Piano Guidance
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Why is it so hard to play piano with both hands?

And for the beginning piano player trying to coordinate the left and right hand together, the feeling might be pretty similar. Our hands and feet have a tendency to mirror the same movements, so the act of distinguishing two separate motions can confuse your brain.

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4 Tips on How to Play the Piano with Both Hands

Having Trouble Playing Piano with Two Hands?

Have you ever tried to pat your head and rub your stomach at the same time? This activity may drive you crazy if you can’t get it right. And for the beginning piano player trying to coordinate the left and right hand together, the feeling might be pretty similar. Our hands and feet have a tendency to mirror the same movements, so the act of distinguishing two separate motions can confuse your brain. You may have mastered “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star,” but once you get to the trickier tunes, you’ll be facing passages in which your two hands are doing two completely different things. Your brain might fight with you at first, but with enough practice, dealing with contrasting rhythms and fingerings will get easier over time. Not convinced? Here are some tips that can help when you’re learning how to play the piano with both hands simultaneously.

1. Improve your sight reading skills.

Before you even attempt a difficult passage, make sure your note reading skills are up to par. If you can’t distinguish each note on the staff quickly, take a step back and master that first. Trust us – it will make the process a lot easier!

2. Practice each hand separately, then put them together.

Begin by practicing each hand separately. You might be tempted just to memorize the phrase, but it will help you in the long run if you’re consciously reading along with the music as you go. When you’re ready to practice with both hands together, don’t be afraid to slow things down. Try reading each measure vertically as opposed to horizontally – this will help you fuse the two lines and start to feel which notes go together. Using a metronome can also help as you take it measure by measure.

3. Relax!

The coordination will come a lot easier when you’re not stressing out about playing with both hands. Instead of worrying, try clearing your mind and letting it flow. Most of all, trust in your abilities. And of course: practice, practice, practice!

Related: Piano Practice Tips

4. Visualize Playing with Both Hands.

Watch or imagine yourself playing the piano. Picture yourself pressing down the keys correctly with both hands. Visualization is a powerful practice method that performers use to correctly execute difficult moves or tasks. Lastly, get help from a certified piano teacher at TakeLessons Live, or find a private piano teacher near you for 1-on-1 instruction. No matter what, keep practicing, and your brain will eventually adapt.

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Is iPhone good for recording piano?

If you just want an easy way to record your piano, you could try to use Music Memos instead of GarageBand. It comes for free with an iPhone and is as easy to use as Voice memos, but will give a better audio quality for musical recordings, i.e. a guitar or piano.

Hello,

I'm trying to record an acoustic upright piano using GarageBand on my iPhone. I was using the Voice Memos app previously, but the sound was distorted. GarageBand allows adjusting the recording input level on the slider called "IN", so I figured this would prevent distorted recordings. So far, I figured out not to choose "KEYBOARD" but to instead choose "AUDIO RECORDER", as the former brings up a facsimile of a keyboard but doesn't seem to allow recording of an acoustic instrument. To start the recording, I pressed the button with the red dot, but all that happened was where the metronome turned on for eight bars and then the recording stopped.

Could someone explain how I can make a recording please? Also, could someone explain what the "Tone", "Presence", "Compressor", and "Room" knobs do?

GarageBand is no doubt more powerful than Voice Memos, but also more complicated.

Thank you very much for any help in advance.

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