Alternating hands

Lesson 17 of 72 · A melody that passes from one hand to the other

In this lesson, you will:

Put both hands in C position
Pass the melody from one hand to the other without a gap
Play a dialogue between your two hands

1. Learn: Two hands, ten notes

Place both hands: your left on the low C-D-E-F-G (5 to 1), your right on C-D-E-F-G starting from middle C (1 to 5). Your two thumbs are almost touching.

In alternating-hand pieces, one hand plays while the other rests and gets ready: the melody passes from one to the other.

Left hand in orange, right hand in blue.

Tip: While your right hand plays, look ahead to where your left hand will start.

2. Guided play: Question and answer

The right hand asks a question, and the left hand answers an octave lower.

3. Guided play: The two-hand staircase

Climb from low C up to the G above middle C, passing from the left hand to the right, then come back down.

4. Practice: Listen and play back, with both hands

These melodies pass from one hand to the other. The first note lights up.

5. Piece: The Dialogue

A conversation: the right hand speaks, and the left hand repeats it like an echo, an octave lower. Each hand plays a phrase while the other listens. Get the next hand ready during the long notes and rests.

6. Improvisation: An improvised conversation

Your turn to make it up: a little question with your left hand, an answer with your right, on the white keys. Leave a silence between the two, like in a real conversation.

← Lesson 16: C position, left hand Lesson 18: Both hands together →