I`ve been playing the piano for about 8 years now. I taught myself to play, and I am quite good at it, but there are a couple of problems which won`t go away.
1. My left hand is always slightly out of time with my right.
2. My left hand is not as technically proficient as my right.
3. Some leaps don`t come smoothly
4. I run out of fingers in passages in 3rds and chromatic runs.
Does anyone know of any exercises that will help with these problems?

Hi, for help on your runs I recommend playing Hanon.

I`ve been playing the piano for about 8 years now. I taught myself to play, and I am quite good at it, but there are a couple of problems which won`t go away.
1. My left hand is always slightly out of time with my right.
2. My left hand is not as technically proficient as my right.
3. Some leaps don`t come smoothly
4. I run out of fingers in passages in 3rds and chromatic runs.
Does anyone know of any exercises that will help with these problems?

About your left hand:
When your left hand tenses up at the muscles near your wrist, your left hand can slow down and not work properly. Always remember to relax your wrist. A good way to practice is through etudes (like Hanon) and scales. Play slowly and then increase your speed. I really think scales help the most. Use the muscles from your fingers. Think of each finger as an individual finger. Don`t use one finger`s inertia to trigger another finger when playing fast pieces for the left hand. Most importantly, practice with your scales.

About leaps: This is something that takes practice. I recommend you playing arpeggios, so you can`t get a better feel of the piano keys. The only way is to PRACTICE LIKE CRAZY!! Leaps is something really needs practice.

Chromatic runs:
Which fingers to use:
single white key: 1st finger
single black key: 3rd finger
double white keys (ie B,C and E,F): 1st and 2nd fingers.

3rds:
*indicates a change
fingers: 1,3,2,4,3,5,*,1,3,2,4,3,5,* (and so on)

this basic 3rd fingering is for C major. (the other scales you can find out yourself pretty easily once you know this basic fingering)Of course, hanon helps a lot too

Extra note:
Please get a teacher. It`s really hard to learn the piano without a teacher.

quote: so you can`t get a better feel with the piano keys.

correction: so you CAN get a better feel with the piano keys.

I recommend Wieck Piano Studies. It`s really good at exercising finger dexterity, precision, control, and your "feel" for the piano. I would recommend it over Hanon.

One more thing: I agree with Mark that you should REALLY get a teacher.

Hi,
If Hanon seems a little too hard there is also a Junior Hanon.
Good Luck!

mark`s fingering for thirds is not really correct (only a small difference though)..
the most common/accepted fingering is:
1-3, 2-4, 3-5, 1-2, 1-3, 2-4, 3-5, (1-3, 2-4, 3-5, 1-2, 1-3, 2-4, 3-5, etc.)
that way, when ur playing a scale, the pattern repeats when you are back on the tonic.
note: for LH fingerings, its basically the RH backwards: 5-3, 4-2, 3-1, 2-1, 5-3, etc........

i can`t offer any help, but i do want to give you total props for taching yourself how to play.

Try playing Czerny etudes... They`ve improved my piano playing skills a great deal, and they`re quite enjoyable to play.