Hand Crossing

1. Move the RH below the LH

Purpose: let one hand pass into the other’s register without interrupting a sustained voice. Hand assignment and register are different things: the upper staff below is always RH, even when its notes sound below the LH.

In this study the LH holds middle C while the RH alternates between E4 and a lower note. Practice the RH route alone first. The rests provide time to cross and return.

Prepare the crossing space

Place the LH on middle C without gripping. Move the RH to its lower destination silently and find a comfortable path around the stationary hand. Choose enough clearance for the moving hand without lifting the shoulder or making a large theatrical arc.

1. Hold the LH whole note for four beats.
2. Play the RH E on beat 1, release on beat 2, and arrive at the lower note on beat 3.
3. Release on beat 4 and prepare the return to E in the following bar.
4. Listen for an unbroken LH duration and quiet, deliberate RH arrivals.

Which hand passes above the other can depend on register, anatomy, and the next movement. Test the route slowly before committing to a fingering. Avoid a path that traps a finger beneath the other hand.

Checkpoint: the LH sound remains uninterrupted and the RH stays on the pulse. If the hands collide, simplify the crossing distance and rearrange the path before repeating.

2. Move the LH above the RH

Now the RH holds E4 while the LH moves from middle C to G4 or A4. Both staves use treble clef because both parts lie in that register. The hand labels remain unchanged.

Give the moving hand a destination

First locate the upper G and A with the LH alone. Reintroduce the RH held note, then rehearse the travel without sounding the LH. Once the path is clear, restore the rhythm and dynamic.

The held hand also has a job: sustain without clamping and leave the moving hand enough room. A crossing is a coordination problem between two hands, not just a jump performed by one.

Put the phrase ahead of the gesture

Play the moving notes at mf over a quieter held note. Then reverse the balance. This tests whether the crossing itself has become an automatic accent. Keep the dynamic choice intentional from the first slow repetition.

Try joining the two bars without an extra pause. The return from the upper G to middle C requires preparation just as much as the outward crossing. Look at the destination that is less secure; you do not need to watch both hands continuously.

Checkpoint: a listener should hear the chosen balance and steady timing without needing to know that the hands crossed. Move on to the repertoire example only when the elementary route is comfortable.

3. Beethoven: crossing around an accompaniment

In the first movement of Beethoven’s Pathétique Sonata, Op. 13, measures 51–54, the RH first plays below the LH accompaniment, then travels to the upper register. Each staff here retains its assigned hand. The RH bass-to-treble clef change reflects that genuine change of register.

Prepare the two RH regions

Play the RH alone: the low B♭–E♭–F–G♭, then the high B♭–E♭–F. Rehearse the jump from G♭ to B♭ separately before restoring its quarter-note timing. Do not add an unprinted rest for the crossing.

Play the LH alone, sustaining its B♭ whole note while repeating the upper E♭–G♭ dyads. The first-beat rest belongs to the upper voice; the lower B♭ still sounds. Keep that distinction when combining hands.

Start hands together with only the LH sustained note, then restore its dyads. Maintain the RH staccatos in measures 51–52 and the grace-note/slur figures in 53–54. The printed sf belongs to the high G♭ figures; avoid inventing an accent at every crossing.

Source: Mutopia 299, Peter Samuelson and Chris Sawer, after Schirmer (1894) and Berners (1908), public domain. Layout and excerpt boundaries are editorial. Consult a complete edition for the preceding dynamic context and phrase; grace-note execution needs that context rather than a mechanically fixed rhythm.