Bringing Two Together as One at the Piano | No Hands, Ten Fingers

I have made this video out of necessity to respond to the many comments I have received and discussions I have had on 'playing something different with both hands', and the like.
Bringing together elements from the videos and articles listed below, I have created a simple exercise which will train your mind to stop thinking that the 'left hand accompanies' and the 'right hand sings', so to speak. This is an incredibly impeding mindset and is what is blocking you from playing two different things; because you're seeing two hands and not ten fingers.
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[@danthecomposer]

Please help me to help you by making the most of the following links which will give you access to much more recent content, as well as some options to support my channel: Video Management Website: www.dan-the-composer.com Blog: piano-jazz.blogspot.com/ All Videos: kzbin.infovideos All Playlists: kzbin.infoplaylists eBooks and Podcast Collection: danthecomposer.gumroad.com/ Water Pianism Syllabus: piano-jazz.blogspot.com/2022/04/water-pianism-syllabus.html Patreon: www.patreon.com/danthecomposer Don't forget the Bell icon when you Subscribe to be notified of all new uploads!

[@eddiet2]

'If you'd rather not... consider watching this cat video instead' - - priceless! Thank you for this well thought out tutorial!

[@danthecomposer]

Thank you kindly! Hope it helped :) You can't go wrong with cats... Best, Dan

[@eddiet2]

"I'll say that again, because it was brilliant"-- Now THAT was brilliant, Dan!

[@danthecomposer]

Thank you :) Hope this video has proved beneficial in general! Best, Dan

[@SMTX2023]

Thanks Dan, as always a great job. I like your analogy of 10 fingers as 10 soldiers.

[@danthecomposer]

Thank you muchly. Good to see you on this older video... dabbling in jazz these days? Anything you're working on in particular? Best, Dan

[@PIANOSTYLE100]

Thanks for the highlight.

[@simonthedrivinginstructor4733]

Hi Dan, thanks for putting all of your tutorials on here. I have been a frustrated keyboard player for many years (a bass player and guitarist for 20+ years) and your NLP-based approach to learning really works for me: you need to "believe" that you can play before you even start! Deep breath, and...play! :)

[@danthecomposer]

Hi Simon, thanks for your comment and welcome! One additional reason that the videos work for you is because they encourage you to discover the You Method. No book has ever been written for you specially, you see? If you haven't yet discovered my blog, see here: piano-jazz.blogspot.hu/2017/07/feeling-lost.html Best, Dan

[@simonthedrivinginstructor4733]

Makes complete sense. As a left-hander (although right-handed on guitar...go figure lol) my brain works in quite a strange way compared to some. Thanks for the blog link. I will have a butchers!

[@Advait]

The Best!

[@danthecomposer]

Oh, thank you! Welcome to my channel, Cosmology. Do also consider my blog: piano-jazz.blogspot.hu/2017/06/five-beginner-videos.html Best, Dan

[@trereed455]

Yo Dan, i respect what you do, it's not just from a teaching perspective or to show off(seen a lot of people who make 'tutorials' just to show how good they are) or even from the perspective of being politically correct. You truly do it off the love of music so i salute you

[@danthecomposer]

Hello Tre, thank you for your positive comment and welcome to my channel. You remark well. Do keep me updated with your progress and also consider my blog: www.piano-jazz.blogspot.com Best, Dan

[@adamf.3829]

I thought I might share a little tip, which helps me enormously in my struggles - I wonder what you will think of it. Once you've found a comfortable tempo for an excercise, or a piece you're learning, instead of speeding up - start gradually slowing down! Warning - it often turns out to be much harder than you might think at first, and quite frustrating too. I find it really helps to boost your awareness of what your fingers are actually doing, and whether they're doing it 100% right - which in the long run can't be a bad thing, can it?

[@danthecomposer]

Hello! Thanks for your comment. Just seen it. Absolutely. I have a video called Patience at the piano which discusses this kind of idea. Many benefits indeed! Best, Dan

[@amitev]

Very helpful. Thank you very much!

