Slow motion vs. full speed impulses

[danny elfboy]

I was reading a post by mound where he said that the best way to handle speed is to practice fast first and then to practice slow but using the same movements that work at full speed. The rationale is that at low speed you can get away with movements (usually ample and wide) that won't work at full speed and once you've ingrained those movement it's an hard task to replace them with the correct small speed movements as you increase the speed. So if you first practice something fast, faster than full speed, and so you know what kind of movements (i.e. sizes of movements) are necessary for fast playing so you can play slow with accuracy but using the correct small speed movements. This is called slow motion practicing

A rule of the thumb seems to be to practice fast for three-four times and then once ingrained the correct speed-movements practice at a slow tempo that allow accuracy

I'm curious to know if you use or know this method and how well it works

My method is based on impulses (i.e. Brendel)
Usually a meaningful musical impulse is comprised of 4-5-6 notes (three notes for triplets) What I do is playing those notes at full tempo, relaxing completely and resting after having played them. When I have most impulses mastered I just join them while maintaning the underlying relaxation and decontraction practiced
So I play very small but musical and rhythmical meaningful fraction up to tempo from the beginning almost never exploring slower speed or movement

Do you think the lack of slow motion practice is a bad thing?
What do you think between the two methods yeld better results and why (considering that one may be better for certain situations and the other may be better in other situations)

[pianistimo]

certainly from my recording of the chopin etude op 10 #4 - one might imagine poor results from too much fast practice - but in essence  - i agree with you.  practicing fast has it's benefits.  for one thing - you come to a complete halt whenever you are unsure of a passage. 

but, slow practice can be combined (as i think you are saying).  maybe a combination of both.  i like slow pratice for the mental ability to hear all the harmonies and see if everything is truly accurate.  and, because - well, my mind works slower nowdays.  but, i found this morning after practicing both slow and fast - that things were coming together again with the memory part.

what we are talking about is finger memory and actual note memory.  knowing FOR SURE what notes are supposed to be played.  personally - i rely on both.  perhaps for a long time more on fingers - but i am attempting to REALLY know the harmonies and give myself cues not jsut where to start (about 10 places within the piece) but also what diversions chopin made in this hell-bent etude - to diverge you off track with a single or couple of notes slightly different than before.  (i used to hate chopin - now i say - ok - it's a challenge.  if he made everything same-old same-old- everyone and their sis/bro could play it.  as it is - only a few people master the etudes very well).