Weeks 9-10: two-hand coordination ยท coordination

Blocked-chord accompaniment

Hold simple left-hand chords under a right-hand melody.

Why this matters

Blocked chords are the most common piano accompaniment. Once you can hold a chord under a melody and change cleanly when the harmony shifts, you can play hundreds of folk tunes, hymns, and pop songs at a basic level.

What you should be able to do

Play 4 short pieces with left-hand chord changes landing on the correct beat.

Estimated focus time: 2h

How to practice this on your piano today

  1. 1. Right hand plays a melody phrase. Left hand holds a 3-note chord (e.g., C major: C-E-G) under it.
  2. 2. When the harmony changes (e.g., to F), shift the left-hand chord (F-A-C).
  3. 3. Hold each chord for the full duration of its harmonic span.
  4. 4. Try with a 4-chord progression: C-Am-F-G, each held for 2 bars.
  5. 5. Aim for clean chord changes that land on beat 1 of each bar.

Interactive coming soon

Two-hand input + chord detection needs Web MIDI.