[@danthecomposer]

Very glad it helped! :) What are you working on now? Best, Dan

[@amitev]

I'm working on suppressing my conscience interference! Glad you asked

[@2wheelspy]

What a great video. You really understand the issues of learning the piano as a “normal person”. Might consider patreon at some point in the future.

[@danthecomposer]

Thank you kindly. I truly don't do these for money; it took a long time for me to accept to open a patreon account because I couldn't stop peoples' desires to support me. Nevertheless, enjoy the channel, comment when you wish and enjoy your destinationless journey :) Best,Dan

[@samygeorge4183]

Dan, first of all, I'd like to say that you are one of my true sources of inspiration for keeping me pushing harder with my Piano progress, specially that I'm shifting career from software engineering as a software developer currently, to being a pianist and a composer, so i'm literally starting at the age of 23 from the scratch and it needs some good amount of motivation, so your philosophical approach stuff is just brilliant and really, like really helping me. but let me please offer you my humble suggestion, despite that your content is just GOLD to me, however those long videos are just a bit of a turn off to me, it's like, oh gosh i'm already tired, this is too long, where's the short version of this? for some reason i guess that many will agree with me on that one. I'd suggest that you make some shorter version of your videos for those who want to cut it short, and also there's the long version that they can pay it a visit when they have the time or when they need to. you may try that in many different ways, like a 5 minutes series, that with some video editing and cutting for unneeded silence or so, you can easily put some big great content in just 5 minutes, exercises, tips and so forth. thank you Dan for you great efforts on this very unique and brilliant Piano lessons, keep goin' bruh, a really big fan is here. god bless you.

[@GustavoAlves-tl6gd]

Samy George I, for one, prefer long indepth videos to short "tips" videos, but I can see that some people might lack the time to watch the long ones, so my suggestion would be for him to do a recap at the end with the most important point and link the timestamp in the description. This way everyone is benefited :)

[@samygeorge4183]

Gustavo, I DO LIKE in depth videos too, really do, and I completely agree with you on the recap thing by the end of the video. I just have a feeling that the video can be really shorter with the same benefit out of it, not sure about that feeling tho. no matter what, I'm a lifetime fan and a follower for his videos, just gold and truly unique content. ::) was just sharing my humble opinion ::)

[@danthecomposer]

Samy, I appreciate your comment and support, quite naturally! I am also glad to be part of your new destinationeless piano journey. Sometimes, speaking is necessary; if I just play, people will say I just show off and don't educate or inspire. I need a middle ground... and sometimes I'll play more, sometimes I'll speak more, but I am always conscious not to go on for *too* long, or I'll stop the video and start again! (Rare, but has happened a few times). If you're getting tired, you should ask yourself why: is it absolutely 100% me, or is it you not being interested in coming to the absolute truth realisation that playing the piano is only 10% of the game and 90% takes place in the mind away from the piano? :) That said, thanks to comments like yours in the past, I created this playlist: kzbin.info/www/bejne/ioLbe31tdsyGbc0 I am reminded of a very important teaching which applies to you here: you should sit in silent meditation for 30 minutes a day; if you're too busy, do it for an hour. I hope you understand. I do appreciate your idea of put a timestamp to the 'summing up' but... what would be the point of me making the video? If you, or others, wish to receive 'a bit' of the teachings... what can I do about that, my good friend!? :) It's also a trait that my videos are 99.9% not edited (unless a cat jumps on me or the camera falls off); it makes them realistic and allows my natural flow of thoughts and performance to be shared. So many channels edit 'mistakes' and do multiple takes (obvious due to the difference in lighting and shadows and camera position, and I don't only mean piano channels) - I like to be flowing like water and bring people along for the ride. Once again, I do understand where you're coming from and as I shared above, I created a playlist exactly because of comments like yours... but if I may, with all sense of encouragement, recommend you do your best to take onboard what I'm saying, almost meditate on it, let it grow. I offer seeds, only; you must do the watering. Keep me updated with your progress! Best, Dan

