left handed student

[drazh]

Hi
do you ask your students whether they are right handed or left Handed .because pianos are designed for right handed people.

[pianoman53]

Hi
do you ask your students whether they are right handed or left Handed .because pianos are designed for right handed people.

Doesn't really matter, does it? "Hi.. Oh you're left handed... riiight, uhm... Maybe you shouldn't play piano, you know, since you have to play most stuff with your right hand.."

[dima_76557]

do you ask your students whether they are right handed or left Handed .because pianos are designed for right handed people.

Actually, left-handedness is a blessing, especially in very difficult music. The right side of the brain (that controls the left hand) processes 'imaginative' thought such as feeling, art, intuition, etc. Rachmaninoff was left-handed and so were other famous composers/pianists (Beethoven, Ravel for example). If you are right-handed, you will need to work VERY hard on your left hand anyway to become a successful pianist.

[rachmaninoff_forever]

It doesn't matter whether you're right or left handed.

[j_menz]

How on earth is a piano a right (or left) handed instrument? 

[iansinclair]

How on earth is a piano a right (or left) handed instrument? 

Beats me.  I'd never thought of it one way or the other... it is surprising how many instruments favour the left hand, though -- all the strings (all the fingering is in the left hand), french horns... woodwinds require alarming dexterity in both hands... and so on.

So I should think that, for piano, if anything it would be helpful...

[outin]

How on earth is a piano a right (or left) handed instrument? 

Obviously piano is not. Maybe what he means is that much of piano music is written in a way that the right hand does more work. If the keyboard was turned around, the left hand should do all that

[j_menz]

much of piano music is written in a way that the right hand does more work.

That is probably true for many beginner pieces. It is rarely true later on.

That being the case, it is the pedagogues that are assuming handedness, rather than the instrument implying it.

[outin]

That is probably true for many beginner pieces. It is rarely true later on.

That being the case, it is the pedagogues that are assuming handedness, rather than the instrument implying it.

Yes, it is mainly true in simpler music, not fugues  
Though in much of the music written for piano the melody is played on the higher notes. Also I haven't seen that much ornamentation on the left hand (except in the Rameau pieces I have been playing and occasionally in others).

Anyway, I think in many cases when an adult starts learning the piano, they have used the dominant hand for many years in an "unpianistic" way. So the non-dominant hand may actually be more adaptable to piano in the beginning. It was for me, I can always rely on my left

[j_menz]

I can always rely on my left

I'll remember that, should we ever come to blows. 

[outin]

I'll remember that, should we ever come to blows.  

I'm glad I googled that idiom  
I think I shouldn't push it too much...

[muleski]

This thread has just (I think) answered my own question as to why I often watch my left hand playing, but rarely the right.  I'm right handed & because of that it is obviously more dexterous, whereas my left.. requires more concentration!  Is the opposite true of left handed players I wonder?

[drazh]

Doesn't really matter, does it? "Hi.. Oh you're left handed... riiight, uhm... Maybe you shouldn't play piano, you know, since you have to play most stuff with your right hand.."

think positively
if you have a left handed student you may advise him he should work harder than right handed students so not to be disappointed for slow progress

[ajspiano]

think positively
if you have a left handed student you may advise him he should work harder than right handed students so not to be disappointed for slow progress

why would a left handed student's progress be slower than that of a right handed student?

[timothy42b]

why would a left handed student's progress be slower than that of a right handed student?

In fact their progress needs to be faster than a right handed student, because they don't have as much time.  Left handers hardly ever live past 85.

[awesom_o]

Aren't most great pianists left handed or at least ambidextrous?

Isn't piano designed for people who are equally skilled with both hands?

Isn't that the main difference between a student-level pianist and a professional-level pianist?

Most piano students have one hand that is noticeably stronger or more skilled than the other?

Most professional pianists are so skilled, you can hardly tell what hand is playing what, and both hands are capable of playing the full range in terms of expression and velocity?

