Precision in Simultaneity, Newby question Category 4

[timothy42b]

I'm making progress in the first 3 categories.

It frustrates me though that all my fingers do not land precisely at the same time, so that a chord sounds rolled instead of clean.

Any strategies for improving it?  I have tried doing a deliberate offset.  For example, landing the right hand just before the left, then the left before the right, then trying to get them together.  But this hasn't really improved things much.  I want all the fingers to land exactly together, and it sounds very sloppy to my ears when they don't.  But at this point all I can do is try harder, and I'd rather try smarter. 

[quasimodo]

Maybe, don't lift fingers too high and have them at equal distance from the keys, then "gravity drop", relaxed wrist. Add power with forearm and shoulders when required. Be relaxed, you badly want to control the things and that gets you tense.

[will]

Break down the chords into smaller segments and use different combinations to work on trouble spots.
 For example If you have a six note chord say CEG in left hand and CEG an octave above in the right hand try the following: (1) Try and find what combinations of notes are giving you trouble. First try LH C with RH G - can you play just these two notes together? You should be able to handle this since both finger 5's are all that will be playing. If not then try and start the fingers from the exact same height, move them at the exact same speed, the motions should mirror each other on both sides.
 Now try different combos, e.g. LH CE & RH G, then LH CE & RH GE. Work through all combinations and work especially on the combinations you find the hardest. Gradually build up notes in the chord until you get to the larger chords.

[xvimbi]

But at this point all I can do is try harder, and I'd rather try smarter. 

Good attitude!

I don't know what your level is, but playing chords evenly (even just in one hand) is very difficult to master. You will find uneven chords in lots of advanced pianists. In my opinion, you have already taken the biggest hurdle: it sounds awful to your ears when a chord is not even. Recognizing that there is something wrong is half the solution. If you just keep playing without consciously working on it, you will likely make adjustments that even out your chords. This is a simple psychological observation, namely that the body will subconsciously make adjustments to achieve something if the mind is clear about the goal. However, this may not go fast enough.

In the end, there are no tricks. You will need to have all fingertips at the right location when you play a chord. Sometimes, this means they all are at the same hight (chords involving only white or only black keys, assuming you lower the hand and have no forearam rotation and angled motion); sometimes, they have to be at different heights (chords with both white and black keys). All this requires practice.

Most importantly, though, you need to understand the correct technique for playing chords. It's too much to go into detail for now, but I'll mention one aspect: the hand needs to be completely relaxed until the very last moment when you play the chord. The playing apparatus must not get rigid until the fingertips touch the keys. If you have such a preparation stage, you'll know that the fingertips are already on the keys, so the chord will come out even. So, first try to play an even chord with the fingertips already on the keys. If that is not possible, then the problem is elsewhere. In the end, the trick is to get the fingers where they have to go, and this, ultimately, has to do with the body map and the keyboard map, which is only acquired slowly over time.

Hope that helps.