[@samygeorge4183]

Dan, Thank you for the explanation, and well, i got your point, your natural flow of thoughts, yea it makes sense to me now, and i like that really, i think it was just me being already tired back then while watching the video xD well, I'll really do consider your advice about the meditation session, always thought of it as a silence-loving person already, but never thought of bringing it alongside my journey with the Piano and music. thank you, dear Dan, I really appreciate you taking the time explaining and taking care of each comment on all of your videos, keep up that great work, bro ::) I'll keep you in the loop surely about my progress, as you're having a great hand in it already ::) currently I'm gonna start my Grade 1 lessons of the ABRSM and i'm really excited about it, just finished my 2 starter books and passed the preparation test with them. Best of luck to you, friend ::)

[@danthecomposer]

Samy, My pleasure - appreciate once again your comments! I wonder if you might find this video interesting, since you mentioned patience: kzbin.info/www/bejne/emnMcqaKZ5WWfKc You will fly through grade 1. Why not go for grade 5? You will be a major scale master with your internal piano and eyes closed and repertoire will be mastered using your internal jukebox and the dissection philosophy... piano-jazz.blogspot.hu/2016/12/learning-songs-quickly.html Do indeed keep me updated! [e-mail] Best, Dan

[@PIANOSTYLE100]

I have the answer. I was adjusting the voice on my Casino ctk4200. All the sudden I heard bells, whistles, drums, counting..I just kept playing the song. It was really cool. In editing I wasn't satisfied with this masterpiece. Lol. I moved the video and sound over. I have two Sets of hands..playing total thymic nonsense, boogies ext. Actually a a 1 year old could do this. I wasn't thinking left or right. Anyways back to your suggestions..I agree totally with you.. There is Bach piece called Solfeggietto. It has a left hand version. We are so trained to hear the melody on the right and rhythm on the left.. I sometimes train with Maestro free music editor. I noticed while inserting random notes, that I could identify all natural notes by ear. This could be done in base cliff with left or right hands..or just Index fingers..use quarter notes at 60 BPM. Then listen as we play .. preferably with right hand and left hand, switching things around..as you say breaking the brain.

[@PIANOSTYLE100]

Dan watch the video.. it's on my channel. I listen and watch it and it Is funny. I have my hands moving in different direction. Loads of whistles, horns.

[@GustavoAlves-tl6gd]

I absolutely love your teachings, I am still starting to go through your beginners guide but I saw a notification for this and had to watch it. Great videos, keep doing what you are doing and improve at every turn!

[@PIANOSTYLE100]

Gustavo Alves something to pass on just to maybe help .. learn your major scales first.if you take a sheet of paper and transfer a mark from the middle of the notes of c. Now you just move it to the roots note. When learn your main scales. learn the first 3.notes and then five exact.. then just 2 more.. Note to practice dexterity and fluidity​..do the first five notes with the five fingers.

[@GustavoAlves-tl6gd]

PIANOSTYLE100 thanks! Ive been playing piano for some years now but those dont count because it wasnt serious at all, basically just toying (30 mins/week so basically nothing). Im starting "from scratch" now so I can really improve. I have some degree of music theory knowledge but need to learn almost everything. I will definetly do that. Thanks for the help :p

[@PIANOSTYLE100]

Gustavo Alves yes applying something is different than head knowledge.. feel free to contact I play about ten instruments and have spent maybe 10 thousand hours between teaching and playing.. of course I should be better but we have to make the best of what we have little or much.

[@GustavoAlves-tl6gd]

PIANOSTYLE100 If you werent after that much practice then you wouldnt have been practicing :p I will definetly contact you, how should I

[@PIANOSTYLE100]

Gustavo Alves Well that counts a lot of guitar playing, 5 string banjo bass..ect.. i did it because I enjoy it.. check out my videos on you tube. you can subscribe to my channel..pianostyle100.. what is your musical background. Are you a good reader.. I'm eh.. on reading music..

