know what your playing ?

[jude4444]

 hi im grade 5 going for 6 need a question answered do you find as you play a piece up to the reccomended tempo you don't know exactly what your playing and its kind of muscle memory is this ok? and does anyone else feel this way slightly more out of control when you go a bit faster?

[asiantraveller101]

Never lose control of your playing, even in fast passages or fast music. The "abandonment" that we see sometimes with virtuosos, are because they are so comfortable and at ease with the pieces and their technique that they can do so. You may be able to work up to the speed you want to, but you have to really know the piece well first.

[pianoviolin]

hey jude;
I'm wondering the same thing.
But lately, I learnt that its important knowing exactly what you're playing because as I've recently  been getting lessons from a professional and throughout the lesson she'd ask me to play from here or there from the piece and i'll be like... 'urrgh hang on for a minute' and then I'll be playing a few bars back from where she told me to play.
Whereas my previous teacher, he would say 'go from around here, wherever you feel comfortable'.. and so that didn't really prepare me for my next teacher.
So as you can imagine, it was quite embarrassing.
and from now on I'm gonna make sure I know exactly what I'm playing and it's not gonna be all muscle memory.

[richard black]

If you play the piano the same way you write questions on forums, without using your brain at all, you can expect the results to be similarly unenlightening.