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Topic: Right-handed but my left hand is dominant  (Read 10589 times)

Offline napoleonspidgin

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Right-handed but my left hand is dominant
on: June 13, 2010, 06:23:28 PM
I've noticed that my RH is weaker than my left even though I am right handed.  My LH fingers are better at performing trills and seem to have better general dexterity.

I was a string player for a long time until I recently picked up piano.  For string players the LH is for producing the notes, the RH handles the bow.  I wonder if this is why my RH is slightly weaker.

Will lots of practice catch my right hand up naturally?

Thanks.

Offline jesc

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Re: Right-handed but my left hand is dominant
Reply #1 on: June 14, 2010, 12:38:21 AM
It happens. I'm right handed but from time to time my left hand has a tendency to drown my RH passages. Especially when I'm mad, the piano gets banged at most by my left hand. Unfortunately, the strings that keep breaking in my piano are the high notes... weird also...

suggestion is that you play pieces designed to develop the RH. I remember studying Chopin's Revolutionary Etude and the disparity between my left and right hand widened. However, don't drag down your left hand's development, keep pushing and just let the right hand catch up.

Offline scottmcc

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Re: Right-handed but my left hand is dominant
Reply #2 on: June 14, 2010, 09:55:51 AM
there's some interesting neuroscience research about string players and the development of their brains...apparently the area responsible for controlling the left hand enlarges relative to other areas, to reflect the increased demands.  so if you began early in life, your left hand may always be more dexterous than your right, at least in certain tasks.

but even then, the task of balancing the hands is always a challenge, and for you as a string player there will also be the challenge of balancing multiple voices, something relatively unique to the piano.  but your experience with coaxing a singing tone out of an instrument will prove invaluable, and I assume that you already know quite a bit about musical theory so you won't have to learn that from scratch, something that slows down a great many of new players.

anyway, I suggest you try a range of pieces with different demands of the hands.  of course, bach is always good for technical development.  :)  best of luck to you!
 

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