[@MegaFashionTrance]

He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much

[@danthecomposer]

Thank you. That's what I was trying to get out! Hope you're well :) Best, Dan

[@Its_13LOO]

I'm starting to get into the piano and I'm about to turn fourteen. I've been playing for about 6 months now which is practically nothing. xD I started in piano already expirenced with sheet music due to being in my school band. ( I play trumpet) Anyways I love your videos and they really help me a lot. Especially now that I'm working mostly on finger and hand Independency and getting my left hand up to pace with my right sometimes. Definitely earned a subscriber. -Thanks-

[@danthecomposer]

Hello Person :) Welcome to my channel. You do well at your age. You will clearly go far with such a mindset already! I don't know if you've discovered my blog yet but you may enjoy this article: piano-jazz.blogspot.hu/2015/11/the-pianists-checklist.html Keep me updated, good man. Best, Dan

[@PIANOSTYLE100]

Dan this post is for the advanced beginners possible intermediate. so often we don't have any written music in the real world. .. but I'm thinking this song goes to the third .. and their singing in b .. yeah it's easy to see on the piano..b# c# d,#..as you concentrate more on it you get more nervous.. next time you get it. After songs over I thing duh fourth from circle of fourths down a half steps..here's something you may have covered.. I was thinking of weakness not strength...every day I try to think of something I don't know..I don't study c f g ..and a few others.. i realized I know the circle of fifths in ascending order very fast. bead gcf ect. but I thought why do I always go in ascending order. then I tried backwards c g d a e. sounds like hey Joe. got to f# and train wreck.. I thought there is got be cheat, some anchor.. ..so working with the c scale ..how far away is the flat7 note away from the the fifth. .. without looking I knew that's a minor third g bb .. then thought that most likely something a minor third down is important​ and yes it is.its the third.... got the piano and sure enough noticed that this a fragment of the dimenished scale. so if somebody is in a unfamiliar key let's say db, they need the fifth.. just thing one whole to c,b or the note called b.. and think minor third down..ab conversely if you know the third f is just a minor third up.. I suggest all beginners learn the root and minor third up. you can do all dimished scales with this.. also for beginners in c the the flat7 is a tritone or six semitones or three steps away from the third or e.. I am sorry if this is long.. but I thought I'd get this out there.. if there are any mistakes, I'm texting. One thing I've learned also is do your scales with one finger at times.. you are like a child..I call it baby steps say the notes of the scale.. go a slow as can and say the notes..this will engrain this into your mind.. if you learn something fast you have tendency to not really comprehend what you are doing I say say start with c. this should take five minutes. try another key soon and you will know all keys in month or two. Any questions.. I try to get back asap. btw I don't consider myself an expert I think I'm 20 percent or less of the greats..maybe 5 idk.

[@danthecomposer]

All I can say is thank you for taking the time to share your discoveries. They are very important and I hope they will encourage or help others on their path, too! Your advice makes sense and is advised. Do remove the idea of expert, my friend. It is like trying to find the middle of a circumference! Continue on your destinationless journey... you will clearly go far. Very best, Dan

[@PIANOSTYLE100]

I've decided to take the integral of the frequency of the note c and find out how to derive the derivative of the alphabet.. when you said do the alphabet..I got kick out of it..we just need to say it zyx. The best. I've got a got a guitar lesson to do.. hmm wonder I can apply that to guitar.

[@anthonydiaz3386]

I reached the point where I can do all these exercises while looking at the ceiling. :)

[@danthecomposer]

Very glad to read it :) What about my piano challenge? kzbin.info/www/bejne/iZS3n4KBo9unfLs Best, Dan

[@anthonydiaz3386]

@@danthecomposer I am working on it but will definitely take time until I post my progress on FB :) have mercy lol

[@PIANOSTYLE100]

I refuse to play my guitar with my teeth. LoL I guess I'm just not committed enough.

