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Even if my life depended on it i just cant play left and right hand together. I can do simple chords with the left, but thats it. Im trying to learn River Flows in You... But i can't I keep getting confused and i just loose it when playing the left and right together. I can do the intro of River Flows in You becuase the key presses of the left hand match to a key press on the right hand.. but as soon as the hands are independent i just cant do it!!?! can anyone help me with this? =[

PATIENCE, REPETITION and for the pure love of wanting to play this piece....take your time...play slower than you think you should and if you really want to do this and are persistent you will achieve success.....good luck...don't stop playing.You probably didn't learn to walk the first time you stood.

rada
www.pianopassions.com

try some Bach pieces, his inventions or some little preludes, which will teach you how to play LH. everyone went through such a stage, and even now i would find Bach is difficult to play in that sense, because everything in Bach requires LH and RH parts equally important.

i just think i mentally cant do it, as soon as i try everything just collapses and then both my hands forget what to do =[

be patient

work on the LH par first separately:

- learn the LH part first thoroughly
- play the LH part, but using your RH to help train your LH
- sing the LH part
- memorize the LH part
- play without looking at the keyboard

- then learn the RH part thoroughly as above

- finally put them together one beat or one bar at a time at an excruciatingly slow speed, only adding the next note or bar when you can play correctly up to that point

Friendly advice from a piano teacher who has posted to this question:

If you search in the archives (search button under the new topics button at the top of the page, search all forums by scrolling to the top of that page, and then enter my name - the items below will come up.

Reading other entries in those topics may also be helpful to you.

Topics are:
"Hands together" (10 items)
"Hand coordination" (7 items)

Good luck in making some progress - it is all about your thinking process to guiding your hands to specific movements.

Betty

If you are having problems putting both hands together, do not start on a Bach Inventions. The two part inventions require you to be at a point where you are able to emphasize the different voice lines.

Practice this piece slower, and then slower yet, and it still will probably need to be slower. You need to allow yourself time to be ready to play the next note, even if you are playing at 10 or 20 beats per minute!

In addition to playing both hands separately, you can also try smaller bits of this piece. Play just one measure slowly enough to not make any mistakes. Make sure when doing this that you know what fingers to use to be ready for the next measure. That is why it can often be useful to play each hand separately, then both hands together just a measure or two, then increase the length until you have it together.

And did anyone mention to practice slower?

Rich

alright, i'll try the super slow playing method, lets see how that goes.. ill report back with any progress.. thanks guys =]

Slow is good. I hate it, but it works. I have to do it for a different reason than you, but once I resigned myself to it, it has really helped. I can't count to save my life. Well, I can, but I rarely give the notes their full count. When I'm trying to count in my head, pretty soon I've wandered off to wild and weird numbers like 5 6 7 & 8. Or I race eighth notes because I think they mean "GO FASTER!" - LOL. I set the metronome to 60 or lower if needed, to make sure I have it right. Only after I'm even with the metronome consistently, do I start doing it without...then speeding it up a little.

I would think the same thing could apply to getting your hands to come together. Take small bites of the piece, slowly.

well guys i was practising for ages and i can now do the next few parts of it, which i was sure i couldnt do, but i just put my mind to it and did it slowly and its worked!! thanks guys

Play the left hand part with the right hand, slowly. Then play the right part with the left hand, slowly. Then practice them properly as written, slowly. Cuss a little, and try again, take a break, cuss some more, and try again, slowly. Even cuss slowly, lol!

Im definately making progress thats for the advice, i wouldnt have been able to do it otherwise =]

Congratulations! It might take longer than you'd expect, but it will be great fun when you're amazing yourself!

Hands seperately and slowly. That's the key. Do that, and come back and read this thread in a couple of weeks, and you will experience deep satisfaction.

Tomasino

The process that works best for me is the following: I learn two or three bars with one hand, then the other, and then I join. The joining process is slow and I hate it, but if you are not thorough at it, you'll likely have problems later on. You start by focusing on every note, so the speed is really slow. Then, gradually, you speed it up. Make sure no part of the little chunk you're joining is weak or insecure, otherwise, when you add speed the whole thing will crumble.

I can see it's working for you, and I'm sure it will.