I have been learning the piano for about one and a half years. But I cant seem to get playing with two hands. Anyone have some suggestions. If it matters Ive been playing a trumpet for about 3 years.

No, I am not.

I can read the music for treble and base clef its just that I cant physically. i can do my right by itself and my left hand by itself but i ttry to do it together and i get lost.

What I used to do is take it in a handful of measures at a time. Try one measure very slowly and gradually speed up the process.
I'm assuming you rely too much on looking at your hands rather than the music itself, which is common for beginners. What I did when teaching myself is I found which hand that particular measure is easiest for and concentrated on my other hand. Get that hand used to the actual movement from one key / chord to another. Once your hand and arm are used to the actual movement, rely on that memory and integrate the other hand while looking at it paying particular attention to when keys play together.
Slowly at first if you need to, then speed it up as you get more accustomed to it. Start memorizing where chords and keys are on the piano and what they look like on the scores. That way, once again, you can immediately recall from memory where those fingers should be for that particular chord and go right to it.

I know it seems like a lot, but those are some fundamentals of piano playing.

I taught myself piano for two years and still could not play with both hands. And the easiest way is to start slowly, gradually gaining indepedence in each hand. The first piece I played was the 1812 Overture on 8notes (not from msr. 349 to end, the other one). After a year of piano lessons, I have gone from pre-school level to early intermediate. The technique books by Czerny and Hanon are great for skill-building and finger strength if you are interested. Don't get frustrated or envious, it will only make learning more difficult (this has happened to me way too many times). I hope that you may find this information useful.

The hanon is good for tecnique and speed.
but for you if you want to be able to play with both hand, which is what you should be able to do to be said that you play the piano, you can use Beyer, its a very simple and progressive book, but, a teacher has to help you, otherwhise is going to be difficult by yourself.

Work on the left hand till the music patterns get ingrained in your muscle memory. Then, practise the right hand melody seperately. Practise till you don't have to think about the notes anymore - then, try with both hands, together. Works for me.

Practice your left hand as well as your right hand, this will make your left feel comfortable to do riffs then eventually, things wll fall into place.

Well I taught myself, and after a couple of months could play songs with both hands - but it took A LOT of practise. I was practising at every possible moment....sometimes for two or three hours straight.

My advice is probably the same as everyone else's; which I guess shows that it's your best bet to try it this way!!

You can either learn each individual part for each hand separately, and then when you know these parts SO well (almost without needing to look at your hands when you play), then you can start to put both hands together. Don't rush it! Take your time....even if you are playing REALLY slow, it doesn't matter, because as you get used to it, you'll get so much quicker. Don't try to do the whole piece at any one time. Master the first one or two bars/measures before moving on.

Or, you can choose to not learn each hand separately, and simply work through the piece slowly putting both hands together...again concerntrating on a bar/measure at a time.

Either choice works for me, but people find different things easist. The main advice is to practise a lot. Practise makes perfect, and eventually you'll get there. I've been playing for about 9 months, and am soon to take my grade 1, and through the above methods, I have managed to teach myself to play some of Debussy's Arabesque No.1 - a grade 7/8 piece - so anything is possible!!!

Whatever you do, don't give up - it'll be well worth it in the end, and I can promise you, it gets easier!!

Good luck,

Love Laura
XxXxX

Thanks for all the help and advice.

I,m 12 and just about to do my grade 2 piano. I reccomend the John Thompson books there really good. At first I found it hard to play with both hands. The way I learnt was by Practising my hands sepritly(Left hand for 5mins & Right Hand for 5mins)Then Put them together.

this probably doesnt help, but practice doing seperate hands then once you get that down pat slowly put both hands together. its like patting your head and rubbing your belly at the same time. have fun!
pianoplayer_02

Definitely the Hanon books. They're really, really cool. Kind of annoying and a pain to have to practice every day, but really good for you.
Other than that, just keep practicing with separate hands, then gradually try to stick them together. Go really slow. It's the only way.