One mistake that many new students of piano make is to practice new pieces on the piano using both hands at the same time. It is a great misconception that you can enhance your coordination by learning music and practicing using both hands at the same time. In fact, for beginners, practicing new songs with both hands can lead to much more frustration and fatigue of the hands. Entertaining the same amount of time separately on both hands can lead to much higher levels of developmental proficiency.
When learning new songs or difficult passages begin with the right hand playing a bar or two of the melody line and before it tires, quickly switch to the left hand playing the more rhythmic pattern of the same bar set. Do this switch once every 15 seconds or so. Soon you will find that you are not as bored by the repetition and that your hands are actually eager to continue practicing!
At first this seems counterintuitive, even absurd, but for the early pianist it makes a world of sense. Just reading the music takes a certain amount of energy, and this method allows you to pace yourself vertically as well as horizontally.
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