Are These Mistakes Keeping You from Growing?

We spent a good amount of time last month talking about how to perfect our two-handed piano playing.

By now you have probably experimented with playing your scales, exercises, and even some easier pieces with both hands together. Hopefully you are seeing growth in your two-handed playing and are feeling much more comfortable with this.

​Have you tried using your metronome yet to get your fingers moving faster even when playing with both hands?

What you also might be discovering is that there are certain mistakes that you could be making which are slowing down your progress. Don’t worry, as many of these same mistakes are made by all piano players!

The reason we want to look at some of these common mistakes that pianists make when practicing two-handed playing is because it is a given that at least a few of these are going to come up in your own practicing and playing, and probably already are, especially if you are a beginner.

Take a look at some of the most common mistakes that pianists make when working on their two-handed playing to see if you recognize any of them in your own playing.

1. Don’t try to play/do something on the piano that you don’t yet have the skills to do. You need to know the layout of the piano, how to read notes in your music and where they are on the keyboard, be able to count basic rhythms, and be able to play with each hand separately pretty well before putting them together.  *Doing this will prevent “brain overload”…meaning your brain needs to be able to focus on the coordination between your left and right hands, not on what note you are seeing in the music and trying to figure out where it is on the keyboard.
2. Along the same lines as number one, make sure that you don’t try to play a piece that is too difficult for you at the level you are.  If you are just beginning with playing using each hand together, start with a really easy piece, and then move up in levels. If you try to play a concerto or a difficult piece just because you’re working on hand coordination, you will end up frustrated and actually moving backwards in your growth, simply because you’re trying to run a marathon without building up to being able to run 1 mile. *Always think of building layer upon layer in your piano playing…don’t try to jump ahead as it could just stunt your growth.
3. The third mistake we’re discussing today is that we often try to play too fast! I know that you’re heard this before and you probably will again, because it is really one of the most common mistakes that we all make over all of our piano learning – not just with two-handed playing. So always slow down when you are messing up…so you can figure out what is going wrong and then you can practice to correct it much easier.  *In fact, make that the first thing that you do when you’re practicing. If something goes wrong, simply remember that the starting point to correcting it, is slowing down.  ß This is especially true for more advanced players!
4. Don’t blow things off! Many times we make it our goal to simply play the piece from beginning to end instead of working on problem areas and even specific measures that are giving us trouble. We always have to break things down and work on each individual measure, or group of notes and chords that we can’t play through at a slow tempo correctly. *Too many times we simply go back to the beginning and try to play through the piece again with making a mistake. What happens then? We make the same mistakes again, and in fact, are teaching ourselves to play it that way. Pay attention to the mistakes that you hear and take the time to go back and fix them in the beginning.
5. Pay attention to your posture! We often forget this aspect of piano playing, but it is one of the most important things that we need to notice to help our playing and not hinder it. Make sure that your shoulders, neck, arms and even hands are relaxed. Tension in your body will create tension in your playing. Also, keep your fingers relaxed and curved over the keyboard in a position that is comfortable and easy for you to use them when you need to for certain notes. *Keep your thoughts focused on what you are working on, maintain a positive attitude, and don’t allow stressful feelings that have nothing to do with your playing to enter into your practice time. 

If you like my tips and lessons, you will love the courses over on my website. Whether you are a beginner looking to get a solid foundation to build on or you are looking to take you existing skills to that next level, the online music courses on my website - https://www.pianolessonsontheweb.com will help you do just that.