I'm a beginner keyboard player and I'm having a hard time hitting the correct keys on the left hand while trying to play chords with the left hand and melody with the right.
Do you have any tips that can help me train better? Do you learn how to hit the correct keys by training your fingers to make the shape it should to hit the chord or is there something more i could try?
Practice manipulating chords.
Start with a C major triad. Play up and down the scale with the same shape - playing white notes only.
As you do this, you will notice the types of chords you play: (C) major, (D) minor, minor, major, major, minor, diminished (sharpen the F to make it a Bm), (C octave) major.
On each degree of the scale, practice changing the chords from a major to a minor (flattening or sharpening the 3rd - the middle note in the triad) and vice versa.
Just practice loads of this, playing loads of different chord types on all the different degrees of the scale. Once you've nailed the different chords with just the white notes as the tonics (the bottom note in the triad) then move on and do the same with a chromatic scale.
Keep practicing the different types of chords on every note. Once you've done this you can try swapping the order of notes around within the triad or playing the same 3 notes more than once - these are inversions and in my experience get you so much more used to playing around on many different chords.
An example of playing around with the order: beginning with C triad (C E G). Perhaps play, G C E or C G C E - you get the idea.
If you are a beginner, the problem may not be "how to hit the correct keys". A more fundamental problem is "how to use your two hands independently" - which is not a skill that has a lot of use in real life, but it's essential for playing a keyboard.
I would suggest you back off from "playing chords and a melody" and get a piano tutor that starts you off playing single notes in each hand, with independent musical lines for each hand. It may seem boring to practice that type of exercise if you want to play "real music", but it will pay off in the long run.
Do you know about inversions? This is when you have the same notes but play them in a different voicing with a different root note. For example of you are playing C Major and moving to F Major and play all in root position, closed voicing (C-E-G to F-A-C) you have to more the entire left hand.
If you change the voice there will (most likely) be a common chord tone that you keep your finger on, and you may only need to move a few fingers.
For example play the same closed, root position C mentioned above then move to an F with C in the bass (2nd inversion). C-E-G to C-F-A. This allows that C note to stay the same, and you can just move the E up to F and G up to A, which are right next to the notes you were playing. You are still playing the same chords but just different voices that may be easier to move back and forth to and from.
There are a bunch of combinations that you can do, a good teacher may help you with this.
Another thing that may work is not playing full chords. This will vary depending on if you are playing solo or with a bass player.
