Piano Forum

Piano Street Magazine:
The Crucible of Keys: A Century of Glory and Grit at the Queen Elisabeth Piano Competition

This summer, the piano world has been dominated by news from the Chopin, Cliburn, and Queen Elisabeth competitions. In its latest issue, The World of Piano Competitions magazine dedicates a special feature to the Queen Elisabeth Competition. Read more

Topic: Tempo  (Read 1454 times)

Offline rc179264

  • PS Silver Member
  • Newbie
  • ***
  • Posts: 9
Tempo
on: August 17, 2013, 01:52:48 AM
How can I improve my tempo?

Offline pianoman53

  • PS Silver Member
  • Sr. Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 1179
Re: Tempo
Reply #1 on: August 17, 2013, 07:52:00 AM
What do you mean with that? Being able to play faster, being able to keep a more steady tempo, a more flexible tempo..?

Offline faulty_damper

  • PS Silver Member
  • Sr. Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 3929
Re: Tempo
Reply #2 on: August 18, 2013, 02:58:12 AM
Tempo is a musical reference.  You should never play faster than the tempo allows.  But you actually mean speed.  Practice is the only way.

Offline rc179264

  • PS Silver Member
  • Newbie
  • ***
  • Posts: 9
Re: Tempo
Reply #3 on: August 18, 2013, 08:08:51 AM
I mean how do I keep in time more. Thanks :)

Offline hfmadopter

  • PS Silver Member
  • Sr. Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 2272
Re: Tempo
Reply #4 on: August 18, 2013, 08:42:27 AM
I mean how do I keep in time more. Thanks :)

Rhythm and pulse are related, how fast you execute that is tempo.. Learning to keep the pulse of the piece in time can be helped greatly by counting. You do that first at a very slow tempo, much slower than indicated on your score. When it all comes together you can increase tempo a little at a time until you get the piece up to speed.
Depressing the pedal on an out of tune acoustic piano and playing does not result in tonal color control or add interest, it's called obnoxious.

Offline faulty_damper

  • PS Silver Member
  • Sr. Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 3929
Re: Tempo
Reply #5 on: August 19, 2013, 04:07:21 AM
I mean how do I keep in time more. Thanks :)
So you mean timing.  There are underlying issues that could cause timing to be off. One is simply neurological, you don't have the ability to keep time in your body even if it's in your mind.  Practice is the only way and this includes mental practice.  You need to be more specific if you want specific advice.

Offline keypeg

  • PS Silver Member
  • Sr. Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 3977
Re: Tempo
Reply #6 on: August 22, 2013, 12:38:21 PM
A first step is to see what is stopping you from having good timing, because there can be hidden things.  For example, before I took my first lessons as an adult I had played for years, and note values for me were: quarter note - two of them in a half note, commonly as "a beat"; eighth note - two of them in a quarter note, two in a beat; any note with more flags than that = FAST.   ;D  When I realized that, I slowed down, figured out what I didn't know, how to calculate things in various ways, and fixed that problem.

Another thing that can get in the way is if you are a poor reader and have to pause for some of the notes, or if you have poor fingering which makes a passage awkward.  So again, address that problem.  You have to know what notes you will be playing, have smooth fingering, know how to anticipate moving your hand into a new position in time.

These are just some examples.
For more information about this topic, click search below!

Piano Street Magazine:
Piano Street’s Top Picks of 2024

We wish you a Happy New Year with a list of recommended reading from Piano Street. These are the most read, discussed or shared articles of 2024. Read more
 

Logo light pianostreet.com - the website for classical pianists, piano teachers, students and piano music enthusiasts.

Subscribe for unlimited access

Sign up

Follow us

Piano Street Digicert
Customer Reviews