Left Hand Variations
When you play with other musicians, it is important that your parts fit well with what they are playing. This requires the ability to listen to the other players while you are playing. In any song based on an eighth note rhythm, you will need to be able to play eighth notes with either the right hand or the left hand. The left hand parts in this lesson contain a combination of eighth notes, quarter notes and half notes. In the following example, the root note of each chord is played at the same as the bass drum and the bass guitar and the chord played by the right hand is played at the same time as the snare drum.
This time the right hand plays on every beat. This particular combination is a common style of piano playing in Country Rock.
In this example the right hand plays eighth notes while the left hand doubles the part played by the bass. It is always a good idea to work out your left hand part with the bass player so that your parts lock together instead of clashing.
This one contains a more complex left hand part which you may need to practice separately at first.
