Many beginner piano players learn hand over hand arpeggios. But, how many sound amazing while playing them? If you have paused to set up your hands or wondered why your hand over hand arpeggios sound disjointed, I have two tips for you!
What Are Hand Over Hand Arpeggios?
Arpeggios are broken chords that are played over multiple octaves. Hand over hand arpeggios use both hands to achieve a similar result.
- Impressive movement up and/or down the keyboard
- Create different moods (i.e. cinematic, twinkly, foreboding, etc.)
- Give early piano players a way to play something that “sounds harder than it is”
The challenge you may have noticed is it’s not always easy to create flowing music. Especially if it feels like your fingers or hand just won’t cooperate.
I’ll be sharing the tips below, but highly recommend you check out the video below or here to see these tips in action.
Step 1: Keyboard Geography
“But keyboard geography is a first piano lesson thing, right?” Wrong! A deep knowledge and understanding of keyboard geography is something every piano player needs. And, while we need this for hand over hand arpeggios, the truth is we need this for everything we play.
Imagine your brain has a certain amount of focus and energy. This ebbs and flows over the day, week, month, etc. The more focus and energy you put into finding notes on the piano, the less there is for strategies that bring out the artistry and musicality of what you play.
A fantastic strategy we use in my studio is to move between chords without looking. The goal is to have an internal memory of what different types of chords feel like under the fingers. We don’t always equate this with hand over hand arpeggios (I would typically recommend looking at this level), but having that tactile ‘library’ will make it faster to find the broken chords of a hand over hand arpeggio.
To see what this looks like, check out the video above or click here.
Step 2: Look Ahead
What a lot of beginners don’t realize is more advanced piano players look ahead and anticipate what is coming next.
We mentally place the note before we play it.
We move our hand into position before we play it.
For hand over hand arpeggios, this becomes especially important! You have to move your hand the moment your opposite hand starts to play. This strategy ensures you have a seamless transition between hands … so long as you know your keyboard geography.
To see what this looks like, check out the video above or click here.
Hand Over Hand Arpeggios
One last bonus tip! Listen to the music often. It’s amazing how it can maximize your progress at the piano without any extra effort. Something like “The Harvest Moon” has gorgeous hand-over-hand arpeggios (and some of them were covered in the video.
Did these two tips help you play your hand over hand arpeggios more smoothly?
Let me know below.
Imagine learning how to play piano through fun activities, improvising (creating music in the moment) plus writing your own music!
As a parent, imagine your child’s smile as they have fun learning piano and creating music … plus, family and friends as they hear the music your child has created.
As a teen or adult student, imagine jamming with musician friends .. or wowing them with the latest song you wrote.
If you want to dive deeper and experience a creative and engaging piano learning journey, join us for our upcoming intro sessions. Spots are filling up fast, so don’t miss out! Click the link below to sign up or click here for upcoming dates and information.
