Lady, Lady: Hands Together (Unit 5)

Hello and welcome back. I'm Joseph Hoffman. Today I have a tricky challenge for you. And that is figuring out how to play "Lady, Lady" hands together. Let's come to the piano to get started. Okay. Let's put both hands in the E-flat major pentascale to try this. When I learn a song hands together, I like to very briefly review the hands separately once. So let's play just the right hand alone once for the first four measures. We're going to start with finger 5, and let's count the beat together. Just right hand, ready go. 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3 Good! Now let's try the left hand all by itself, but keep your right hand in position because we're going to be adding it in just a second. Just left hand ready go: 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3 and stop there, good. Now so we kind of get used to how it sounds, let's try this: I'd like you to play the left hand while I play the right hand. and we'll both count the beat out loud. So your job is left hand, my job is right hand. Let's see what it's going to sound like together. Count the beat with me. I'll count 1 2 3, and then we'll both start. Ready, 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3 Great, now let's try changing jobs. Now I'd like you to play the right hand while I play the left hand. Can you count the beat with me? Remember the left hand is going 1 2 3 and playing a note on every beat but the right hand is holding 1 2 3 1 2 3 so don't go the same tempo or rhythm as me. You're the right hand, I'm the left hand. Count the beat, ready 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3 Stop Good now, let's take a look at how these two hands fit together. If you look carefully at the music you'll see on beat 1 they play together, then on beats 2 and 3 the left hand continues to play while the right hand holds. Together it will sound like this: 1 2 3 now press pause and try those four measures five times by yourself. Once you've mastered it, press play to go on. Alright now let's take a look at measures five and six. Once again let's first review the hands alone. The left hand here moves to the V7 chord, so let's shift your finger 5 down to D and play the V7 chord twice, go. 1 2 3 1 2 3 stop Good, and the right hand does 1 2 3 1 2 3 Can you try that by yourself? Go. And the words there are 'buy a broom for my'. Good. Now let's look very closely at the music. One the word 'buy' ♫bye♫ it's a half note in the right hand while the left hand plays two quarter notes. So 'buy', the left hand plays two notes and then 'a' they both play together. Now if you put all that together it sounds like this: I'd like you to press pause and just practice that one measure. Remember you're going to play together, left, together. Press pause to play that five times, then press play to go on. Good now the next measure is 'broom for my'. Now the right hand plays three B-flats in a row while the left hand plays TI FA SO Together it sounds like this: Now press pause and practice just that measure. Play it five times and then press play to go on. Now let's listen to what that would sound like together. If we put measures five and six together we get: ♫buy a broom for my♫ Now one more time, press pause and try putting those two measures together five times and then press play to go on. Good, now we're finally to the last two measures of the A section. The left hand is back to a DO MI SO I chord, so let's play that two times. Try it with me, ready go: And the right hand is doing MI DO Can you try that with me and count the beat? Ready, go: 1 2 3 1 2 3 Good, and together it will sound like this: 1 2 3 1 2 3 Now press pause and try that a couple times by yourself. If you're wondering why I'm having you pause so much is this is pretty tricky and I want to make sure you're having enough practice to really master it. Press play when you're ready to put the entire A section together. So here's what it will sound like to put the whole A section hands together. And then it repeats. For most students the hardest part to get hands together by far is measures five and six. ♫buy a broom for my♫ So here's a little practice secret that all great pianists use: Don't waste your time practicing the easy parts. Skip straight to the hard part and practice it over and over and over until it becomes the easy part. You can transform something hard into something easy simply by doing it enough times correctly. So, my recommendation is to start off your practice playing only measures five and six ten times, hands together, slowly and carefully with no missed notes. Do that everyday, playing it ten times, and as you get better and better at it you'll be able to gradually speed it up. And in a few days it will actually start to feel easy. Once you feel confident with the hard part, try playing the entire line hands together. If you're getting stuck, go back to right and left hand alone a couple of times. Then just keep trying. It might also help to watch this lesson again. Don't give up, and just try again and again every day until you get it. Once you have line one feeling confident, you'll be ready for line two in our next lesson. Happy practicing and can't wait to see you next time! Hey let's think of our own lyrics for "Lady, Lady"! Okay how about ♫Froggy, froggy, sad all day on a lo ...