Yup, I'm new here

[lost sailor]

Greetings,

I joined this forum for advice and ideas - I am a bassist/guitarist and have been for more than 40 years.
I bought a Yamaha DGX500 a few years ago just to mess around with. I have been trying to learn how
to play it as a piano....I studied theory many years ago, though my sight reading is at the same level as
using my fingers to count.

I want to be able to sight read and play some fairly easy classical pieces and advance up to some tougher
ones, but I doubt I'll ever be able to play the Hungarian Rhapsodies any time soon or later.

My problem is left hand coordination....getting both hands to play different things at the same time is
a challenge.....I am just playing at playing now and getting used to the feel. I don't know any songs.
Yes, I can construct chords and figure out scales from pretty much any note. Though I'm mostly playing
in C Maj or A mi or any mode with no sharps or flats, I am trying to venture into other keys.
I am trying some pieces but getting left/right coordination is not going very well - I am a left handed guitar player
so my right hand is used to playing melody lines.

I am hoping as I look through some of the threads here, I can find some help fixing this.
Some good news today.....someone gave me a Roland FP-1 in perfect working order.
Weighted keys make for a different feel than that Yamaha. I will be more specific with my needs
in other sub forums....I hope I've come to the right place.

 

[happyrat1]

Think of it as drumming with your fingers to start with. The piano is technically a percussive instrument.

Just keep tapping out the rhythms with your fingers and accuracy will follow later.

And as they always say, "Practice... Practice... Practice!!!"

Gary

 

[SeaGtGruff]

I have trouble with my left hand, too-- when I type on a keyboard I do most of the typing with my right hand and use my left hand almost exclusively for things like SHIFT, and only occasionally for actually typing letters. When I'm playing a keyboard it's pretty much the same situation-- I play solely with my right a lot of the time, and when I do play with my left hand it's generally something simple.

It sounds like a good deal of your problem is timing-- or playing different things with both hands at the same time without losing your rhythm and stumbling-- so I suggest starting with something very simple-- just try to play the root notes of the current chords on the downbeats. In other words, ignore the actual written music in the bass clef and play your own bass part. It helps if you're using music that includes the guitar tablatures or chord names above the treble clef or melody line. Play on just the downbeats to help you with the timing and the coordination of both hands.

Then you can graduate to playing other notes of the chords-- i.e., improvising a bass line with your left hand while playing with your right-- including playing a more complex rhythm instead of only on the downbeats.

Once you get better coordination and rhythm, and gain some confidence, you can practice trying to play both clefs of the written music at the same time. You might need to practice playing the left hand part by itself to work on the fingering and timing before you can play it smoothly with the right hand part.

Practicing scales and chords with your left hand also helps-- first by itself, and then with the right hand.

 

[CowboyNQ]

Hey Sailor,

Welcome! You'll get lots of friendly advice on this forum. So I reckon you're no longer "lost"

Great thoughts above, here's mine for what they're worth:

Sight reading - The more you do, the better you get. I don't sight read much at all these days and so I'm pretty poor at it, but back when I used to do it a lot I was quite proficient. Just stick with it and you'll improve without even realising it.

Coordinating right and left hands - Like a lot of males, this doesn't come naturally to me either. What works for me is to first learn one hand, then the other. So for example I'll learn the first eight bars of a tune RH only, then I'll learn LH only. Then I go back to the start and learn the two together. Very, very slowly to start with, then gradually pick up the pace. If I start to stumble then I slow it right down again. I try not to go too long in one session - if frustration starts to set in, I walk away from the keys, and come back the next day. It's amazing how quickly you can improve by practicing frequently but not for hours on end. Once I've mastered the first eight bars, it's on to the next eight bars, etc.

It also helps to practice with a metronome if coordinating the timing of both hands is challenging. Again, start by slowing it right down and don't speed it up until you're comfortable.

Good luck, hope some of this info is useful!

Cheers!

 

[lost sailor]

I will try some of those techniques - I have been playing for at least an hour or more a day.
I am using the keyboards when I record to accompany some of my guitar work, and sometimes a lucky collection
of piano notes make for something to play guitar with too. For practice I start out just 'playing' around improvising, then
I work on each hand individually. I can figure out scales and chords, but remembering them? I guess practice and memorization is the key. I really started getting serious about keyboards around June, so I have a long way to go.
I am not a quitter....

I have always loved solo classical piano music, and wished I learned to play earlier in my life, it is never too late to start playing something new. I am starting with old familiar tunes with melodies I know and playing them on the keys with my right hand. I will start adding root notes and go from there. I was hoping to find some books or
video lessons that could let me practice material designed to help coordinate both hands....

My name is Lew, (Lost Sailor is the name of a Grateful Dead song I really enjoy playing on the guitar)

Thanks for the advice.

 

[BusStopRatBag]

Welcome, lost sailor! Great replies so far. When learning a new song, I usually start by just playing octaves in my left that correspond to what I'm playing in the right hand. Once I know how to play it very comfortably, I add the fills and flourishes with my left hand. It takes a lot of practice but the end result is rewarding.
Knowing some of the scales is a great start. Keep plugging away and don't be afraid to ask questions.