Heinrich Neuhaus, in his book The Art of Piano Playing, makes a curious statement. He states that a certain type of piano practice should be viewed as an Emergency Exit for pianists. By this, he explains that it is something that should be used ‘in extremis’ (when all else fails). He likens it in fact to the Emergency Exit in a Theatre.
What, then, do you think the Emergency Exit for Pianists might be? Well, I’m sure you’ll be very surprised to learn that he was talking about practising Hands Separately. I say surprised because, in reality, practising diligently hands separately is perhaps (alongside Slowly and with a Metronome) the most frequent piece of advice that we see.
Why then, might Neuhaus – arguably the most famous piano teacher in modern times – make such a statement?
Why practice Hands Separately
There is one thing that I believe is definitely true about most piano practice strategies. They simplify things to a level at which our brain can cope. In doing so, our practice then becomes more effective. When we think about it, playing something slowly is ‘simpler’ than playing it quickly. Controlling one hand at the piano is ‘simpler’ than having to get both working together.
Therefore, it would seem to make logical sense that if we are trying to learn a piece of music that we expect to find a challenge, then we will find it easier to learn each hand separately first. For example, my nemesis has always been speed. Therefore, it would sensible that if I want to build speed, then working on each hand individually might be the best way. Indeed, have done that and I definitely did find that I could achieve speeds beyond anything I had done previously when doing this.
On the face of it then, this points towards Hand Separate being a good idea.
Downsides to Hands Separate Practice?
However, one thing that I have noticed for myself is that just because I can play something hands separately, doesn’t mean that I’ll be able to play it hands together. In fact, sometimes when I try to put both hands together, it simply falls apart completely. It can even be as as if I’d never practiced either hand before.
There are a couple of main reasons for this.
Assimilating new movements
Often, when we’re trying to improve our technique, we’re learning ‘new’ movements. This might be wrist circles, rotation, high wrist, low wrist, grasping, stroking or arm weight and the like. After plenty of slow, hands separate practice, I might start to feel comfortable with this ‘new’ thing. Yet, what I find when I then put that Hands Together, is that my brain has a very nasty habit of ‘reverting to type’. That is to say, it almost immediately falls back into the old habit I’m trying to break.
Unrepresentative practice
Also, when playing piano, the real aim of the game is to play with both hands. People speak of ‘hand independence’. However, what I feel is a more accurate description is ‘collaboration between the hands’. We don’t need the hands to work independently, we need them to work together in a coordinated manner. There’s little point producing a lovely ‘cantabile’ melody in the right hand if it gets drowned out by an over-excited left hand thumping away at some chords.
Looking back in time
It’s hard to remember with any certainty, however, when I initially learned piano (from being about 10 years old), I don’t remember practising hands separately very often – if at all. Perhaps this is because the level of music that I was learning then was within my ‘intuitive level’. This level, as I described before in this post, is basically the point up to which we can all make good progress without having to work particularly hard at it. Many may in fact think of it as our level of ‘natural talent’. Our level of talent, of course, is massively different for every person in every area of life (why can some people cook and some not?).
For myself with the piano, I seemed to reach a point (around Grade 8) where my ‘natural talent’ was no longer enough. Up to this point, learning and playing piano really was ‘child’s play’. Everything seemed easy and obvious. However, beyond this level, playing the piano became so hard that I simply stopped. Every piece I tried to play was just a total struggle – something I had never experienced before.
Coming back to the piano
When I re-started playing piano, I of course did some research. Almost every source I looked at kept saying to practice hands separately. Chuan C Chang in his book The Fundamentals of Piano Practice (which you can check out on Amazon here) goes as far as to say that it is impossible to gain piano technique ‘hands together’. He doesn’t seem to be alone in this view. I’m a keen reader of Pianist Magazine and many of the lessons on individual pieces that appear there advocate starting hands separately.
I therefore decided that going forward I should practice much more hands separately. In reality, until recently, I probably spent 50% of my time at the piano using only one hand at a time.
