Lefties, rejoice, for the left hand is arguably more important than the right hand when playing songs on the piano. As the right hand plays the carefree melody, the left hand is left to the gargantuan task of playing the rhythm, harmony, and bassline, all by itself.

The Left-Hand Role in piano

The left-hand part of a piano song or piece is called the accompaniment, and it is the part that plays behind the melody of a song to make it sound good. When playing solo piano, think of the left hand as the band, while the right hand is the singer.

The right hand plays the melody – you know, the part of a song that everyone hums when they think of it – while the left hand plays the part of all the rest of the band – the drums playing rhythm, the bass playing a bassline, and the guitar playing some chords for harmony, all at the same time. For a review of these musical terms and the roles different instruments play in a band, check out this blog!

It sounds difficult, but it’s easier than that. The notes for the left hand are the same as the notes for the right hand, so there’s nothing new to learn once you’ve learned the names of all the notes. Here’s a quick review of the piano keyboard.

There are varying degrees of accompaniment level – from simple beginner to extremely complicated advanced – but at the heart of it are chords! The left hand just plays chords, but in slightly different patterns in different songs.

Left-Hand Patterns in Piano:

Beginner Level

One of the things every beginner piano student struggles with is the ability to play left and right-handed on the piano at the same time. Don’t worry, you’re not alone! It is quite difficult to separate your two hands and be able to play different, but complimentary, patterns at the same time. That’s why you should start with the simplest accompaniment and add complexity as you improve.

At the beginning, just to get used to the idea of playing with both hands at the same time, the left hand should play just the root notes of the chords. When you look at a lead sheet – which is a piece of written music with the lyrics of a song written out with the chords on top – together with knowing what the song sounds like, you can start to play the song. Here is the beginning of the song “Let It Be,” by the Beatles (full lead sheet here).

[Verse 1]

C G Am F

When I find myself in times of trouble, Mother Mary comes to me

C G F C

Speaking words of wisdom, let it be

As you can see, you have the lyrics written out with chords at their approximate locations in the song. An effective beginner left-hand playing method here is to play just the root note of each chord, meaning the actual note that the chord is named after. Meaning when the chord says C, you play a C note, when the chord says G, you play a G note, etc. The most important thing is to play the notes at the right time, as otherwise it won’t feel like the song is moving at the right speed.

You can add a little variety by playing an octave – when two notes of the same name are played – by stretching your pinky and thumb on your left hand to play two of the same note. So when your thumb plays C, your pinky would stretch and play the C below it (pictured); when the thumb plays G, your pinky would play the G below it, etc. This is an effective way of adding a little variety and energy to your accompaniment and creating a fuller sound.

Intermediate Level

The next step is to not just play the root note of the chord, but to play the chord as well. To brush up on what chords look like, here is blog on major and minor chords.

4/4 Time

One way to do this, which is effective for songs written in 4/4 time (check out this review on rhythms), is to play the root note of the chord in the lower register of the piano, and then the chord itself in the middle register of the piano. So, following again the lead sheet of “Let It Be,” you would play the root note on the first beat, and then the chord on the third beat. So for C, you would play a low C note, and then move your left hand up to the middle register to play a C major chord. Then do the same thing with the G chord, and then Am, etc. Here is the sheet music:

This is more advanced as you are playing more notes with the left hand than before, but it is an effective way of raising the energy of the song you are playing, as well as making it sound more complete. In fact, there are many songs and classical pieces that use this left-hand accompaniment pattern. For example, Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s Polka Op 39 No 10 uses this accompaniment to add a nice bouncing feel to the song.

3/4 Time

If a song or piece is written in 3/4 time, an effective accompaniment is to extend the previous technique and play a bass note on the first quarter note, then the chord twice on the second and third quarter notes.

A piece that uses this accompaniment effectively is the A minor waltz by Frederic Chopin.

In fact, all waltzes are written in 3/4 time, as the waltz is a dance with three steps, so it must be written in a specific time signature. Because of this, this accompaniment pattern is frequently found throughout waltzes by various composers.

6/8 Time

A common and beautiful left-hand accompaniment for music written in 6/8 time is arpeggiating the chord – meaning to play the notes of the chord sequentially instead of all at once. This is a very common guitar accompaniment to love songs and ballads and is very effectively transferred to piano by playing it almost identically. For example, the song “Perfect,” be Ed Sheeran, can be played with this left hand:

Advanced Level

Advanced left-hand piano patterns are just more complicated versions of the intermediate patterns discussed in the previous section. For example, in 4/4 time you could double the frequency at which the notes are played – playing bass-chord-bass-chord each measure instead of just bass-chord.

In 3/4 time, you could add a chord in between the two chords, playing the bass on the 1, and chords on the 2, and the 2, and the 3.

In 6/8 time, you can add a chord or on octave at the beginning or in the middle.

Really, it’s up to you, as these are just suggestions, and there’s a myriad of ways to add complexity.

Left-Hand Piano Playing, Summed up:

The most effective advanced left-hand patterns are those which most properly support the melody or right-hand. The left-hand part is called the accompaniment for a reason – it is the support system for the right hand, and a good support system helps to make the main part shine.

Great accompaniments do two things – they don’t outshine the melody by being so complex that the attention of the listener is drawn to it instead of the melody, and the player is able to play them automatically enough that the player is free to focus on the melody.

At Boston Piano Lessons, your teacher is going to recommend that regardless of your level of familiarity with the piano, you should always practice your left-hand piano patterns at every private piano lesson. You can always add complexity to your accompaniment, but if you can’t accurately and automatically reproduce them without too much thinking, you will make mistakes, and detract from your ability to focus on your right hand and create melodies. It is much more effective to play a simple but consistent accompaniment and let your right hand do the work of creating (or reproducing, if you are playing a cover) a beautiful, exciting melody that draws the listener in.

Lefty - Tighty, Righty - Whatever