A student once asked me; "Can I determine what my favorite piano player is actually doing on the keyboard just by listening?" An excellent question and one that can be answered in the affirmative. Here's how to do it.

First, figure out what the left-hand is doing. This is the key to understanding what is being done by any piano player, no matter what the style. Let's take New Age pianist David Lanz as an example. Lanz's style usually revolves around a left hand that plays an ostinato pattern while the right hand improvises. Very few pianists base their compositions on the right-hand.

It has to do with the way the piano is structured. You have the bass notes and midrange section of the keyboard allotted to the left-hand. And this accounts for the "arrangement" of most piano pieces. In fact, once you figure out what the left-hand is doing, you've got it down for most pieces!

The left-hand will usually be playing an arpeggio, broken or solid chords, or bass-chord arrangement. The right of course will be playing melody and/or harmonizing the melody with chords.

For example, if we listen to the piece "Thanksgiving" by George Winston, we notice right away a harmonic background being played. Now for the novice listener, all they may hear is notes and not know what is being done. But nine times out of ten, the accompaniment of a piano piece is taken by the left hand and that is exactly what is happening in this piece. Then the right hand comes in to play a melody and this turns out to be the arrangement for the entire piece.

Of course, there are many exceptions to the left hand rule as when the right hits notes and chords while the left plays bass, but if you listen for what the left hand is doing, you can figure out how most solo piano pieces are constructed.