can't play in time perfectly

[piani0player]

hello everyone
      im working on the Mozart sonata in C,K330.i can now play the 1st movement m.m.=60 per beat. But i had this trouble i couldn't play in time when i stop using the "M.M."(metro------).when i record it and listen to it again it is not in time .How do i play in time WITHOUT using the "m.m"?please help me.
thank you

[RiskyP]

Well, I have only been playing for a few months but I came across the same problem and this is what has helped me (by no means "solving " the problem):

My problem was with 16th notes and such without using the MM. Everyone kept telling me to think of 16th notes as just 2 8th notes, but I came up with something much much better to me. Since it's not too hard to play 8th notes in time without and MM I simply thought of 16th notes as 8th notes. 8th notes as quarter notes. Quarter notes as half notes... you get the picture. This way, everything is familiar and easy the only new element is that the whole must be sustained for two whole notes (in the mind only!). So basically, you should play very slowly at first since you are usually mostly dealing with 8th (but really 16th) notes. You'll see that counting is very easy like this until you up the tempo. Hope this helps, it did for me.

[Franzliszt]

     Actually doing that puts the piece in the wrong meter. either double or half, ex. 4/4 becomes 8/4 or 2/4. You sustain the notes twice as long with the equivalent of M.M. 120, making it 8/4 in our example, and you may also accent twice as often, as in 2/4 in our example. The only way you can do this is if you accent the upbeat normally and if you just count twice as long with the rhythm detached from the music not the rhythm attached. For example instead of 1-2-3-4-, 1 - 2 - 3 - 4

[RiskyP]

I didn't mean it literally. It helps to think of them as 8th notes, not to play them as 8th notes.  

[Hmoll]

Pianoplayer,

Could you be more specific about how the piece is not "in time."

Is it uneven - speeding up and slowing down - or are you rushing it?

If you are rushing it, try to find the parts where you rush. Many times it happens during rapid passage work, so make sure you are not rushing some of the 32nd note passages of that movement.
Also, because the two main themes have a have a different character, you might be playing them at a slightly different tempo. The same goes for the development section - it has a more serene character than the exposition - so make sure your tempo is still the same.

If you could be more specific about where and how you are not playing it "in time," I might have more suggestions.

[piani0player]

hi Hmoll
     i have  mastered all the fast passage and trills for that piece.My rhythm is generally ok ,i manage to play the same tempo for the whole movement.but the problem is when i record it and listen to how i play,i can hear that there are some bars in the piece i either rush or slow down that include the 32notes passage 16 and 8notes.my teacher told me that i have to "feel" the "tick"when i stop using the "m.m"  ,he also say that i have to put the "m.m" into your head.but when i play without the"m.m" .i can't feel the pulse.i can play about 80% of the piece in time but i want to get to 100% and play perfectly in time. i hope you can help me with this.
thanks for your help

[BoliverAllmon]

To help with develop the M.M. in my head, I will count aloud while playing. this helps bring out your internal rhythmn.

BoliverAllmon

[Hmoll]

pianoplayer,

I still don't know the specific parts you are rushing or slowing down.
60 bpm is actually a good tempo for this piece though.
It is an easy piece to lose the proper tempo though because there are times where you are playing a straight forward melody with left hand accompaniment, and then it switches to right hand alone, or left hand doubling the melody of the right hand.
As you listen to your recordings of this piece is it the same sections that rush or slow down?  If it is the same sections, concentrate on them. Practice the preceding section through the sections where the tempo problem occurs, and try to maintain a steady tempo. Keep that tempo in your head as you are doing this.
Another thing you could try is subdivide the beat. Instead of 60 beats per measure with the beat as a quarter note, try thinking 120 beats per measure with the eight note as the beat. I don't like to recommend that too much because it is not a very musical solution, and goes contrary to the actual rhythmic pulse of the piece, but if it gets you "over the hump," it might be worth a try.

[Hmoll]

Here's another thought:

Go through the music in your head away from the piano, and try to keep the correct tempo. You can do this by either conducting it or singing it. You might have a better time identifying the exact moments where you alter the tempo by doing that.

Just a thought.

[piani0player]

thanks for your help