Left Hand Voicing Technique Part 2

In part two of this piano lesson I talk in further depth about how to play rootless left hand voicings in a jazz style. More specifically how to play a long series of short staccato chords in the left hand. The key take aways are:

• Alway try to sense a feeling of playing down. There should be no pulling up of the arm or hand no matter how staccato you play the chord.
• Use the playing of the first chord to throw you into position for the next chord. This should happen immediately even if you aren't going to play the next chord right away.

Left Hand Voicing Technique

This video focuses on some technique aspects of playing left hand rootless voicings smoothly and comfortably. The 3 key take aways for playing left hand voicings:

• Don't curl your middle fingers. They can play very far inside the black key area.
• Measure the ideal key spot by determining if your thumb needs to play on a black key. Generally speaking a lot of left hand voicings can be played inside the black key area.
• Make sure the arm motion feels like a down. There should be no feeling of pulling up.

Sitting at the correct height

One of the first thing I go over with all my students is how to determine the right height of the bench. If the bench is not at the right height in hinders all aspects of your piano playing. If the seat is too low it may the weight of the arm to fall back and not be balanced over the key. If the seat is too high its hard to release the full weight of the arm over each key. 

So what is the right height? When you are seated on the bench your elbow should be level with the top of the keys. The way that I coach my self and my students is as follows:

• Sit at the keyboard and place your hands on the keys. 
• Take a book and place it under your elbow
• Make sure the book or ruler is flush with the top of the keys
• Check that your Elbow is also parallel with the tops of the keys

Correct Height

You'll notice that my wrist is aligned with my forearm and hand. My elbow is level with the keys and I am sitting upright.