Synchronised hands

Hi,
got over here from YouTube.
Only watched up to Lesson #2 but it helped me remember the key positions very quickly.
I like piano and tried to self-learn. Didn't get far cos had problem remembering the keys and many other things.
Your videos came in very helpful, thank you very much.

'd Like to ask ...
I'm not up to that stage yet but I did try to play with both hands.
They seem to be like "synchronised"; can't seem to use them independently.
Any advice on this ?

Thank you.

Well my other videos explain how to play with both hands. It's a common problem to not be able to play hands together. You need practise and there's a few exercises you can do to get them together. You'll eventually get to my lesson on hands together playing.

As it's a common problem it's actually not a problem

I think one of the reasons people struggle in the beginning with playing both hands at the same time, is that they expect to do it fast right away.
Every single person can play with both hands....... IF they just slow down. It dosnt matter actually(own theory alert) if you slow it down to 1BPM = one beat pr minute, cause the next day I am 100% sure one could then do it at 2BPM and then 10 - 20 - 50 BPM then suddenly one day its up to speed.

I guess I was lucky since it felt natural to start Very slow since... I actually couldn't play up to speed right away hehe - So in order to get it right, I had to push the speed down sooo much even if it took me 1 min to play 5 seconds. Cause the next day I could play it in 30 sec instead of one min, and thats my general thoughts no matter how hard the piece is! I guess Andrew and others have heard me say this a billion times now, but Ill repeat my favorite practiceword once again: Slowpractice - As slow as it takes you to get through it, even if you have to use 10X as long as it should be played!! When I started the Maple Leaf Rag. After I had memorized the first 1min - I used 5-6 min to get through it. The very next day, after some sleep I used 2 min to play it. Then of course it took longer to get it from 2 - 1 min, but thats the way to go

... and of course watch Andrews lessons, since there are some great exercises for handindependancy, but you dont need to be that independent in the beginning if you go slow enough.

... btw - the brain uses at least 3 months to even build separate nerves to controll each hand. But with slow practice you can manage to play pieces that demands two hands, with the use of the already existing nervepaths


..........Finally - This is now based on some theory, but also personal experience, and I know things are different from person to person, so dont shoot me if you dont agree or dosnt get it to work as I promise hehe - But I think it should work

Good luck



DAMN, this got hellalong

Yay! Finally, someone at the same level as I am! JOY!

Hey what song are you learning? Is it a song in the C major scale? Hey wanna be my friend?

Ah .. I see.
Was starting to think I am the only one with this problem.
Think I will watch the video and see ..
Thanks everyone.

Hi everybody, first post!

I have a question regarding this topic. Let's say I officially started learning and playing my keyboard by the end of October, but I've always been skilled with my fingers. i've been able to type pretty fast without looking at the keyboard for about 15 years, when I learned how to do it.

Is this supposed to help with my playing as well? cos Im finding it hard to play with both hands at the same time. is it because I started playing so recently?

Hey man. Learning to play different things with your hands has alot to do with learning to be more aware of your body, and also getting used to placement. I mean you wouldnt be able to type quickly on the keyboard the first time you tried sitting at a computer right? It takes time to automatically now exactly where every button is.

When you're still confused about playing and not used to the coordination, you get tense, and getting tense leads to what you are experiencing - that youre hands are not moving freely.

So my answer is simple: Just go and sit at the piano and have alittle fun, teach your body to stay relaxed =}

Gia wrote:Hi everybody, first post!

I have a question regarding this topic. Let's say I officially started learning and playing my keyboard by the end of October, but I've always been skilled with my fingers. i've been able to type pretty fast without looking at the keyboard for about 15 years, when I learned how to do it.

Is this supposed to help with my playing as well? cos Im finding it hard to play with both hands at the same time. is it because I started playing so recently?

Hello Gia.

Well it helps abit, but your not pressing buttons "simultaneously" on the keyboard, also its not really the same coordination as the piano. However, a good thing is that you have probably trained your "fast muscles" in your hand, and you know how to stay relaxed while using your fingers, if you can stay the same relaxed at the piano, things would be easier for you.

The thing is, your hand and your fist moves exponentially faster when they are relaxed compared to when they are tense. Try it yourself. Try tensing up your fingers as hard as you can and then try to move them, now, totally relax them and move them again... See how much easier it gets? This is abit exaggerated but it's just to show you the difference.

It's really hard to give you a time. I mean, I've played for a year now(check out my performances) and I'm getting pretty decent now I think, but I don't really play sheet music, mostly my own music. Btw feel free to check out my guide in General Piano Discussion.

If you work hard I think you can be pretty good within a year depends on effort and how much you want it

To do a move with your finger, the muscle has to memorize the move. You would probably be able to move "up and down" if you've done it all your life. But then if you suddenly decide to move it "left and right", and never have done it, the finger havent developed the memory, and you will struggle nomatter how fast or strong the finger muscle is.

But as your finger is already fast and strong, it can take advantage of this when the muscle movement is memorised. Playing with two hands at a time makes coordination hard. But after typing on a keyboard you will have an advantage compared to those who've never used two hands simultaneously.

pianohama wrote:
Hello Gia.

Well it helps abit, but your not pressing buttons "simultaneously" on the keyboard, also its not really the same coordination as the piano. However, a good thing is that you have probably trained your "fast muscles" in your hand, and you know how to stay relaxed while using your fingers, if you can stay the same relaxed at the piano, things would be easier for you.

The thing is, your hand and your fist moves exponentially faster when they are relaxed compared to when they are tense. Try it yourself. Try tensing up your fingers as hard as you can and then try to move them, now, totally relax them and move them again... See how much easier it gets? This is abit exaggerated but it's just to show you the difference.

It's really hard to give you a time. I mean, I've played for a year now(check out my performances) and I'm getting pretty decent now I think, but I don't really play sheet music, mostly my own music. Btw feel free to check out my guide in General Piano Discussion.

If you work hard I think you can be pretty good within a year depends on effort and how much you want it

Hi!

Yes I meant in terms of the muscles. You are right, when Im playing my muscles are pretty relaxed.

Im still trying to learn how to read the music and recognize it as soon as you see a note on the sheet. Years ago I played electric guitar but reading tablatures was way easier than reading the real notes.

I'll check your guide, thanks!