hand first, until you have that part cold. Then with the left hand. Then put them together, _one beat at a time_. Take as much time as you need, until you can play that measure through at a snail’s pace. Then slowly speed up until you can play that measure at tempo. Then move on to the next one. Then go back and do both measures. Then go on to the third one. Etc. Over time, it gets easier, and it doesn’t take me quite as long to peck my way through a new measure. I’m hoping eventually it will come easily, but it’s still work for me. It’s not natural at all. I don’t think I’ll be playing Scott Joplin any time soon, but damn, I can just _kill_ “long long ago”. (-: Also, it helps to play music you know well. The first bit I learned to play all the way through with both hands was the Eagles’ “Desperado”. It’s slow, and I know the song so well that I can instantly tell when I miss a note with my left hand. ---
**Author:** ![K364](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k364/32/5_2.png) [@K364](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K364)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2006, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playing-piano-how-can-i-learn-to-get-my-hands-to-play-independent-from-eachother/341415/8 "2006-01-25T01:39:39Z")
**Sam Stone** is giving you the best advice. Accuracy is of paramount importance at first… yes, rhythm is going to have to addressed eventually, but not at first. Ensure that the passage is fingered correctly. Follow the fingering, even if it seems strange. (It may require some help from an advanced player to get the fingering down.) Try the left hand alone, then the right alone, then together. When the hands are playing alone, bring up the tempo and try to get the rhythm right (but don’t play so fast you are making mistakes!). When the two hands are together, slow down as **Sam** described. Repeat for a month or two. At some point you will find that your two hands are “doing it” - playing their own lines independently (but together!) ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2006, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playing-piano-how-can-i-learn-to-get-my-hands-to-play-independent-from-eachother/341415/9 "2006-01-25T02:00:37Z")
Also, it really, really helped me to take a few piano lessons. A piano instructor can get you started with the correct fingering, show you some scales to learn, and correct any boneheaded errors you may be making that you don’t realize you’re making. Ideally, you’d want to keep up the piano lessons, but even if alll you can afford or have time for is a few individual lessons at the start, I found that it was well worth it. ---
**Author:** ![NoCoolUserName](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5fc32e/32.png) [@NoCoolUserName](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoCoolUserName)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2006, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/playing-piano-how-can-i-learn-to-get-my-hands-to-play-independent-from-eachother/341415/10 "2006-01-25T17:32:22Z")
You won’t actually have your hands playing “independently”–they’re both playing the same piece, after all. There are only 3 possibilities on each fraction of a beat: L hand plays, R hand plays, both play. So, what’s the shortest note in the piece you want to learn? Let’s say it’s an 8th note. Look at each 8th and decide if you’re playing L, R or both. Set your metronome to a nice, slow tempo and play each 8th. Do that about a billion times. I find if I do this I don’t have to speed up gradually–once my hands know the pattern, I can play at (or close to) full speed. Same thing for playing 3 against 2 or whatever. Here the L plays 3, the R plays 2. 8ths _\_\ __**\*** _\_\__ **\*** |_\_\ __**\*** _\_\__ **\*** |_\_\ __**\*** _\_\__ **\*** |\* L _\_\_\_\_\ ___**\*** _|_\_\_\_\_\___ **\*** _|_\_\_\_\_\___ **\*** _|\* R _\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\__ **|\*** _\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_|_ **\*** |\* (displays properly with Times New Roman 12–you need a font where \* and \_ are the same width) If counting in 3, it’s in 3/4. If counting in 2 it’s in 6/8. This will improve your triplet playing even if you’re not playing 2 in the other hand. At least, it did mine. 🙂 Same thing works when doing counterpoint type of playing on guitar. Trying to get the thumb and fingers to play independently is tough. Learning it all together–step by step as it were–works. This is, in any case, my experience. Others may disagree.