You can then imagine my surprise when I read this passage in Neuhaus book. It implied that I was not necessarily wasting my time, but certainly not using it as productively as I might.
Shifting the mindset
Not long after reading this passage, I also came across a blog post. This post argued that hands separate practice was ‘over-rated’. The basic premise was that the part of the brain that is engaged when we use both hands simultaneously is different to that used when we use only one hand. Now, generally, I’d probably simply skim over something like this due to what’s called Confirmation Bias. This is basically due to the natural way our brain is wired. We always seek out things that reinforce our current beliefs rather than opinions that challenge them. However, when such a high profile figure as Neuhaus makes a statement, perhaps it deserves more full consideration.
Experimenting
Just before Christmas, I decided to experiment with stopping Hands Separate Practice. I had set myself the target of learning Tchaikovsky’s December (from the Seasons Suite). I decided that this would be a good occasion to try out the theory. Moreover, I had a definite deadline of just under 5 weeks to learn it – making it an acid test.
The piece itself is fairly brisk – and I naturally stray towards much more sedate music (because I find it easier to play). Typically, I would have spent lots of time with this Hands Separately as it has a fairly mobile left hand and a couple of points where the right hand plays reasonably fast. However, how can I practice this hands together in a meaningful way? Clearly, there’s little point simply note bashing something that we find hard. Rather, we need to find a way of being able to practice it reasonably.
Using Short Sections …
The fundamental strategy I used was to split it down into its component sections. Then, within those sections, I would work on only a few bars at a time. After all, getting just two bars under control hands together and then practising them for a while isn’t massively complex. Ultimately, it’s about ensuring that we don’t overload our brains. I limited myself to 2 or 3 sets of 2 bars to work on each day rather than trying to practice entire sections. Day by day, as one set of bars started to feel ‘comfortable’, I’d try adding 2 sets together (so 4 bars all at once). Rinse and repeat.
… and the unexpected benefit
This actually worked far more effectively than I thought. Counterintuitively for example, I found it easier to re-choreograph the hands whilst using them both at the same time. In this piece, I found the left hand really benefitted from a different mental and physical approach than I usually use which can get quite prone to tension. So, rather than focusing my mind on accuracy of jumps, I opted to focus on flexibility and relaxation. I let myself ‘feel’ as if I would just throw my hands in the general direction of the keys I wanted to hit rather than trying to finely control them. However, at the same time, I would ensure I was fully aware of the exact notes I wanted to hit and I had a clear mental picture of them.
I know this might sound ridiculous. However, I discovered that in fact the accuracy seemed to come all on its own. I tried this out after reflecting on watching Martha Argerich play (read more in this post). Obviously, I’m not saying that I play anything like her, simply that I tried to mentally give myself some of the ‘nonchalance’ she seems to show whilst playing. After all, it seems to work for her as she never puts a finger wrong!.
The proof of the pudding …
You can watch my Christmas recording here and see for yourself how far I got with it. Clearly, you’ll hear that it still needs some work. However, and I guess you’ll need to take my word for it, I got much further in those 5 weeks than I would typically have done in a much longer period. I’m not saying I did absolutely no hands separate, however, I did treat it as an Emergency Exit where all else was failing.
Further reading
If you’re interested in reading a somewhat more scholarly description of what the mind is doing with respect to the hands, here is an article on Hands Together Practice on Training the Musical Brain. This article seems to suggest that Neuhaus was probably right.
A revised approach
Therefore, now we’re in 2021, I’m going to pick up on Neuhaus and treat Hands Separate as the Emergency Exit. There will always be passages of music that I simply can’t even get my head around initially when looking at both hands. However, for the most part, as long as I don’t try to do too much at once, it’s an Emergency Exit that I will try to use less often. It honestly feels like I’m progressing faster – time will tell!
Experiment with just one new piece that you learn and see how you find it.
