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Greetings all, Im a newbie.
Late starter,
I have always wanted to play piano, umm, I was wondering if being able to play the drums as I do, will this help with piano?

I was thinking that it would help with the hand indepedance but am now thinking the opposite.

Does the hand independance just come one day? This is concerning me.

Have been trying to teach myself but now having levels, only know a few chords......

?

tx

playing the drums will help you with coordination, hand independence and especially rhythm.

Umm, yes rhythm I understand, I know it will hepl here as I have proven it to myslelf when I just muckaround, but Im struggling on simple two handed stuff.

Of course my main problem is I (as with others im sure) I always expect too much too soon, this may be why many give up and think they will never "be able to do it" I will keep going and press on. Very early stages yet anyway.

tx

Greetings fellow drummer.

You are in good company.

If you can read rhythm, then you have a good advantage right there.

Everyone struggles with the two handed stuff, its because your brain only "thinks" in terms of single behaviours (click here and scroll to my post for a more accurate description of what is happening). Practice piano like you (I am assuming) practice drumming. When you have to co-ordinate limbs/hands/fingers, go very very slowly, and break things down in to smaller parts that your brain can realistically process and then put them together slowly. Overtime with lots of practice your brain will "chunk" these behaviours into a single behaviour and it will flow as easily as anything you can imagine.

I think yes and no. In a way, some rhythms will be easier for you to read, because you are familiar with them. But keep in mind that you are using five fingers per hand instead of the whole hand. I would imagine something like a Bach Invention would be easier for you, since you'd be dealing with one rhythmic theme per hand.

Don't be discouraged, it will start to click. But even complete mastery of another instrument doesn't mean it will translate easily to piano.

it doesn't come on its own, thats for sure. but if you put in the man hours its bound to

I can vouch for this as well being a former percussionist.

Drums will definitely help you with rhythm and especially maintaining a rhythm. Some people have commented on my pieces that I always maintain a steady rhythm, and I attribute this to my drummer background. I'm not too sure if it helps with hand independence, though, because as a kid, I played both drums and piano. I'm guessing that the part of the brain that controls body coordination in general and having both hands and feet work independently of each other is more developed with a drummer.

Lastly, like me, you might gravitate more toward "percussive" pieces like ragtime and Bach, which require precise rhythms and steady tempos.

Good luck, and welcome to piano!

Exactly. When I first started I would be like "OK hit this note with this hand and this one with the other." And I wouldn't move to the next note until I could do it. Just like poly says, before you know it you won't even have to think about it, it almost becomes second nature. The key is to just take it real slow at first, and even though it may, at first, not sound like "music", just keep at it.

Great posts here; Hand independence is the holy grail in disguise for good playing. If you develop it you'll be in control of not just 10 fingers, but 2 hands plus the 10 fingers. Bach Inventions develop counter point for finger independence and Boogie Woogie for hands. It is important to approach it with utmost seriosity; It has been said that true hand ind is very difficult to achieve. "You have two brains in there!"

Yes.

Interesting link.. I think hand-independence is even harder for a true adult beginner with no prior background. This seems to be a common theme. Kids pick up hand-independence quickly without even thinking. If you played as a kid, and restarted, it's a non-issue. Kudos to the true adult beginners of the forum!!

Taking a closer look at what is true hand independence, it is easy to confuse "hands separate" skill, as in clasic counterpoint, with solid left hand rythym when it is used as percussion. The left then, must be solid as a rock like good drumming; The right, will always ty to change the timing and it must never. That is the where rubber meets the road..

Any rhythmic skill is GREAT. Regarding hand independence, one of the most helpful things you can do with a piece is to close the lid of the piano and tap it without worrying about your fingers while counting out loud. (That is, when you play a LH note or chord tap that, when you play a RH note or chord tap that.) You'll be amazed at how much your playing improves when you abstract away from fine motor skills and note reading and get the rhythmic component down first.