[@PIANOSTYLE100]

I unfortunately did not use Czerny and Canon when first learning. Those exercises will..break the brain as you say. They force you to do unnatural finger movements and work in high and low octaves. Of course it trains your brain by muscle memory and that can be a trap. They were also invented to help with music reading..We can challenge ourselves to play them backwards..read them away from piano ..play games with fellow students. These can be verbal games. Eh. What is the second space above and below the base F Cliff. it's a D.. What's the middle line ?? D..This is noticing pattern That break our musical habits. Do minor thirds in a achromatic pattern C Eb Db Db E . E G.. I worked this out in both directions.. These things will bring will break day to day humdrum practice and can be done on keyboards. I am presently working on Donna Lee ..that will exercise brain cells in itself..it's written in Ab major and loads of natural notes etc. Also..I have found it helpful to learn little by little, some of the free midi music editors. Maestro, Musescore, Score creator,..You can write out your score, do ear training with it. I was doing a random note reading exercise on Maestro. I literally was just touching the screen..and notes came out.. I stayed in C major.. I On playback.. I realized that iI did not have to look at the screen.. I could recognize all 7 notes in all octaves..This is not an intelligence I for sure don't have perfect pitch.. now that was cool and has opened up many. new musical avenues. Was planning a short reply.. ha.

[@jenghis3827]

i have a problem , i cant play notes jump or even note run if you know what i mean, in left hand and playing melody in right hand. any video that could help me?

[@danthecomposer]

Hello Jenghis, thanks for your question. Your problem is not unusual and I have tried to address it in many videos, including this one. Your problem is not yet two hands together because you still have an issue with one hand accuracy. I recommend this video for both hands: kzbin.info/www/bejne/mmOoYmyla7Nnm68 Let me know how you get on. Best, Dan

[@jenghis3827]

danthecomposer thank you so much

[@vishalg1997]

We have never seen uh .. make one video with whole of your performance :)

[@danthecomposer]

Hello :) I have these few videos: kzbin.info/aero/PL4cPpP-Ua6NXa22S7GCC30aFJbteHWAum And I play the song I'm detailing at the beginning of most of these videos: kzbin.info/aero/PL4cPpP-Ua6NUh1zopQKUb3T0kyyu88L1Q Hope you enjoy :) Best, Dan

[@Caliber24]

Your brain is not gonna like this lol you damn right my brain isn't going to like it but i will make it like it lol

[@danthecomposer]

Excellent attitude! People like you go far on the destinationless journey ;) Enjoy this but also see this one: kzbin.info/www/bejne/q3aoaJ-wf7yAfbc Best, Dan

[@mat13channel]

Great tutorial as always. I have a question for you. Do we treat rhythm (aka "left hand") and melody (aka "right hand") as a single score in our head, or do we practice them independently and then try to join them? Very often rhythm doesn't start and end the same time as notes on the right side, and can often come while note is in mid playing on the right which makes it even more difficult. For example, take a look at first 9 notes in this melody please - kzbin.info/www/bejne/ZnWqnpqsfLh2l7c Left side has single note, right one has three notes repeating themselves three times. Each of these parts is probably easy to do for anyone who never even played a piano. The problem starts when trying to play them both together at the same time. Just that small part of 2 or so seconds with 4 notes altogether. Keep in mind I am new to this (37 year old), and am just starting to go through your 10-step tutorial, so this is probably beyond easy to any piano player that had practice with two hands, but in my mind if I try playing them at the same time, one messes the other. What's worse, I tried playing only the melody with right hand but hum out loud the rhythm of that one note on the left and even my own voice messes me up and doesn't let me play with one hand. Are those two topics even related? Can voicing rhythm + right hand be as difficult as playing rhythm with left hand + right hand? Would being able to master one automatically master the other? Or is it more like a duet? DO we treat rhythm and main melody as two separate songs that just happen to play simultaneously and enrich one another?

