Chromatic scale speed

[johnjwong]

Hi guys, im playing liszt's transcription of rigoletto and on the 12th page, the chromatic scale's speed is very fast.  I can do right hand accending very fast but I can't descend that fast.  

In this part, the descending is even faster than the ascending, any suggestion on how to practice fast chromatic scales?

[in_love_with_liszt]

I would just suggest practicing the decending sequence then, it shouldn't take that long to speed it up substantially. Start by playing it slowly with very high finger strokes, and over-exaggerated wrist movement. As you incresase the speed don't lift your fingers as high (this happens on its own mostly though, the faster  you go, the less time you have to lift your fingers up high). Eventually you will be using mostly your wrist to play the scale, and your fingers will lightly flutter along the keys. It takes practice though!

[DarkWind]

Break it up into sections, and practice them over and over. You could break it up into say, 6 sections, let's name them A B C D E and F. You would practice these individually, then when you have them done, practice them in groups, as in AB, BC, CD, DE, EF. Then into larger groups, ABC, BCD, CDE, DEF. And larger, ABCD, BCDE, CDEF, then ABCDE, BCDEF. Now put it all together, ABCDEF! Pracitcing slowly is harmful, don't ever do it until you have the piece mastered.

[Motrax]

Practicing slowly is harmful.

A combination is required. You'll never master a piece if you don't practice slowly, and you won't master it if you only practice slowly. Be careful with statements like these, because someone will get it into their had that careening through repertoire at full speed every day is a good thing, which it is in fact not.

[in_love_with_liszt]

I agree...practicing slowely is not harmful in the least. It's not practical to start out practicing a piece at full speed, you need to take it slow and work on accuracy.

[DarkWind]

Practicing slowly is good only after you have learned the piece thoroughly. Basically, don't start slow and try to speed up, as that's the least effective method and often harms technique. You may use slow playing after a practice session to improve PPI and to better memorize the piece while seeing it in a different way, note by note, instead of phrase by phrase when playing at speed.

[in_love_with_liszt]

Well I guess that shows you that there is a difference in teaching styles. My teacher tells me to NEVER play a piece at full speed first, and scolds me if I go too fast. I gradually increase speed. This methodology has worked wonderfully for me, and my fellow students.

[xvimbi]

Practicing slowly is good only after you have learned the piece thoroughly. Basically, don't start slow and try to speed up, as that's the least effective method and often harms technique.

I think there is a confusion of terms here. The term "practicing slowly" really means "practicing in slow motion".
This is a very important distinction. Playing slowly often requires a different technique than playing the same section fast. It would be ill-advised to practice a section slowly with a "slow" technique, because one would not be able to apply it to the faster version. Slow practice really means to practice with the same motions that are used for the fast version. Slow motion helps refining these motions and improving coordination. This method of "practicing slowly" is definitely good and often the only way to get things done.

[johnjwong]

hehe I fixed my problem

The problem was i always think about my right hand when i do the descending.

When I think of how the section should sound, I can play the section very fast automatically, like magic.  My right hand can do the job, i just have to trust my hand and care about how the piece should sound and not too much bout technique for chromatic scales.