Hands Separated or Hands together?

[faa2010]

What is the advantage of learning a piece with HS?

Can someone start to learn a piece with both hand together without practicing it with HS first?

[sucom]

I would say that it depends on the skill of the pianist and the difficulty of the piece.  If the notes in both hands can be played with full control, and I do mean FULL control, then I see no need to practise hands separately.

Some students tend to believe that only the right hand melody part is important, considering the left hand to be playing an accompaniment of less importance.  But if you consider the individual players in an orchestra, while some instrumentalists may have the melody, the other players' parts are just as relevant to the music as a whole and must be practised by the instrumentalists individually, practising control, rhythm, expression, fingering, etc. Try telling a cellist that they don't need to practise because they're just playing an accompaniment!

Not only this, it is usual to find the left hand slightly less developed than the right hand, so left hand playing alone, listening carefully to every note that is being played, is very useful and worthwhile.

[dblomd]

When I start a piece, I always start hands together. Even if I only play the first beat or first measure I always jump in hands together. After that it depends on the piece whether I continue on that track. If the piece has difficult fingering I use hands separate. If it's just a matter of notes and that I need to work slowly I use hands together. I like hands together for memory purposes. Any time I learn a piece hands separate, I have memory issues. Not to say that I don't have memory issues when I learn it the other way but there are fewer.

[peanutbutter]

Playing hands separate gives more space for the brain to control the fingers, hands and arms. hence, one is able to give full attention to each hand, at least before playing hands together. playing HS is good for aquisition of technique, you can skip the HS part if you could play the entire piece HT with full control and awareness of what is going on with each hand at any given instant. it is good to practice HS first so that you only have to coordinate the two hands at HT ( always start SLOWLY when playing HT for the first time ), and you already have the idea how to play each phrase,, with proper dynamics, articulation, phrasing etc. playing HS first gives you an idea how the 'pieces' of the music should sound alone, and how they 'fit' together at HT,,

and, keep in mind that the left hand is not always a mere accompaniment,, especially in Bach ( 2 and 3 part inventions, fugues and some preludes) Bach gives equal importance to each hand, what the dominant hand can do, the other must do equally well..

[p2u_]

What is the advantage of learning a piece with HS?

It's probably THE best method to prevent memory lapses during actual performance. That's why it is not really correct to only practice technically challenging spots HS; most memory lapses occur in places were we hadn't expected them to happen, in places where we have nothing to do.

Paul

[pianoplunker]

What is the advantage of learning a piece with HS?

Can someone start to learn a piece with both hand together without practicing it with HS first?

You dont always have to practice hands separate to learn a piece but
hands separate lets you break down the fingering to a finite detail. As the other poster said it helps you memorize and really know the piece , but it also helps isolate WHY a certain section might be difficult or mistake prone. Example, when I  make a mess out of a certain section it could be my fingering is causing inefficient skips which leads to wrong notes. Or I have my hands stretched when they dont need to be or something of that nature. Hands Separate also lets you check that your fingering keeps your hands in good positions .   All that being said if you practice sightreading that should be practiced "HT".    You dont need to practice hands separately if you dont have any technical challenges with a particular piece and can play it completely after just a few tries. 

[alfrunner440]

Hi,
I also agree with the others that if the piece of music is not very difficult you should play it with both hands. However, there is a draw back to playing with each hand seperately. Playing a piano is a skill that you learn, and if you practice with each hand seperately and then ATTEMPT to put them together you are learning the piece three(3) times. I find that trying to put the two hands together can be as difficult and trying to learn both hands at the same time. Sometimes I find that it causes complete confusion in the mind where I can play each hand perfectly, but when they both must give and take everything breaks down and it sounds like I had not paracticed either hand. Most of the time I force myself to use both hands not matter how difficult the piece might be. The only time I digress is if I have a particularly difficult passage and I need to break it down into its component parts for both right and left hands.

[p2u_]

Sometimes I find that it causes complete confusion in the mind where I can play each hand perfectly, but when they both must give and take everything breaks down and it sounds like I had not paracticed either hand.

I coach people for competitions occasionally and I can testify to the reverse: very often pianists know both hands together, but cannot play hands separately by heart, especially the parts that are not technically challenging. Under severe stress this can determine the difference between failure or success.

Paul

[pianoplunker]

I coach people for competitions occasionally and I can testify to the reverse: very often pianists know both hands together, but cannot play hands separately by heart, especially the parts that are not technically challenging. Under severe stress this can determine the difference between failure or success.

Paul

This is so true.  I have found practicing hands separate after I have already been practicing hands together can be even more frustrating than going hands separate to hands together.  It seems that motor memory  is the culprit. Playing piano is a linear function whether hands separate or together so motor memory has just as much influence either way. The problem is motor memory by itself is not enough to avoid lapses.  That is where breaking down into hands separate helps one really know the piece. Now that I think about it more, I probably will start doing more hands separate practice and not just the difficult sections as I have been.

[p2u_]

Now that I think about it more, I probably will start doing more hands separate practice and not just the difficult sections as I have been.

Good for you! It's just plain conditioning. Probably anybody can play the central "c" on the piano before an audience with confidence. Any part of any piece should be performed in a beautiful, or better: musical way (the right intonation) with that same feeling of confidence under different conditions. How else can one expect to be number one or to have still energy left to really communicate with the audience?

Paul