Hand Independence: How To Play Piano With Both Hands

Hand independence is one of the most common problems students encounter when learning to play the piano. In this post, I’ll show you a secret that will help you learn how to play piano with both hands. Let’s take a look at how to solve the problem of your hands cooperating once and for all.

Why is it HARD?

Why does playing both hands at the same time feel so difficult? It’s because playing piano is a bilateral motor task. Fancy talk for a task that requires the ability to coordinate both sides of the body at the same time in a controlled and organized manner. Examples of this include jumping jacks, clapping hands, and playing video games. With this in mind, the first step to getting your hands to work together is to stop practicing piano with your right hand and left hand one at a time.

Piano is an instrument that is capable of playing both the melody and harmony at the same time. Two different musical parts. Most other instruments only do one. The trick is to start seeing these two parts as one musical idea. Think of it as one plus one equals one. (Fake math).

How the Brain Creates Information

Practicing piano with the left hand only, then the right hand only, and finally attempting to play with both hands together can make your practice session longer and more challenging. This is because your brain processes each hand’s movements as separate blocks of information. When you try to combine the two hands, your brain struggles to merge these distinct blocks into one cohesive unit. It’s like trying to add one plus one and getting three: you have the original blocks of information for each hand, plus the additional challenge of coordinating them together.

The problem is that practicing one hand at a time feels easier. Think about the tasks that I mentioned earlier; jumping jacks and clapping hands. Can you practice any of those with just one half of your body at a time? No, you can’t. You use both sides of your body and your brain to learn one task. So when you’re using both sides of your body, it becomes one block of information. So if you practice your hands together right away, your brain is going to take your left hand and your right hand and make it into one block of information. From the beginning. This will feel more difficult than practicing hands separately. 

So, what can you do to make your hands work together right away?

Practice Slowly

Nobody likes hearing this, but the truth is, you need to practice much more slowly than you’re doing right now. I don’t have to be spying on you through your window to know that you’re practicing too fast—I can tell from your comments. Practicing slowly isn’t something many of us want to do because we’re itching to play real music. And, slow practice doesn’t sound like music; it sounds like, well, practice.

The thing is, practicing slowly gives your brain the chance it needs to coordinate how to play piano with both hands. Allowing yourself enough time when first learning a song will make the process so much easier.

Unfortunately, practicing slowly causes students to think things like “I must not be talented because I have to go this slow to understand this” or “I might be stupid because this is harder than I thought it would be”, or “I JUST WANT TO GO FAST!”. 

Ignore these thoughts and keep slowing down.

In the long run, slowing down will actually help you learn faster. Even professional musicians start by playing new pieces slowly to ensure they understand them correctly.

Practice in Chunks

Practicing slowly will make your practice sessions unbearable if you attempt to play the whole song at once so practice the music in chunks. By practicing in chunks, I mean playing little sections at a time.

You don’t have to practice an entire song or even a whole section of music during one practice session, especially if you’re learning a long song.

You also don’t need to practice them in order. Maybe learn the last part of the song first and then your next practice session maybe start at the beginning and then your next practice session maybe something in the middle. It really doesn’t matter!

That’s why starting with a lot of short songs is a good idea. A musician learns to play lots of music by learning as many different pieces as possible, and it’s easier to learn new songs if they’re shorter in length.

Recap

Remember, the secret to how to play with both hands on the piano:

• Practice how to play piano with both hands right from the very beginning. Never practice your right hand from your left hand separately when first learning a piece of music.
• Always practice slowly. Don’t be tempted to go fast or go at tempo right away. 
• Break up your practice sessions. There’s no need for you to learn the whole song right away. 

As always, Happy Practicing!

P.S. If you’re struggling with how to play piano with two hands, I’ve got you covered!  Make sure to check out: 
🎹 The Kickstart Course  Inside this beginner-friendly course, you’ll find a specific tutorial dedicated to mastering the art of playing hands together, along with other lessons designed for those just starting out, even if you’ve never played a single note before.