How to learn a piece hands together, step by step, with Lightly Row

After this lesson you can play Lightly Row with both hands, and Ode to Joy with a left-hand part.

The first time you put a whole piece together with both hands, it can feel as if there is too much to think about: two staves, two hands, long notes in one and moving notes in the other. The answer is not to try harder but to build the piece in layers. This lesson walks through that process with Lightly Row, a traditional German children's song (known there as "Hänschen klein"), and then applies it to Ode to Joy with a left-hand part.

What the piece asks for

Lightly Row combines three skills you have learned separately:

Two hands at once. The right hand plays the tune; the left hand plays long notes underneath.
Counting long notes. The left hand holds whole notes and half notes, which must last their full length while the right hand moves.
Reading both staves. The right hand reads treble; the left hand reads bass.

Both hands stay in C position the whole time: right thumb on middle C, left little finger on the C an octave below.

The right hand

The tune moves mostly by steps, with a few skips. It is eight bars long and the second half is almost the same as the first.

Lightly Row, right hand, bars 1 to 4: skips down from G, then a climb from middle C back up to G

Bars 5 to 8 begin exactly like bars 1 and 2, then finish differently: C E G G, and a final middle C held for a whole bar.

The left hand

The left-hand part is simple but needs careful counting. It uses only three notes: C (finger 5), E (finger 3) and G (thumb).

Lightly Row, left hand, bars 1 to 4: whole notes, except bar 3, which has two half notes

In bars 5 to 8 it plays C, G, then C and G as half notes, and a final C held for the whole last bar.

Building it in layers

Right hand alone, until you can play it smoothly at a slow, steady speed.
Left hand alone, counting "1 2 3 4" aloud for every whole note. It feels too easy, but it trains you to hold the notes their full length.
The busy bars on their own. Bars 3 and 4 are the hardest: the right hand climbs C D E F G while the left hand changes from C and E to G. Bars 7 and 8 are the other tricky spot, where both hands land on C together at the very end. Practise each pair of bars by itself, hands together, several times.
Hands together slowly, bars 1 to 4, then bars 5 to 8.
The whole piece, still slowly, without stopping.
Up to speed, only once everything above is secure.

The key idea is that you only add one new challenge at a time. If something falls apart, go back one layer.

Hand positions for Lightly Row: the left hand uses C, E and G; the right hand covers middle C to G

Ode to Joy with a left hand

Once Lightly Row is comfortable, try the same method on Ode to Joy. You already know the melody in the right hand. The left-hand part uses only C and G, in whole notes and half notes: C for a whole bar, then C and G as half notes, then C, then G, and so on through the eight bars.

The trickiest moment is in bar 4, where the right hand plays E, D and a held D while the left hand moves to G. Practise that bar alone first. Listen to the melody on the Ode to Joy song page if you want to hear how it should go.

Adding dynamics

Once both pieces feel secure, you can bring in what you learned in the last lesson. Try playing the first half of Lightly Row f and the second half p, or the other way round. The notes won't change, but the music will start to sound shaped and intentional.

How to practise

Spend one practice session on each hand alone before you put them together.
Use a metronome set slow, around 60, for the first hands-together attempts.
Practise the hardest bars first in each session, while you are fresh.
Record yourself playing the whole of Lightly Row. Listen back for two things: is the left hand steady, and does the tune stand out clearly above it?
Each day, try the piece once at a slightly faster speed, then return to a comfortable speed to finish.

Common mistakes

Letting the left hand overpower the tune. The left hand supports; the right hand sings. Play the left hand a little softer.
Lifting the left hand early. Count the whole notes all the way to four.
Speeding up too soon. Raise the speed only when the slow version is reliable.
Ignoring mistakes in the same place. If a bar keeps going wrong, take it out and practise it alone.

The guide on how to practise piano describes this layered method in more detail.

Try it in Pianuvo

This lesson rounds off Unit 3: Hands together, eighth notes, p and f. It follows exactly this path: left hand alone, the busy bars one pair at a time, each half with both hands and then the whole of Lightly Row, followed by the opening of Ode to Joy with its left-hand part. You can record yourself as well. Play on the screen, on a MIDI keyboard or on a real piano with the microphone, and the Academy scores each layer as you go.