Hands Crossed

If you are at the level where you are playing advanced or moderately advanced classical pieces, you may have encountered passages where one hand crosses over the other. A notable example is the third movement of Beethoven's Sonata Opus 53 ("Waldstein"), where the left hand crosses over the right to play the main melody. It continues this way for quite a few measures, and returns again every time the main theme returns. The right hand is busy with an arpeggiated chord pattern, so it's more practical for the left hand to cross, than it would be to keep switching which hand plays the chord pattern. It sounds much more smooth as well. 

Perhaps the very first time you try this you find it slightly awkward, but soon you will be used to it and will have no problem, assuming the piece is at the right level for your general abilities. The first time I suggest it to my students they think I am kidding --- or crazy. But then they find it is a fun challenge.

Although Beethoven and the other composers probably would not have known this, crossing the midline of your body with your arms has benefits for the brain. You probably know that the left hemisphere of the brain controls the right side of the body, and vice versa. This is an over-simplification (the brain is far more complex than that), but in general it is true. So when the right half of the brain is sending signals to the left hand at the piano, but the left hand is not where it usually is, but in fact is now on the opposite side, the brain has to develop additional pathways to accomplish the task. If you do an internet search on benefits to the brain of crossing hands, you will find numerous scientific articles which confirm this. It's not just a theory but is borne out by many tests and studies. And who doesn't want a bigger, better brain? It benefits every area of your life, and certainly is important for aging well.

The Waldorf School, a private school for children, has all its students learn a string instrument, such as violin or cello. Of course they want the children to experience the joys and benefits of playing music, but they specifically select string instruments because moving the bow over the strings involves crossing the midline of the body, which has the benefits mentioned above. Unfortunately, brass and wind players do not get this opportunity. Nor do singers.

It is now recommended that parents do games and exercises with their babies and young children that involve crossing the midline with their arms (or legs) to advance brain development.

If you find that you rarely, if ever, have a piece which involves crossing the hands, you can still get all the benefits by simply playing with hands crossed on your own. Select a passage from a piece you are working on that is not too technically difficult, and just cross hands, meaning you will play the left hand's part with the right hand, and vice versa. (You would not be playing each hand's own part but just in a higher or lower register. They each have to play the part they are not familiar with.) Of course you can read the music, and of course you can go slowly. Each hand has no muscle memory for the part it is playing, so it feels like learning it from scratch. However, your ear knows the sound of the music, so it will be assisting you. Don't worry about mistakes; you'll have lots of them. Just continue on.

After you have done this, go immediately to playing it in the normal way, and see if it doesn't feel easier. Don't wait for a later time; do it when the new neural pathways are "fresh." 

To take things one step further, use the hands-crossed method on a passage you are having trouble with. If you have tried other forms of creative problem solving (that is, not just playing it over and over) and it still hasn't improved as much as you hoped, play it hands crossed, and then immediately afterwards play it normally.

I can't promise that every technique I talk about in the blog will work for absolutely everyone, 100% of the time. But I do know that they work. Hands crossed is another tool to have in your toolbox.