Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Adult Beginners Forum Your suggestion for different rhythms for hand development

I am struggling to do one thing in one hand and a different thing in the other hand. More specifically, I have been learning Ballade - Burgmuller where I need to play the accompaniment in the RH staccato and the melody in the LH.

Any suggestion on how on what technique I can use ?

I read about playing the RH the accompaniment normally and miming the LH and vice versa. But it is very clumsy and unmusical.

Any suggestion ?

Note: I am not sure whether I am using the right language.

JosephAC, I have read hand independence is one of the hardest thing to develop and even the best of the best struggle with it.

In my own struggle I have read some interesting posts on this forum so perhaps a search could get you some more ideas. I have added a couple of links I use, I like the first one best as not only can you play 12 bar blues for ages without getting bored but it strengthens the right hand at the same time.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZwED5ll5Gk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hSD3xVxVBc

If I understand this right, you want to play staccato RH, and legato LH? If that's it, I can help. If not, please help me clarify what I'm misunderstanding.

Other than such "exercises" as playing scales with one hand staccato and the other legato at varying dynamics and through various keys, possibly in multiple octaves, the best advice is really just to break your piece into small, possibly 1 measure long, sections and practice each section slowly hands together (hands separate first, if/as needed) until perfect before attempting to combine the sections.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Th5ljgUP9lg

That is right. How do you do it?

Thanks arlofmar.The vid is very intrestesting. I happen to be familiar with similar drills under the name Ratio 1:3 but at a far slower tempo.
Now that I know the correct name - hand independence - I will search for additional drills.

To start, as simply as possible.

This is nothing short of a technique thing -- something you have to learn in your hands before you can apply it to a piece of music. Once you learn it, you won't need to relearn it for other pieces of music. It will stay with you. But it's one of the bigger pains to develop, and really requires 100% focus and active participation on the part of your brain until you get the hang of it.

Try it with one note. Repeat a note in the LH (with only one finger), while repeating a note in the RH (with only one finger). Start playing them the same way. Slowly make one of them more staccato. Then, return to normal. Then make the other finger staccato. Then, return no normal. Then, practice switching on the fly. Then try switching every other note, or every couple of notes at random until you get full control over it.

Next, try this with a five-note pattern. Notice, we're slowly upping the difficulty here. No crossovers, no big changes. No leaping. Just five successive notes.

If you're stuck, sometimes picking up the staccato hand off the keys helps to develop that staccato sound. Eventually, you'll be able to control it with a slightly smaller movement, but you're still going to "bounce" just a little bit to get that staccato sound. (I put bounce in quotes because it's a misnomer.. I just can't think of the right word off the top of my head.)

Next, go to a scale. Try arpeggios. Whatever helps you facilitate the movements. If you feel like you've really got the hang of it, go back to the piece and give it a go.