Tips and Pieces: Doing 2 Things At Once

A tricky part of playing the piano is teaching your hands to do different things at the same time. It is kind of like the old game of patting your head while rubbing your stomach. On the piano, for example, one hand might play many notes while the other hand holds a long chord.
To make sure the melody stays smooth and connected, try this:

- Play the first measure hands together and stop on the last note, holding both hands down.
- Lift up the left hand but make sure the right hand is still pressing down its key.
- Think about the next note in the right hand and the next chord on the left.
- Play the next note in both hands, making sure you don't break the legato in the right hand.
- Repeat these steps many times slowly, making the stop between measures shorter every time you play. Eventually, there will be no break between the two measures.
- Add the next measure the same way. Continue adding a measure until you can play the whole section.

Practice Tips:
In some pieces, one hand plays with one type of articulation while the other hand uses another. For example, the right hand might have staccato notes while the left plays a legato melody. Here are some tips for learning to play with different articulations in each hand.
1. Play each hand separately many times and notice how the correct articulation feels.
2. When you start putting both hands together, work on very small sections - such as a measure or even just a few notes.
3. Start slowly and try to keep the same feeling in each hand that you had when playing the hands separately. Really focus and think about each movement you make.