Problems getting notes in RH and LH to sound together

[atticus]

After some careful listening, I noticed that I have difficulties getting notes (that are to be played simultaneously in the RH and LH) to sound at exactly the same time (they are slightly off).  This occurs with all of my pieces, whether the passages are legato or staccato (it's most obvious if the notes in the RH are staccato and the notes in the LH are not).  Does anyone have any practice tips for working on getting notes in the RH and LH to sound exactly together? 

Thanks,
atticus

[stringoverstrung]

Atticus,

I have the same problem. I'll address the problem in 2 steps: First i'll explain what i think causes the problem with me (if you know the cause it's easier to solve the problem)  and secondly i'll tell you what has helped for me.

Before i start i want to say that:

- until now i have not solved the problem completely
- please correct me if i say something that is not correct.

1) cause: i started playing the piano when i was 12 and made good progress till 18.  I never experienced this sync problem. Then i quit.  when i was 21 i had brain surgery 2 times which had a long lasting impact on my nervous system/brain.  3 years ago (29 years old) i started playing the piano again and from that day i suffered from the same problem as the one you describe. I'm telling you this because i think this means that in my case:

- it has to do with concentration (i cannot concentrate for very long periods anymore)
- it has to do with coordination (obvious)
- it has to do with fatigue of the brain: it's much worse when i'm tired.

2) What has helped for me is:
- concentrate on the first note of every beat: make sure they are together no matter what and if necessary play it with an accent. Later on just think the accent. Of course the music suffers a little but it's just to get it together. Later on you can enter  different "checkpoints": this are notes that must be together (= notes you pay more attention to get them together).
- make sure you have the correct  (= also very stable) hand position.
- make sure to practice HS a lot: this enables you to concentrate on the coordination when you play HT because the hand memory will take care of the notes in one hand.
- do not tense up in the shoulders (one of my mistakes). In general when you tense up the coordination will be much much worse.
-  don't get this advice wrong but  too much relaxation in the hand leads to more problematic coordination ( i mean really really relaxed (as in without any muscular tension whatsoever ) (of course relaxed hands are good)). it's not likely that this is your problem i think. Too much relaxation could undermine the stability of your hand.
 (correct me if i'm wrong)
- practice in many different tempos. If you speed it up you will find out that there is one particular speed at which the coordination gets much worse. Practice below this speed. If you want to speed it up practice HS.
- if you can "sync"  the Preludes and fugues from Bach then other music will be no problem.. (I guess contrapunt demands more coordination?)

Still the problem is very dependent from the fatigue of my brain/Coordination. Do you also experience this ?

Of course it is also possible that you are practicing pieces that are "too difficult" (= for your ability you have to play it too fast) . You can easily find it out by learning an easier piece and check if the problem remains.
In my case mental awareness is very important but in performance you need all your attention for other things that is why it tends to come back in performances as well (+ tension).

Don't expect immediate results with my advice but after a few months things have improved dramatically especially after i payed more attention to the correct execution of  every note HS (correct hand position / regular play in fingers).

[pizno]

It is an ongoing problem, and takes focus.  One thing that helps is to make sure that your fingers are actually on the keys before you play them, that way they are all starting from the same place.  Since our fingers are different lengths, they play the notes from different angles and heights, which is why the fingers play the notes at slightly different times.  Also, use the wrist to flex just a bit when playing.  Do some exercises actually looking at your hands trying to figure out where the uneveness is.

[steinwayguy]

Play Beethoven's Sonata Op. 31 No. 1. You'd do it well, apparently.

[atticus]

Thanks for the suggestions.  I will try them out.  Also, in response to the question from stringoverstrung, it does seem to be worse when I am tired (mentally and physically).

Thanks again,
atticus

[gkatele]

Play Beethoven's Sonata Op. 31 No. 1. You'd do it well, apparently.

OUCH! That was mean (and funny!)


George

[sonatainfsharp]

Practice slowly at first!