What is Piano duet?
A '''piano duet''' is a piece of music written for two people to play at one piano. It is often called '''Piano 4 hands'''. To play piano duets the two players sit with one person on the right (playing the high [[note (music)|notes]]) and the other person on the left (playing the low notes). The person on the right is called “Primo” (“First”) and the person on the left is called “Secondo” (“Second”). Piano duet music is usually printed with the Secondo part on the left-hand page and the Primo part on the right-hand page. Occasionally it is printed with the two parts underneath one another. Playing piano duets is great fun and an excellent way to become a better [[musician]]. Like all group music making, each player has to learn to listen and adapt to what is going on in the other part. Sometimes one player will have to take away his or her hand quickly so that the other player can play the same [[note (music)|note]] immediately afterwards. Sometimes the players have to cross their hands (secondo’s right hand crosses with primo’s left hand). A lot of the time the primo’s part may have both hands written in the [[clef (music)|treble clef]] and the secondo’s part may have both hands written in the bass clef. This can sometimes be confusing at first. The [[pedal (music)|pedalling]] is usually done by the secondo player. This is because pedalling is very much about keeping [[chord]]s going (“sustaining”), and it is the secondo who usually has the chords which give the [[harmony]] because these are in the lower part. == Repertoire == There are lots of piano duets available for people to play. Some of these are simple ones written for beginner pianists. Some are written by the great composers. Some pieces that are really supposed to be played by an [[orchestra]] have been [[arrangement (music)|arranged]] for piano duet. In some cases the [[composer]] himself made this arrangement. Examples from famous composers include Stravinsky’s ''Rite of Spring'' which is extremely hard to play, and [[Maurice Ravel|Maurice R