Speed in Chopin Etude Op. 10 no. 5

[italianstllion93]

Hi. I'm learning this lovely etude for a competition in mid/late March and I have the notes, memory, and expression down. Right now I can play it comfortably without losing control or tightening up at about half the speed Chopin wants it to be. I understand it's common to actually get to that exact speed, but my speed right now is just pathetic. I know it's never good to practice fast and and tight and make the whole piece sound sloppy. So what are some tips you can give me to be able to play this piece (the right hand mainly) much faster within two months while still maintaining expression and clarity? Tons of different rythms? Slowly working my way up? Tiny sections at a time? blocks? Minimizing movement? I been trying to work the speed up for a few weeks now and I'm not getting anywhere.

[bruced]

[...]I know it's never good to practice fast and and tight and make the whole piece sound sloppy. So what are some tips you can give me to be able to play this piece (the right hand mainly) much faster within two months while still maintaining expression and clarity? Tons of different rythms? Slowly working my way up? Tiny sections at a time? blocks? Minimizing movement? I been trying to work the speed up for a few weeks now and I'm not getting anywhere.

All of the above should work.  Keep in mind, though, that you should never practice any faster than you can accurately play.  If you play fast enough that you make mistakes, then you are practicing the mistakes.  Slow practice is the best way to learn to play fast, they say.  That said, with consistent slow practice, it is a good idea occasionally to try to play close to performance tempo, just to show you where you need to concentrate your practice efforts.

Above all, make sure that your right hand remains relaxed.  If you tense up, even slightly, then it is almost certain you will not attain performance tempo.

Regards,

[keyboardclass]

If you can play it perfctly at half speed you're sorted.  It'll speed up of its own accord.

[technique]

Hi. I'm learning this lovely etude for a competition in mid/late March and I have the notes, memory, and expression down. Right now I can play it comfortably without losing control or tightening up at about half the speed Chopin wants it to be. I understand it's common to actually get to that exact speed, but my speed right now is just pathetic. I know it's never good to practice fast and and tight and make the whole piece sound sloppy. So what are some tips you can give me to be able to play this piece (the right hand mainly) much faster within two months while still maintaining expression and clarity? Tons of different rythms? Slowly working my way up? Tiny sections at a time? blocks? Minimizing movement? I been trying to work the speed up for a few weeks now and I'm not getting anywhere.

You mention above that you can play the piece at half speed without loosing control or tightening up. This suggests that you have experienced loosing control and tightening up when you try to execute at a quicker speed....otherwise you wouldn't know to say.

Therefore....you may or I would say have studied the piece with improper form, since its already memorized. There is most likely tension in your hands at your half speed and you are not noticing it.  Remedy?

Well you must remember that these pieces are studies and the idea in them is to create a little more uniformity , strenght , and so forth.  Heres what to do , at this late date.

Slow down quite a bit more. Play the right hand on its own a few times before hands together. While doing so observe and make sure that the hand feels stress free. IOW at no time should portions of the hand and arm show to be offering assistance to each note being struck....somewhere you may be borowing energy due to an underdeveloped later portion of the hand. Sing along with the notes in your head....your already doing this unconsciously because its memorized but, be aware so that the songful approach can contribute to ease in operation.

In short....try right hand only a few timesw before whole piece....you don't have to do the whole thing, theres lots of repeat material.  Anyway....there really isn't any major thumb passing in this piece and most of it is on the black notes so....looks like the selection was a little ahead of ability and power.  Not to fear these pieces sound great if you can get a little more of a fluid legato going which must...be missing under these circumstances...slow down and focus on relaxing the hand and mind....it may well be that a little anxciousness to get the speed up is as well provoking the explained results

[nyiregyhazi]

If you can play it perfctly at half speed you're sorted.  It'll speed up of its own accord.

To put this advice into practical context, I'd suggest looking at this thread.

https://www.pianostreet.com/smf/index.php?topic=44950.msg490175#msg490175

This advice sums up virtually everything that is problematic about the typical approach to learning, I'm afraid. Speed is not generated by favouring blind optimism over a sense of purpose and understanding. Being able to get away with doing something slowly does not magically cause speed. This style of thinking is precisely why so many people arrive at a speed wall. To break it, you have to learn a single quality of movement that works either in slow or fast tempos. Most typically, the problem is that the arm presses too much and the fingers don't do enough.

At tempo, the arm needs to glide sideways (not go up and down for each note) and the fingers need to provide the movement. The trick is to make sure this is happening in a slow tempo. Recently, I discovered that I had a very slight tendency to stop my arm for each note and then move. If you can keep a tiny but constant sideways arm movement (that does not stop for each finger movement) in slow practise the change to the speed can be dramatic. The way I'm explaining it here only scratches the surface of how to achieve that, I'm afraid, but this something that I'd definitely explore. Typically slow practise involves constant stop and start motions- rather than a very slow but completely continuous sense of motion.

[keyboardclass]

you have to learn a single quality of movement that works either in slow or fast tempos.

If that is not the case then the OP is not playing it perfectly!

[rachmaninoff_forever]

You can play it with an orange like lang Lang did! 

Just kidding!  But seriously though, don't play fast if you can't do it very well because then you'll be practicing mistakes.

[ajspiano]

https://pianofundamentals.com/book/en/chapter_1

sections -

II.9
II.10
II.11

..Playing it at slow speed and gradually going faster will destroy you mentally and physically. Learn to play fast, then play fast in slow motion.

Section II.16 - dangers of slow practice.