[@danthecomposer]

Hello again :) Yes, both hands can execute both rhythm and melody since those things are coming from within; it just so happens that we often put rhythm in the LH and rhythm in the RH but do NOT get stuck to that setup. Consider switching rolls and playing chords in the right with a melody in the left... or just playing using one finger from both hands, just to separate the hands from their traditional, restricting roles. It's exactly my point that even your voice ruined your execution.. it has nothing to do with hands! It's coming from inside and if it's not balanced on the inside, no part of the body can execute it well: everything starts in the mind, therefore! You need to therefore realise that melody and rhythm are two things which both exist in BOTH hands... separating them is what is causing your issue. You should break this issue by using major scales/major triads and finding your natural limit (with a metronome) that you can play various combinations of LH/RH chord/melody (1 or more notes) and closing your eyes. Eventually, you will break the hands and be able to increase the metronome by 10bpm every few days. Then it's cracked! Let me know how you get on. Best, Dan

[@vinodbhatt7581]

Who watched cat playing piano

[@joshabeatz3931]

Officially creeped out when I started to do it 😳

[@danthecomposer]

... then what happened?

[@joshabeatz3931]

@@danthecomposer I was able to do the "melody" part on my left hand swiftly without thinking about it but ironically it is harder to do it on my right hand

[@rahul21e]

Hi Dan.. Hope you are doing well.. I just wanted to share an update with you. I have gone through the video and using the exercises that you have shown I tried to create my own part using the concepts. Please find the link below for a sample audio kzbin.info/www/bejne/iGq7oJ2Qf8iCY9U I have used the following format.. : Left hand steadily playing c major 6 chord in broken chords. It is alternating 3,5 and 1,6. Right hand plays the melody I know this is very basic stuff. But I couldn't contain my excitement from sharing my first hand independence composition with you. There is a very prominent role for your above lesson helping me to achieve this. I wish to continue working on chord progressions along with the hand independence. Thanks a lot for your lessons and all the videos Regards, Rahul

[@danthecomposer]

Hello good sir - thanks for the update. It inspires others, too. Your link was enjoyable. Steadiness, gentle touch, accuracy, freedom... if you did that without layering the right hand on top of the left, it's impressive but even if you did, the LH alone is still very steady. Encouraging indeed! What about doing it in three other keys? After all, no key is any different from any other... right? ;) Looking forward to the next update. Best, Dan

[@rahul21e]

Hi Sir, I have just come up with one more composition. Unlike the first one, I tried moving both the hands. I have tried a basic 1-4-5 chord progression in C major scale with some melody in the right hand. Please find the link below kzbin.info/www/bejne/lYPciaGMmLmojMU I knew this is small bit. But I just wanted to share my progress with you. This infarct is driving me to set some target and complete that to share with you. Request you to listen to this piece and provide your valuable feedback which will help me to progress further. Regards, Rahul

[@PIANOSTYLE100]

elephant is lying on the psychiatrist's couch. he says whenever I come into a room nobody notices. There are lots of elephants in our rooms that we are ignoring. I never thought about reversing the melody and rhythm. I agree many people subscribe to the theory of doing untill you catch on.. more of the same.. Here are some elephants.. trying to skip learning all the scales esp. b db ab .. ect.. failing to learn the diatonic sevenths in every key.. .using all the fingers. . in every crazy way I can. i went back to the basics tapping on a table ..fingers 1 2 3 in right hand are the strongest, but I had a really problem with movement between thumb index.. then I decided to do the g blues in descending motion.. I wanted to match the speed of the the f blues. when I just relaxed and played g f d with 321.. voila elephant is is disappearing. and many others are following.. I think that learning fancy scales without knowing where they come from is self defeating..here's the elephant almost all have favorite keys .. gb is uncomfortable for me. .. Some people prefer the black keys as they stand up higher. The unseen elephant is they are developing factories.. Last question about elephants..Think about your favorite keys and what is third city sixth.. .there is nothing wrong with a cheat sheet.. I completely agree with your break down in the video just wanted to comment. Long time player and always learning.

[@danthecomposer]

Thank you for sharing this very valuable philosophy. I hope others will thumb it up so it stays high in the comments. Best, Dan

[@PIANOSTYLE100]

danthecomposer best to you dan