Musicarta is streaming on Twitch TV! Bookmark keyboardcomposing and check the schedule for your local times!

Patreon ~ MUSICARTA ~ Premium
The Musicarta Beat and Rhythm Workbook

Snake Dance Series

Breaking Up the Left Hand


In this stage of your performance build-up, you break up the left hand fifth and ‘waggle’ it, playing bottom-top-bottom-top notes. This is more difficult than it sounds, so we approach it in two stages.

In the first stage (this lesson), you rehearse putting the melody over this new left hand pattern in sections only. Then, you graduate to the continuous left hand pattern.

Watch the first performance video.

Now work through the section teaching videos

'Gappy' left hand

First line, first phrase

Tackle the phrases one at a time.

The music shows the first line/first phrase, repeated.

To help you work out which left hand notes go with which right hand notes, think of the left hand as now playing ‘bottom’ (LH5) and ‘top’ (LH1) notes. You see this marked up in the music. It’s your little finger (LH5) that comes on the strong beat.

Note that there is no left hand pattern underneath the first two ‘run-up’ notes of the slurred phrases.

Tap the pattern

Read through the lesson notes below the video.

Notice when the hands play together (T), when just the left hand plays (L), and when just the right hand plays (R) – ‘TLR analysis’.

Here’s the first phrase marked up with the TLR analysis.

Here’s the 'beat map' for that rhythm. Beat maps sho0w just the T/L/R 'events', without the music.

Copy the tapping in the teaching video, then jump to playing the real music.

First line, second phrase

Work through the second phrase just as methodically.

Whole Line One

Now put the whole Line 1 together. Repeat!

Line Three phrases

The Line 3 phrases have the same TLR pattern as Phrase 2 plus one extra 'R' on the end.

The intermediate performance

Make sure you can play the "gappy left hand" performance right through.

Filling the gaps

Now we set about filling the gaps in the left hand accompaniment.

Here's the MS (written-out music) of "what actually happens".

Line 3

Practice the Line 3 right hand run-up the same, methodical way.

Tapping boot camp

Here's a condensed tapping drill video for the whole version. Use it to make sure you don't have any T-L-R coordination glitches

The final module performance

Here's the performance with the continuous left hand.

When you're ready, go on to the next lesson.



OUT NOW!

THE MUSICARTA BEAT & RHYTHM WORKBOOK

At last! An effective approach to keyboard rhythm & syncopation skills. Learn more!
Also on Musicarta Patreon - only $5.00 a month!



ONLY $24.95!

Patreon Beat & Rhythm Workbook
~ ~ ~ ~
The Snake Dance

The Build-up

The Variations

Other B & R modules


The Musicarta
BEAT & RHYTHM WORKBOOK is now available!

A methodical approach to keyboard syncopation for

ONLY $24.95!

Learn more!


MUSICARTA
PUBLICATIONS

exciting keyboard
creativity courses


THE MUSICARTA
CHORDS 101
WORKBOOK
CHORDS 101 cover
Exclusively on
MUSICARTA
PATREON

Learn more!

THE MUSICARTA
~HANON~

video course
The Musicarta Hanon cover

ONLY $24.95
BUY NOW!
Also on
Musicarta
Patreon


THE MUSICARTA
PENTATONICS
WORKBOOK

video course
The Musicarta Hanon cover
ONLY $24.95
BUY NOW!
Learn more

GREENSLEEVES
Creative Keyboard

video course
GREENSLEEVES

THE MUSICARTA
BEAT AND RHYTHM
WORKBOOK
Beat and Rhythm Workbook
ONLY $24.95

Buy Now
Also available on
Udemy
andMusicarta Patreon Learn more!

PIANO SOLOS
- Volume 1 -
Piano Solos Vol. 1
ONLY $19.95
Buy Now
Learn more

THE MUSICARTA
12-BAR PIANO
STYLES WORKBOOK
Musicarta 12-bar Piano Styles
ONLY $19.95
Buy Now

THE
MUSICARTA MODES
WORKBOOK
Musicarta Modes Workbook
ONLY $19.95
Buy Now

MUSICARTA EASY
PIANO STYLE
Musicarta Easy Piano Style
ONLY $24.95
Buy Now

THE
CANON PROJECT

video course
The Canon Project
ONLY $24.95
Buy Now

THE PYRAMIDS
VARIATIONS

video course
The Pyramids Variations
ONLY $19.95
Buy Now
Also on Udemy and Musicarta Patreon
Learn more

KEY CHORDS VOL.1
Key Chords Vol.1
ONLY $24.95
Buy Now

'Chords for Carl'
- Piano Solo -

video course

Chords for Carl
ONLY $14.95
Buy Now

‘Mariaan’
- Piano Solo -

Mariaan
ONLY $14.95
Buy Now
Learn more

All the Musicarta
YouTube playlists
Pyramids
Pentatonics
Canon Project
Key Chords
Modes
Musicarta
Easy Piano
Musicarta
Blues & 12-bar
Beat & Rhythm
Solos
'Mariaan'
Chords for Carl
Songbook
Basic Music-
making Position
Left-hand-over
Style
Suspensions
Enya Solos
Scales
Technical Exercises
Triads and Inversions