The piano is an amazing instrument. So many notes, so many keys!
That's why the crossover or arpeggio technique is employed
frequently. It allows the pianist to use much of the keyboard and
the left hand.
The trick to using this technique is in the crossover itself.
Usually, the left hands initial position will span an octave and
then the index or ring finger will be used to crossover the thumb to
continue playing more notes of the chord.
A great example of this technique is the lesson
you see me playing above, "Wisteria."
Here we use a few chords and the crossover technique to
create a light ambiance. We keep playing these chords in the left
hand while the right is free to improvise a melody and we have
created a beautiful piece of music.
You too can create your own harmonic backgrounds. Once you learn
how to do the crossover technique, you'll find it to be something
you'll use over and over again. Why? Because of its
capacity to use much of the keyboard and the beautiful sound you can
get from it.
There are many variations to the crossover technique as well. In
fact, you can actually use it to cover more than 4 octaves of the
keyboard! You just keep crossing over with the left hand to cover as
many notes as you wish.
