process to play with two hand

[sliders_alpha]

Hi,

I've just started and I managed to play a two handed piece (nothing exeptional, 16 note on right hand, 4 chord on left hand, took me 20 minutes though)

and I noticed that I first need to pratice my right hand until I can play the right part completly, then the left, until I can play the left part completly.

only after that I can try to play both of them at the same time.

is it the right way? or should I try to directly use both hands (no teacher, I play alone)

thanks

[m1469]

One of the big aspects in HT playing is having a physical and mental feel for the "language" or choreography required to make it flow smoothly.  Even if a person can do it without being aware of it, what is actually happening when we are playing is a mental organization, with commands telling us to move what and when.  When I have a passage or a part of a passage that's not working as I know it should, if I'm smart I'll try to be very conscious of what's happening in my mental command center, and I'll generally find that the place where I am making a mistake in the music, there's also confusion in my mind about an order of operations.

If you can play something perfectly HT right away, go for it!  That means you've got the order of commands and cues figured out.  If you can't play it right away, work out the familiarity with what you need to be doing, and then get the commands sorted out so you know when you need to be doing it!  Some people argue that you should never read HS, many people suggest HS as a viable practicing strategy.  IF HT doesn't work for you, then not only does the material need more familiarization, but it's healthy (in my opinion) to be practicing the mental muscle who gives the orders and internally organizes the music from the page.  

[xr280xr]

I think that is a very common way for beginners, especially. I know a very knowledgeable and talented piano instructor who strongly teaches the one hand at a time method. I heard she only made an exception once for an elderly student who told her "I'm 76! I don't have time to learn one hand at a time!" . Personally, I usually start one hand at a time. I think this is mostly because I lack the ability to read sheet music quickly, but with more difficult pieces (Fantasie Impromptu is a recent example for me), I definitely had to invoke muscle memory by learning one hand at a time in order to put the two together. I have a friend who's an expert pianist who regularly sight reads both parts. So I think both ways are acceptable, but it just depends on the difficulty of the piece vs. your skill level, and which works the best for you.

[sucom]

Hi Sliders

Yes, I believe it's the right way to gain control of each hand separately until both are reasonably fluent.  Only AFTER this should you try to put your hands together.  I say this because you are a beginner and as a beginner, you still have yet to learn how to gain control of each hand separately. So often, the left hand relies on the right hand to keep it going, but it's much better to be able to control the left hand equally as well as the right, which requires separate hand practice. 

More advanced players, who have already mastered control of each hand in terms of phrasing and expression as well as dexterity, don't always need to practise separate handed - the skills are already there.  But for beginners, separate hands are a MUST for speedy learning, especially if the parts for each hand are a little tricky.  Get the muscle memory going first before trying hands together.

Although it is tempting to slog through a whole new piece with both hands together, this can be very tiring and not especially helpful for the beginner.  Better to take small sections, a bar/couple of bars/phrase or whatever, and repeat them several times before moving on. This gives your brain a chance to work out exactly what it is your hands are trying to do.  In other words, the brain needs to take control and say, 'Ah, yes, I can see what my hands are trying to do here!'