Playing Fast

[akonow]

Okay, so I seem to have a lot of problems when I try to play fast pieces because it is so difficult for me to play both quickly and accurately. I try slow practice but once I start speeding it up it just gets completely muddled up. My teacher wants me to play Chopin's Revolutionary Etude but I don't know if that's possible for me. How can I play quickly while still playing accurately? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[hyrst]

Learn the main scale and arpeggio sections from memory first.  Practice slowly and carefully until you feel secure.  Then, push your speed limit to just beyond what you can deal with.  Then, go  straight back to a comfortable speed and work on clarity, accuracy and other technical aspects that will be evident by trying to play fast.  Repeat the process.  You should find that the comfortable speed gradually increases until one day you realise you are playing much faster than you ever thought you would or could.

I find the keys are memorising, pushing the limit so that technical problems become evident that are not present when playing slow (sometimes very different techniques are needed) and nurturing accuracy.  Give yourself time - it might take weeks or even months, but give yourself a realistic chance and I am sure you'll be surprised and encouraged. 

[gyzzzmo]

I never learned scales, but i can play that etude properly. Maybe scales could help, i dont know, but i didnt need them.
However, maybe you just want too much too fast. Speed comes with time, and since you're not on the level to master this piece yet, you might have to think in terms of months/years(?).
It doesnt matter if you cant play it on full tempo, as long as you play it correctly on a tempo you hardly make any mistakes, your technique increases. And thats your goal wich you should realise

Gyzzzmo

[hyrst]

Also, listen to recordings until you can hear it so clearly it feels like you have the recording on - and decided if you want to play the pieces or if it is just an assignment.  The dedication to the piece will only be there if you want to play it - and it will take some work.

[akonow]

Also, listen to recordings until you can hear it so clearly it feels like you have the recording on - and decided if you want to play the pieces or if it is just an assignment.  The dedication to the piece will only be there if you want to play it - and it will take some work.

Well I don't dislike any pieces by Chopin so I certainly would love to learn the etude. Thanks for your input.

[danny elfboy]

The real problem with speed is that you can't create speed unless your body and mind have grasped the concept itself for a given motion

Have you noticed how when you hit a speed wall you get tense and stiff as you try to give the instruction: "play faster!"?

The reason is not that more speed is causing the tension, the reason is that you don't possess the neurological path to speed and your body provide the only stimulus it is recognizing and understanding: contraction.

You can compare it to saying to a young baby (who doesn't know what "right" mean) to raise his right arm only to see him raising his left instead.

Speed is created by reducing the breadth of the motions while maintaning their efficiency. When your body learns a new motion it first exaggerates it and make it very ample. Reducing the motion amplitude consciously would result in reducing the motion effiency. So there's a gap between the introductiong of a motion to the neuromotor system and it's ability to reduce its amplitude while maintaning its efficiency.

So when you say to your budy "faster" you're actually saying "smaller but efficient" and as long as your neuromotor system doesn't understand what you're saying the output will be the only alternative to ample and effienct: i.e. contraction.

This is actually the reason why any time we "push" a certain thing we're not anatomically neurologically conditioned to do we get tense and stiff, it's not the action in itself that makes us tense, it's the confusion in instruction. We're giving an instruction the body is not ready to decipher and the output is completely different.

The bottom line is that you must never thing "fast!" you must think "small and efficient!". The more you focus on speed, the more your body responds with tension and stifness. You must think small and efficient because speed is nothing but the natural byproduct of efficiency and economy. In fact when you'll reach efficiency and economy speed will be so natural that you'll have a very hard time slowing down. So never think of speed anymore. Focus on whatever you need to make your motion economical, small but efficient and forget speed and the concept of speed.

[slobone]

If speed and accuracy don't arrive at the same time, try separating them. Play accurately but slowly, then try playing at tempo without worrying about accuracy. Once you've mastered the notes at a slow tempo, try playing at a much faster tempo. The first time through, there will be a lot of mistakes. But immediately do it again, and again. The idea is to overcome the panicky feeling of "omigod this is way too fast for me." Each time you may find that you're able to incorporate more of what you accomplished at the slow tempo.

Eventually you'll be able to play the whole piece except for a few trouble spots. Those you need to work on some more back at the slow tempo.

[nia_kurniati]

Learn the main scale and arpeggio sections from memory first.  Practice slowly and carefully until you feel secure.  Then, push your speed limit to just beyond what you can deal with.  Then, go  straight back to a comfortable speed and work on clarity, accuracy and other technical aspects that will be evident by trying to play fast.  Repeat the process.  You should find that the comfortable speed gradually increases until one day you realise you are playing much faster than you ever thought you would or could.

I find the keys are memorising, pushing the limit so that technical problems become evident that are not present when playing slow (sometimes very different techniques are needed) and nurturing accuracy.  Give yourself time - it might take weeks or even months, but give yourself a realistic chance and I am sure you'll be surprised and encouraged. 

Its a good thing to  do. My teacher told me like this too. She loves scales & arpeggio.