How to become faster

[thomasbap]

Hello,

I would like to know, if someone have a technique to become faster playing the piano...


thomasbap

[bleicher]

Drink more coffee.

[bleicher]

Okay, maybe that was a bit mean. I guess the only answer is a) find a good teacher and b) practise, a lot.

[omar_roy]

Play faster.

[musicluvr49]

Hi,

Well there's no real secret to playing faster. You just need to practice a lot.
One thing I can tell you is, don't stumble through the notes trying to play fast, that just screws you up. Instead, practice the passage of music slowly at first, not stopping and starting, or skipping notes, and slowly build up speed. This way you will really know what you are playing.

Hope this helps.

[countrymath]

To play fast = to think fast

[uthacalthing]

I guess the idea is to make smaller, more efficient movements. If you can move efficiently without getting tense, then you can move faster. Easier said than done of course.

[nyonyo]

The speed will increase naturally if you practice the same pieces over and over, assuming that you do it correctly. However, there is certain limitation that you cannot faster than certain limit. The same like running, regardless how much you practice, you will be able to play as fast as your muscle ability.

You have to overcome all the notes first. You must know inside out, so that you just need to train your muscle to play faster. If you still think the notes that you need to press, you will not be able to play fast.

[lostinidlewonder]

From control and balance comes speed. You don't practice speed as such, you control being able to play passages as comfortably as possible then you can increase speed without problems.

[jesc]

IMO: Note that I'm not a professional pianist... and it is only my hobby.

Practice the passages with relaxed muscles, from the fingers to the wrists to the elbows. Begin with very light touches and only tense if you have to. Relaxed muscles will guarantee a longer practice time. Don't push it though, as I've posted in another thread I managed to go on hours playing a fast piece but even with relaxed muscles I did something wrong.

Another thing, there will be passages that you can play fast naturally. Keep it even with the passages you're having difficulty with or you will end up with uneven playing.

[jian10]

Like jesc said relax and use lighter touch.  Don't push yourself too  much.  You can develope an injury.

[thomasbap]

Ok, thanks for the Help!

[psylocke24]

I have seen a blind woman playing piano and her finger is really fast, I guess memorizing the keys and the notes is also a one way to play fast aside from practicing.

[cardamome]

Here is Bernhard's advice : https://www.pianostreet.com/smf/index.php/topic,3371.msg30141.html

(whenever you have a question, add "bernhard" to your request ; it will help :-) )

[hastur]

The speed will increase naturally if you practice the same pieces over and over, assuming that you do it correctly. However, there is certain limitation that you cannot faster than certain limit. The same like running, regardless how much you practice, you will be able to play as fast as your muscle ability.

You have to overcome all the notes first. You must know inside out, so that you just need to train your muscle to play faster. If you still think the notes that you need to press, you will not be able to play fast.

Essentially this. I wrote myself an arpeggio exercise to get some basic kind of fast technique going.
https://musescore.com/score/5173

[egyptsgoddessx]

Well, the better you know a piece, the faster you will be able to play it. ALWAYS start slow when learning a piece. Make sure your tempo is even and the song is correct before trying to increase speed. Keep increasing gradually until the desired speed is achieved. If you find you have difficulty in some areas, stop and practice them slowly until they are better "programmed" into your fingers.

I would also do daily exercizes. Practicing Bach is always really great, as it really helps individual finger strength (which will lend it's hand greatly in speed). Also, I would recommend Hannon and Czerny. Doing Scales will help too. Again, these all need to be done SLOW. Then gradually sped up until you're as fast as you'd like to be (or physically can play it).

I do believe people have physical limitations as far as how fast they can play something, but practice can definitely improve speed no matter where that limitation may lie. Also, the clarity you play a piece with, as well as the emotion you put into it, often matter more than the speed you play something with. If you play with expression and detail, it will show. Good luck!

[mike_lang]

Hello,

I would like to know, if someone have a technique to become faster playing the piano...


thomasbap

The way you've formed your question is a bit general . . . are there certain passages that you would like to play faster than you are at the moment? 

I can say without hesitation that every instance in which I've been frustrated in this way has been a result of one of three causes:

1) Tension in the hand, fingers, arm . . .
2) Use of the wrong group for an action, e.g., trying to do with the fingers what the wrist should control; with the wrist what proper balancing of the hand should control; etc.
3) Lack of mental clarity (phrasing, groups of notes, destination points, even fingering)

Still, I say the best way to achieve speed (maybe we should say agility?) in general is to achieve speed in the particular, many many times.  Why don't you scan some passages you are working on at the moment that you would like to improve, or upload some video :-)

Cheers,
Mike

[orangesodaking]

I found that overall, it takes time and experience. You can't build Rome overnight.

