How do you play the piano with TWO hands?

Question

i am barely learning at age 22 and my coordination playing with two hands is terrible. does it get easier as i practice? or is it impossible to teach an old dog new tricks? i recently started so i don't have complete lost hope. are there any secrets to get better faster playng with two hands? thank you in advance!

Answer 1

I have a degree in music, play several instruments including piano and can tell you that being a good piano player has little to do with coordination.

It is impossible for your conscious mind to focus on what both hands are doing independently. Let me use an analogy to help explain: You don't have to think about breathing to breathe right? I'm sure you can think of other things that you do that fit into this category. Can you read while you eat? I would guess that you can and that you don't have to think about chewing & swallowing. What happens is that the the part of the brain that controls breathing, chewing, swallowing, etc... needs to take over your left or right hand when you play the piano. The same concept is true for playing an instrument & singing at the same time. Think about this: Elton John, Billy Joel, Stevie Wonder & many others are playing often complex piano parts while singing at the same time...!

My advice?

1. If your piano teacher or piano course is teaching you to play chords with your left hand & the melody with your right hand DROP IT, HIM or HER. This doesn't happen too often in the real music world. Lean to play the bass with your right hand & the chords with your right hand. Try to use your voice to hum the melody or sing it if you know the words.
2. Even if you are a beginner try to find music or a piano course that uses simple songs that you recognize. They will be easier to learn because your ear knows how they go.
3. Learn how to play the parts seperately first & then try to play them together. If you have the left hand bass part memorized & can do it reasonably well then you won't have to focus your mind on it while you're playing the right hand along with it.
4. Try to memorize what you learn so you don't depend on having the music in front of you. You will devolop your ear that way & eventually may be able to learn how to play some songs without having to look at the music all of the time.
5. Have fun...!

Answer 2

Just practice!

It's difficult in the beginning but you improve yourself everyday with daily practice! I started playing the piano at the age of 15, now I'm 17, and I play very well. I didn't take any lessons, I learned playing the piano alone, but I was playing (and I AM playing) every day for about half an hour minimum.

What I can advise you is to take sheets and start learning real songs, and not practicing in a school-way. For exaple, don't try to play Do-Re-Mi-Fa-Sol-La-Si with the right and Si-La-Sol-Fa-Mi-Re-Do with the left. Start playing real tracks.

An easy and nice song to start with is Evanescence's "Hello". You can find sheet music for this song at
www.evanescencereference.info.
When you go to this site, type "Hello" in the search bar on the left. A new page will open. Go to the bottom of the page and you'll see a link writing something like "sheet music". When you click it, an adobe acrobat document will open. Print it and start playing it.
But if you don't know the song, just give up this song...!

Don't forget: Try to find the notes for tracks you know and, even better, for songs you really like! This helps.

Answer 3

hi i am a 14 yr old girl and i am now learning Advanced Grade 8 piano.i have been learning piano for 10 years already. Firstly i advise you to first play with ONLY your right hand.Once u are perfect with yr right hand, THEN you play with ONLY your left hand. Once u are perfect with your left hand, THEN you play with both your left and right hands.WHen u first play the scores, play it slowly and practise a lot on it. Gradually you will be able to play it faster and soon your coordination will be perfect. Constant practice will improve your coordination.

Answer 4

Old dog? Hon, I'm almost 46, and I'm just now learning to play the drums! Stop thinking of yourself as an old dog and practice, practice, practice! Of course you'll get better at it!!

Answer 5

u nedd constant training 4 tat... i cant myself!! some ppl cant do it no matter how hard they try.... it takes quite sometime..... if u r trying to play wif 2 hands, get a good professional and qualified trainer and practice at least 2 hours everyday... that way u can improve n play wif 2 hands... gud luck in trying this out....

Answer 6

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Answer 7

^_^ everything gets easier with practice. I dont know anyone who learned with just one hand tho....