[timothy42b]

Aren't most great pianists left handed or at least ambidextrous?

No.  Most great pianists have a strong hand preference, and most of those with a strong preference are right handed. 

Great pianists have learned to use both hands well, but remain naturally right handed.

The proper question is whether the percentage of great pianists who are left handed is greater or less than the percentage of left handers in the general population.

I don't know the answer but for several reasons suspect it is less.

Umm, do you know about polar bears?   

[awesom_o]

Actually, left-handedness is a blessing, especially in very difficult music. The right side of the brain (that controls the left hand) processes 'imaginative' thought such as feeling, art, intuition, etc. Rachmaninoff was left-handed and so were other famous composers/pianists (Beethoven, Ravel for example). If you are right-handed, you will need to work VERY hard on your left hand anyway to become a successful pianist.

 

[ranniks]

Actually, left-handedness is a blessing, especially in very difficult music. The right side of the brain (that controls the left hand) processes 'imaginative' thought such as feeling, art, intuition, etc. Rachmaninoff was left-handed and so were other famous composers/pianists (Beethoven, Ravel for example). If you are right-handed, you will need to work VERY hard on your left hand anyway to become a successful pianist.

Correct, but the same applies to left handed people for their right hand.

[awesom_o]

You have to work very hard in music no matter what hand you use to hold a pair of scissors, yes.

[ajspiano]

As s right hander.. I still found chopin 10/1 to be atleast a mild challenge..

nor do I consider the RH to present as being any easier than the LH in 25/12.

[j_menz]

I'm a right hander, but at the piano there are some things that my LH is better at than my right, and some things my RH is better at than my left.

[ajspiano]

I'm a right hander, but at the piano there are some things that my LH is better at than my right, and some things my RH is better at than my left.

Agreed, it is also noted that comparatively to the average right handed (or left handed) non-pianist my LH is arguably INCREDIBLY dexterous, but it may also be noted that my LH handwriting is still completely illegible and feels very awkward .. I can't throw with my left either.

I also doubt I've worked any harder on my LH than my RH to gain similar competencies at the piano. The movements required were beyond my "natural" range of competency in both cases, significantly enough that beyond the most basic material I don't feel my RH had any clear advantage.

[drazh]

You have to work very hard in music no matter what hand you use to hold a pair of scissors, yes.

how can you cut  with scissor with left hand with usual technic  it is impossible. Try it

[awesom_o]

Agreed, it is also noted that comparatively to the average right handed (or left handed) non-pianist my LH is arguably INCREDIBLY dexterous, but it may also be noted that my LH handwriting is still completely illegible and feels very awkward .. I can't throw with my left either.

I also doubt I've worked any harder on my LH than my RH to gain similar competencies at the piano. The movements required were beyond my "natural" range of competency in both cases, significantly enough that beyond the most basic material I don't feel my RH had any clear advantage.

IMO, your piano skills will improve significantly if you learn all of these other non-musical activities with your LH. I can write with both hands and throw with both hands (I juggle quite a bit). Developing both hands in various creative non-musical ways helped me at the keyboard so much!

[ajspiano]

IMO, your piano skills will improve significantly if you learn all of these other non-musical activities with your LH. I can write with both hands and throw with both hands (I juggle quite a bit). Developing both hands in various creative non-musical ways helped me at the keyboard so much!

I wouldn't doubt that, I can actually juggle quite well.. and as a relatively competent guitarist and drummer my LH has got some other skills going for it which may be a factor in piano playing. Infact drumming is definately a factor, I have a student who's a novice pianist but keen drummer who makes technical leaps at quite a rate when i make use of drumming analogies, and how to apply certain arm movements/sensations that he understands from drumming.

Equally, time spent playing bass - in particular "slap" bass means that some of my rotational type motions at the piano are significantly more developed in the RH than in the left..

