How slow is slow-practise? How slower...how better?

[nodb]

Is "slow practise" studying in a tempo where you can play everything correct and effortlessly?
(Maybe a little bit slower)
Or do you think : "how slower how better"?

(I have for the moment not the time for researching on the forum. Maybe there were similar questions in the past?)

[go12_3]

Te main purpose in practicing slowly is to learn the passage so that the mind can focus better on the score and understanding the fingering because once you practice the correct fingering and notation then it will be retained better as the tempo increases.  It depends upon the piece and your skills on how slow is slow practice....I think it's all up to the individual.

[tuufy]

im gonna say it again, youre not practising note, but MUSIC. With this attitude, youll never learn to play well. NEVER EVER practice so slow that the notes are cut off from the phrase!

[dtao12]

I find slow practicing useful from a purely technical viewpoint to help with the fingering, to make sure you are actually playing the right notes, and especially helpful when there are big changes in hand position (leaps, for example). In those cases, I also find a variety of dotted rhythms, to force quick transitions even while going "slow" overall, to be helpful. The dotted rhythms also help strengthen the weaker finger combinations that might be "slopped over" if you allow speed to hide unevenness.

It's been useful in nearly all the difficult passages of the repertoire I've learned recently, whether Bach, Beethoven, Alkan, Chopin, Mendelssohn, Schumann, Ravel, Prokofiev.

I agree that you have to be careful not to get so focused on the notes that the "fast playing" just becomes the slow practicing speeded up: that probably won't work. I would never say "the slower the better" because there's a point beyond which it just doesn't make sense (e.g., playing one beat every 10 seconds would only waste time).

[lostinidlewonder]

You must play slow enough that everything feels right in your hands and you make no mistakes with fingering or notes. I am also with tuufy, you must also play at a speed that still allows you to be able to hear the phrase of music you are playing. This sometimes is very difficult when we are mid phrase working out our problems there. Being able to hear the musical context is most important when determining the slow tempo to practice at.

[sheena]

I would never say "the slower the better" because there's a point beyond which it just doesn't make sense (e.g., playing one beat every 10 seconds would only waste time).

As far as musicality is concerned I completely agree with this. On the other hand, for testing if the memory of a piece is secure it can be quite useful to play it extremely slowly like one beat every 10 seconds, to make sure one does not rely on muscle memory.

[gyzzzmo]

Just play it at a speed at wich you make little mistakes and play fluently. There is no point in playing things excessively slow. But calling it 'slow-practise' is abit silly, since it should be 'normal-practise'.

[drorperl]

I think that when you're practicing a piece there's a correct tempo. this tempo changes on different days, times, mental states, and of course as you become more familiar with the piece.
you need to find what this "correct tempo" means for you at this moment. for a new and challenging piece it might be extremely slow and for a different piece it might be a lot faster. just make sure that you find a tempo in which you feel comfortable, and you are not "chasing" the beats, and this way your brain has enough time to absorb and process the info. I think that usually you'll learn a piece faster if you play slowly (in the "correct" tempo) and gradually increase the tempo....
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dror Perl. Pianist, Composer, Teacher.

https://www.sheerpiano.com/

Sheer Piano: The First Full Color Piano Music Books
simple jazz & contemporary compositions that are fun for beginner pianists & up

[chopinsmaster]

its really a balance. If you play too slowly it will be difficult to get a feel of the music itself (not just the individual notes) just as tuufy said, but if you play too quickly you will begin to mess up many notes and ruin the music that way. If you have too much difficulty playing the notes at a certain tempo, lower your tempo just enough that you can play without ridiculous amounts of errors, and then do not lower your tempo past that point.

[mad_max2024]

As slow as it takes to get everything right...