Independence of the hands

[arroyomusic]

Any one have any particular exercises or tips or playing independent lines with each hand? Is it a matter of getting on the keyboard and doing it? Or is there a more systematice way of acheiving this? Thanks for all you help!

[quartaumentata]

Any one have any particular exercises or tips or playing independent lines with each hand? Is it a matter of getting on the keyboard and doing it? Or is there a more systematice way of acheiving this? Thanks for all you help!

I think it's basically as you say, getting on the keyboard and doing it.

As piano/key music often features lead melody for the right hand, a good practice should be getting used to lead the melody with the left hand. Unfortunately, sheet music with left hand melody isn't frequent (there are episodes and often in very difficult clasical pieces; though exceptions sometimes... for instance, I'm thinking of Chopin's prelude n. 6; also Chopin's preludes n. 22, but it's a bit harder).

I used to start with a very simple thing. I turned back to the very beginning, when I played melodies with the right and and chords with my left hand and simply switched them. (I mean parts, I did not cross my arms!)

Later, whit my first synth I created a patch for this: a split with a pad sound in the right region and a lead sund in the left region, the latter transposed so that keys played by left hand actually sounded higher than the pad chords.

[Semmi78]

Aroyomusic,

did you have pianolesson? If not I would advice you to do that, instead of palying a score from Chopin. Developing it yourself is nice, but most of the times you find yourself playing the stuff you feel most comfortable with.

a lot cheaper is to get in touch with the JR Online Conservatory. there are a lot of example given there that will train your independence of each and every finger on both hands by first doing some practises instead of immediatly playing pianostuff.

An exercise I got a couple of years ago was to try to play 3/4 with your left hand and 4/4 with your righthand. try to keep both hand in time!

[peppe]

ok good advice but is there any piano student that studied the indipendence in a
specific way, I mean is there a book of exercises to learn as well as possible this
skill???

tks

Peppe

[eric13579]

Beethoven's moonlight sonata (opus 27 #2) 3rd movement

a wonderful piece that helps you practice the following techniques:

- switching lead hands
- playing through different broken chords and arpeggios quickly
- playing 8th triplets in 1 bar and then 16ths the next and vice versa (kinda like the solo at 12:16-13:48 of octavarium but less of it)
- playing an octave while trilling the top note with your 4th and 5th fingers
- consecutive octaves

[Enigma™]

Beethoven's moonlight sonata (opus 27 #2) 3rd movement

a wonderful piece that helps you practice the following techniques:

- switching lead hands
- playing through different broken chords and arpeggios quickly
- playing 8th triplets in 1 bar and then 16ths the next and vice versa (kinda like the solo at 12:16-13:48 of octavarium but less of it)
- playing an octave while trilling the top note with your 4th and 5th fingers
- consecutive octaves

For someone who's just starting to work on independance of the hands... this piece is likely WAY above their technical level or would be to start right away.

You're probably better of with some of the Bach Inventions if you haven't started on them already. Not SUPER technically challenging *most aren't* however they have enough going on that you can focus on your technique or musicality or whatever while still getting a lot out of the pieces :)

[gylfih]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUm6DLFlmAA
This is a clip from Keyboard Wizardry which I found a couple of months back which seems to me to be exactly the thing you're looking for.

[peppe]

i'm working to get bach invention. I saw on youtube many videos about
independence but i need something written so i can compare wath i'm doing
wrt i have to do!! that's all. I remember maybe Oscar Beringer in one book
has a part dedicated to independence, what do you think about!?

[Mush]

i'm working to get bach invention. I saw on youtube many videos about
independence but i need something written so i can compare wath i'm doing
wrt i have to do!! that's all. I remember maybe Oscar Beringer in one book
has a part dedicated to independence, what do you think about!?

Here they are for free
http://imslp.org/wiki/Inventions,_BWV_772-786_(Bach,_Johann_Sebastian))

After a few of those then do one or two of these
http://imslp.org/wiki/Trio_Sonatas_for_Organ,_BWV_525-530_(Bach,_Johann_Sebastian))

Heres how they sound
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7atDBf9M-8&feature=related

[peppe]

mmm i can't see the page, it says " right now the page you requested is not aviable", kind of. This is music, men, really beautiful.

Peppe

[peppe]

tks dude!! ;)