[awesom_o]

Sounds like some good teaching there! Analogies are a gift that teachers need! I can't play a drum kit to save my life!

How well can you juggle?

[ajspiano]

Sounds like some good teaching there! Analogies are a gift that teachers need! I can't play a drum kit to save my life!

Sometime I wonder how much the coordination of the feet there impacted my use of the pianos pedals, which I've never really had to work hard to use with accuracy at all. (at a contrast to my students who often find the syncopated pedal timing to be quite difficult at first)

How well can you juggle?

I'm no circus performer, I can manage 3 balls consistently, and well enough to do some weird crap like lift up my legs and throw them underneath... or turn around while I've thrown them up higher in the air etc. etc.

[dima_76557]

Infact drumming is definately a factor

Yes, it is. A drummer here in Moscow recommended me to work with a brush to develop good technique in octave tremolos. Hold the handle lightly in your hand so that the head is on the thumb side. Gently slap the brush against the inside of your thigh with a correct forearm rotation action. This is not an exercise you do with force; very lightly and relaxed. The sound should be distinct and even. Also the reverse: the head on the pinky side and slap it against the outside of your thigh with a good forearm rotation action (not so easy at first by the way). The tempo of the weakest side times two is the tempo you can really do the tremolos in the Pathetique sonata EASILY and with good control. You should not force development. This exercise also gives general control and balance, so your fingerwork gets much, much better. For some strange reason, although you don't exercise them, the fingers also become more alert by doing this.

[drazh]

Actually, left-handedness is a blessing, especially in very difficult music. The right side of the brain (that controls the left hand) processes 'imaginative' thought such as feeling, art, intuition, etc. Rachmaninoff was left-handed and so were other famous composers/pianists (Beethoven, Ravel for example).

really?

[timothy42b]

I can manage 3 balls consistently, and well enough to do some weird crap like lift up my legs and throw them underneath... or turn around while I've thrown them up higher in the air etc. etc.

I heard Sergei Ignatov (famous Russian circus juggler) speak at an IJA convention.

He said there was a level everyone could achieve with effort, but beyond that you had to be born with talent.

That point that everyone could reach?   8 balls. 

don't sell yourself short.

[awesom_o]

I've heard of 5 as being the standard everyone is capable of achieving with a bit of patience. I can keep five up for about a minute when I'm warmed up. The best jugglers in the world can keep five in the air without dropping for 45 min or an hour.

I'm working on 6 right now which is actually in its most basic form 3 in both hands simultaneously.
8 is 4 in each hand simultaneously-very challenging indeed. 7 stands in between 6 and 8 and feels and looks much like a taller, faster 5.

I teach all of my piano students juggling in addition to their musical studies.

[ajspiano]

That point that everyone could reach?   8 balls. 

don't sell yourself short.

I've heard of 5 as being the standard everyone is capable of achieving with a bit of patience.

Haha, 8 is a bit much, don't know that I could stomach putting in the time to achieve that.. 4 and 5 seems very approachable though. I don't honestly get any real satisfaction or enjoyment out of it though so its never really occurred to me to be bothered working on it any more - I learnt to do 3 - which is obviously not that hard - when I was a kid, maybe 15 years ago. I only said I can juggle "quite well" since in my experience not a whole lot of people can manage 3, and I know a few adults that can barely catch 1 ball, once.

I teach all of my piano students juggling in addition to their musical studies.

So what brought you to decide to do that? did you have a teacher that did so or is it your own idea? Can you quantify the impact its had on any of your students?

[awesom_o]

Juggling helps us develop inter-limb coordination, ambidexterity, fine-motor and gross-motor  control, rhythmic timing, body-mind awareness, mental focus, spacial awareness, self-discipline,  proprioception...... basically all kinds of crazy power. 

I'll leave it up to your imagination as to how those qualities could relate to piano-playing

None of my students practice enough, though. Juggling is frowned upon in certain circles:(


because it is so AWESOME!