Piano Forum

Hi evan,

You're getting the hang of the etude, but some of the passagework is ragged, and you slow the tempo when encountering technical difficulties in execution.  Probably you should slow the entire piece down now.  Isolate and do intensive practicing on the rough spots, then integrate them back into the piece at this slower tempo.  Play the piece through with your metronome. If you stumble in some places, slow the piece down even more and do additional intensive and careful work on the remaining problem measures.  Reintegrate them again and play through at that slower speed with metronome.  If unsuccessful, drop the speed down again.  Once successful, switch over to metronome drills, whereby you will gradually increase the tempo only one or two notches at a time.  Once you stumble, stop, and back off the tempo again.  Use this strategy over a couple of weeks, and you should be able to iron out the wrinkles and steadily increase tempo to your desired speed without making errors.  The end goal of this is NOT to play the piano in a metronomic manner, but rather with artistry.  Thus, this practice approach is aimed solely at methodically increasing speed, nothing more than that. 

By speeding it up in very small increments, you're actually trying to fool the brain into not noticing any change.  There'll be some advancing and retreating as you do that, but over the longer term, you'll become more proficient and closer to your goal.  Don't forget though, accuracy of playing is FAR more important than speed.  Never play any piece at a tempo that exceeds your technical abilities. Tempo is a relative thing, and you can adjust it to you own abilities and needs.  You have a lot of potential in my opinion.  Keep practicing!