can't be patient when practising

[ethure]

My problem is that, I can play fast, but it sounds really.. well, unsatisfying and even terrible. and the fingers don't feel right.  I have to really slow down to build up the foundation.. but as I am able to play that fast, I can't.  

I lost the very serious attitude that I used to have to pay attention to every note every detail. and I became upset and impatient to do that. sometimes when i don't want to bother thinking about it, I just play very carelessly, and I know that's very dangerous..  that'll pull me further into the wrong direction, but I can't focus my mind at all.

oh. this feels so bad...  

[keyboardclass]

You should be looking for understanding in the music you are playing not just rattling out the notes.

[ethure]

oh no.. looking for that only makes me play fast, like those amateur youtube players, you can hear something musical there, but in really not nice quality.

[mcdiddy1]

There is skill to playing fast. Playing fast does not mean a race to the end. Here are some things you may thing about.

 You can strategically place micro pauses in your music to give your mind to adjust to a new set of musical phrases.

 You can also choose fingering that favor playing in fast tempos and prace covering the keys you are about to play quicker and allow better dynamic control.

I also find if I increase my muscle memory of sections of the music and explore how it feels to play it at the speed I hear in my head all I have to do is concentrate to certain notes to make the muscle memory of the notes pop up in my head again.

Speed with out control tends to make unmusical playing and errors so being a little more flexible in your tempo may help. For example if the music is marked quarter equals 144 then in certain sections you may choose the tempo 140 or 146 in certain spots. As long as the music hangs together cohherantly, slight discrepancies in tempo are not heard.

These strategies work for me when I do extremely fast pieces. Try them and see if they help any. I hope it does.

[brogers70]

If playing slowly and paying attention to the details is boring you, then try playing unbelievably slowly, one note every couple of seconds. While you're doing that, play games with your mind, imagine the score in front of you, name the notes that come next, if you know theory, name the chord progressions that come next. Make it a competition with yourself how slowly you can endure to play. Exaggerate the slowness to the point of grandiose absurdity. Do that for at least one piece once a day and I'll bet you'll break the habit of just rattling through everything at top speed within a week.

[jaggens]

Hi Ethure,

The problem you described is a very common thing. There can be a temptation to play fast and already let everything loose and enjoy the piece how it originally goes.

some ideas:
1) Maybe the practising sessions go too long? For me it is extremely important that I stop before my concentration and mental play tires out. So for me the idal practise sessions are 45 - 60 min. After resting playing can be continued without rpoblems.

2) Maybe you should learn to enjoy the practising process itself. According to some prestigious materials the practising process and performing are not so different if practising is right and has quality.

3) What do you express, how deeply do you go into the piece?

Best wishes,
Jaak

[ethure]

to Mcdiddy: maybe I made my intention of the thread a little vague, but my problem is not how to play fast,  rather it's how to slow down. but thanks for sharing all the strategies, I may find them helpful in future.

to Brogers70: brilliant idea! I tried that, and it worked quite well. thanks very much for that!!

to jaggens: actually (2) and (3) were just what I concerned about -- I used to practise like that, but now I could seldom calm down for quality practise. but thanks for the help all the same. hehe~~

[starstruck5]

If your objective is to ultimately play fast and of course accurately, and your impatience is defeating that objective - then it is obvious that you need to practice differently.  I get more joy from playing something slowly and accurately than fast and all over the place - my aim is always to know the music well enough to play without the score - and that involves understanding. Have you ever watched the Paul Barton tutorials on YouTube - they are excellent.

[quantum]

You could try thinking fast, yet playing at a controlled pace.  Try to understand what the music is doing.  If your mind is getting board with where it is at in the music, move forward with your mind only, but have your fingers keep their steady pace.  In this case, your fingers will be playing at a given spot in the music, while your mind will be working on a spot several measures or even systems ahead of your fingers.  The object is to prepare your understanding of the music before your fingers arrive to play the music. 

[kellyc]

Hi : Why not play both slow and fast. I do this and I have the students I have been assigned to me do this also.  Take the pieces you are playing and take passages out of them and start playing the passage over and over again. First play it slow and they begin to increase tempo. Listen to where you think things begin to go wrong. That is your practice set point.  It won't take to much to push the tempo if you play like that. Do another section the same way , playing slow and fast. PUt the sections together. Before you know it your playing at a very nice clip. Remember almost always you have the ability to play fast, but it is faulty memory that stops us from executing the music in away that we find satisfying.

Kelly