An important element in piano study is learning how to play one hand louder than the other. Learning to play with balance (one hand louder than the other), will help students bring out the melody and soften the accompaniment. I have heard some teachers use the comparison that one hand needs to feel like a boat above the water and the other hand needs to feel like a submarine. Telling a student that is one thing, but how do we get students to know exactly what it should feel like? Shadow practice!
How shadow practicing works:
Let’s pretend that the right hand plays the melody and left hand has the accompaniment. In order to teach the student how to play the left hand softly while playing the right hand loudly, practice the following steps.
- Play right hand alone and loudly. Ignore all dynamic markings. Just play the right hand heavily and loudly.
- Play the right hand loudly while only pretending to play the left hand. This is the step where most students struggle. In this step, the right hand will suddenly get softer. Work with students to keep the right hand loud. Let students know that they may not get this step on the first try… it takes a little work. Don’t move onto step 3 until the student can accomplish this step.
- Play the right hand loudly while playing the left hand halfway into the keys. The left hand may make a little sound in this step and that’s ok. The key is just to keep the right hand loud.
- Play the right loudly while playing the left softy.
- Voila! Most students are able to play with great balance between the hands if they can make it past step #2.
Once the student can play with good balance between the hands, the teacher can work on shaping the melody and adding more dynamics.
Lauren teaches piano to students of all ages in New Orleans, LA. Teaching is her passion. She enjoys creating resources for her students and is the author of Ready for Theory®.
Congratulations, Lauren, on the good job you are doing!