BUT, you can do things to increase your progress. Playing with less tension in your arms, hands, wrists, elbows, shoulders, etc. is fundamental to playing faster.

Also, there are a plethora of exercises you can do. Some people are against them, some people are all for them, but I feel that if someone is at a stage of fundamental development, correct practice and mastery of different exercises are benificial to one's facility. Some say that they hinder musicality, but I highly disagree with that for two reasons: 1) Your repertoire and your exercises are totally different pieces of music. Why would how you play one affect how "musical", "deep", "expressive", etc. you play the other? And 2) You can play anything: Hanon, Czerny, scales, arpeggios, even 5-finger exercises as musically as you want to, and I feel that you should! I don't believe in "purely technical" practice. (Another side-note: I don't even like the general use of the word "technique", but I don't see how much about that I can really do.)

Finally, (in most circumstances) DON'T rush the tempo. I believe that a fast passage should not "feel" very fast, frantic, or rushed. There is a fine line between "urgency" (such as the ending of Chopin's 1st or 2nd Ballades or 3rd movement of Beethoven's "Moonlight" sonata) and "rushing", which sounds more like just trying to play with speed instead of portraying a more overall feeling.

I hope these suggestions are helpful.

[tds]

me devaju? i thought i've read this question somewhere else - in a non-musical forum haha   

on a more serious note: hear faster in your head!

[nyongcha]

1. Press for the chord like C E G C for both left and right hands. (Block Chord)
2. Move for 1,2 inversion like E G C E,  G C E G
3. Next do the same as in step 1,2 for minor C Eb G C
4. Move to the next chord G, D, A,...etc. (move by circle of 5th)

You will find your fingers move better.

[nyongcha]

1. Press for the chord like C E G C for both left and right hands. (Block Chord)
2. Move for 1,2 inversion like E G C E,  G C E G
3. Next do the same as in step 1,2 for minor C Eb G C
4. Move to the next chord G, D, A,...etc. (move by circle of 5th)

You will find your fingers move better.

Forgot
Move to the all octaves for each step

[scott13]

For myself, i had difficulty playing scales fast, so i thought to myself, what is actually required to play fast?

Well essentially you want to group more notes into shorter time. Therefore Rhythm is hugely important.

Next, how do you go about the first statement? Well you want to minimize all unnecessary movements, this means keeping hands very close to the keys to minimize their work. A trick i used for this was to lower the lid on the keys and hold it an inch above you right hand with the left hand holding the key cover. Then play scales, and DON'T let your hand hit the wood. This teaches you to play close to the keys, and after only a couple of weeks of this my C major got up to gliss speed.

 

[byeats]

There is a great free online book about piano practice technique: https://www.pianofundamentals.com/book/en/toc .  The author's approach to speed is to break down the music into groups that can be played nearly infinitely fast, and then to work on quickly connecting adjacent groups. E.g., to play the two sequences of individual notes G-B-D-F  &  C-E-G-C quickly, think of these as two chords played in sequence. By rolling a chord you can play its notes arbitrarily fast; do that  with the first chord (GBDF) and then the second chord (CEGC), and then practice connecting the 2 groups of notes as quickly as possible. I do not think you can always plan on getting faster by starting slowly and gradually picking up speed-- fast can be entirely different movements; e.g.,  you cannot change a prancing horse into a galloping horse by prancing faster.

[nick]

Through experimentation I have found that once the notes are learned well, practicing repeatedly either slowly or at medium speed does nothing to increase speed. In fact, I end up slower. I have to practice at about my fastest to increase speed. Sometimes a passage may be at a speed with an error or 2, but then over time no errors at that same speed. Muscles, brain etc seem to adapt. I change the passage practiced after a number of repetitions since those muscles get very tired. Then come back to it in a few minutes, and it usually is even better. Good luck!

Nick

[iratior]

I don't think there's any way that works in all cases to make it possible to play a piece faster.  I rely on a careful analysis of rhythm and the keyboard structure to determine the appropriate fingering, and I give priority to the demands of the rhythm.  For example, suppose I have to play the following eight notes very fast up the keyboard:  A-flat just above middle C, C above the A-flat, then E-flat, A-flat, C, E-flat, A-flat, and C.  The books would probably tell you to finger this 21241245, regardless of the rhythm.  My approach would vary according to rhythm.  If I wanted to accent the C, or was going at a rate of less than about 650 notes per minute, I probably would use 21241245 as fingering.  But if I wanted to accentuate the beginning A-flat, and was going faster than 650 notes per minute, I'd probably do 12351245, which would place me in violent disagreement with the Czerny school, I believe.  There are ways to play the scales with 12345-based fingerings that make them able to be done at speeds intermediate between normal allegro and glissandi.