Pretty good pianist I am, but I lack polish. Great pianists, please help!

[Alansan]

I can play semi-advanced pieces like Rondo Alla Turca, but I don't really play enough to make myself good. I notice a real problem I have is that my left hand is very retarded, and is not in sync sometimes with my right hand. Do you know of any drills to help me become better? Also, I notice that my sight reading should be better. I usually play by ear, looking at notes only for complicated chords and what not. Finally, I notice that with ornaments (trills, and other stuff like that) I seem to slip up alot. Anyone out there that can help me? Thanks.

 

[Alansan]

help anyone?

 

[luv2chill]

I'm not a great pianist by any means, but I'll go ahead and state the obvious...

1. Scales
2. Chords
3. PRACTICE!!!

I mean you state yourself that you "don't really play enough to make myself good." Unless you're a born genious like Beethoven, to get good you're going to have to practice. Try playing each hand separately (you say you're having problems with the bass clef hand).

I don't know what to say about your using your ear. I tend to do the same thing... those of us who can usually resort to that shortcut subconsciously. It's not a big deal to me... as long as I can make the piece sound good.

l2c

 

[frizzlefry]

Scales is a good thing to go with. Also arpeggios (sp?). In order to "sync" them, you need to work on them hitting the notes at the same time first. And like theone above me, practice! I used to play about 3 hours a day when I started everyday.

-edit-
Sighreading is something that you have to work on. Part of it is to be able too know where your hands are without looking at them. It takes alot of practice to sightread well. Sure you can try playing be ear, but if you don't know the piece....