Purpose of slow practice?

[m1469]

I am interested to know what you would describe as taking place within slow practice that is (presumably) not taking place in the same way during a tempo practice?  Thanks.

[dima_76557]

I am interested to know what you would describe as taking place within slow practice that is (presumably) not taking place in the same way during a tempo practice?  Thanks.

I can only speak for myself. I would say it is creating space for oneself to hear (and more importantly FEEL) everything ahead; sensing all required musical gestures right BEFORE executing them. If this element is absent in the training of a pianist, then the execution a tempo will be musically meaningless because it will lack intonation. All the notes are there, but there's no life, no "soul" in the performance.

[rmbarbosa]

As Chuan Chang says in "Fundamentals of piano practice", "always end a practice session by playing slowly at least once. This is the most important rule fot good PPI (post practice improvement)... it has such an inordinately large effect on technique improvement... you tend to pick up more bad habits while playing fast...and you can erase these habits with slw play... slow play is a good way to test whether you have really learned a piece of music"...
m1469, you may wish to read all what Chang says about slow practice in pg.43 of his book that you may free download.

[indianajo]

When you are practicing slowly enough, one hand alone, it is possible to make abolutely no mistakes.  As after some repititions your lower brain remembers the motions better, you may practice slowly with both hands together.  If one is making note or motion mistakes, one is practicing too fast for the level one has learned the piece at that time.
If one learns the piece this way, the only excuse for forgetting during performance is if similar starting elements are repeated in a different order in different passages. 
One purpose of a teacher is to point out mistakes that one hasn't noticed yet, and doesn't have the experience to detect on one's own. 
Once the piece is up to speed with no mistakes, one has lots of opportunity to make changes in speed, volume, emphasis, for the purpose of communicating emotion.     

[stevensk]

Slow practice gives tight playing and great controll

[falala]

I am interested to know what you would describe as taking place within slow practice that is (presumably) not taking place in the same way during a tempo practice?

Um... playing the right notes.

Am I missing something here?

[pianoman53]

To have control over everything, that's why.

[faulty_damper]

After the best combinations of movements are discovered after thorough investigative practice, slow practice is used to learn (memorize) the new coordination.  Once that coordination has been learned, slow practice isn't necessary.

All too often, students inappropriately use slow practice as a way of learning notes, or for building up speed, only to hit a speed wall.  This occurs because he did not investigate the best movements and instead, jumped ahead and used the movements he already knew.  Thus, even if he could play at speed, his technique will be lacking and undeveloped.

Certain movements can be very intricate, requiring multiple changes in positions to various parts of the apparatus in fractions of a second.  (E.g. Chopin Op.10-2.) These kinds of coordination may require extended slow practice because it is more complex to isolate and refine and thus take more time to learn.

[outin]

After the best combinations of movements are discovered after thorough investigative practice, slow practice is used to learn (memorize) the new coordination.  Once that coordination has been learned, slow practice isn't necessary.

I can't agree with that. For me slow practice is important with pieces already learned because the quality of playing easily seems to deteriorate (become sloppy) in the more tricky spots unless I return to slow practice occasionally.

[pianoplunker]

I am interested to know what you would describe as taking place within slow practice that is (presumably) not taking place in the same way during a tempo practice?  Thanks.

If you can sit at a piano and do a tempo during practice, then great. No need to spend time figuring out the best fingering or listening to yourself play notes. My dream

[faulty_damper]

I can't agree with that. For me slow practice is important with pieces already learned because the quality of playing easily seems to deteriorate (become sloppy) in the more tricky spots unless I return to slow practice occasionally.

This may be because unnecessary movements were learned (tension) so that it requires going back to try to minimize it.

[dima_76557]

For me slow practice is important with pieces already learned because the quality of playing easily seems to deteriorate (become sloppy) in the more tricky spots unless I return to slow practice occasionally.

This is the norm for most people, even for the greatest masters. Just as the brain tends to forget info that we do not use regularly, so the body tends to forget movement sequences that we do not use regularly, especially in such an unnatural skill as piano playing. If there is no regular slow training involved (intention), the technique required for certain movement sequences will deteriorate, even if we have learned those movement sequences up to the point of automation and up to maximum speed.

[cometear]

I am interested to know what you would describe as taking place within slow practice that is (presumably) not taking place in the same way during a tempo practice?  Thanks.

When I first begin a new piece I play through it slowly keeping in mind any specific places that have new concepts or considerably difficult places. I'll circle them and remember to pay close attention to my technique there.
 
As I begin a new piece, I continue to play it slowly making sure I have the correct motions that are necessary for what I am doing. Speed comes gradually (unless of course I have a deadline). When I don't have any deadline, I do not push a piece past my technical boundary.

Once it is up to speed, I don't have to break it apart until something goes haywire.

[beethovensonata]

I am interested to know what you would describe as taking place within slow practice that is (presumably) not taking place in the same way during a tempo practice?  Thanks.

1. TO learn the notes and not make ANY mistakes.
2. To get it with the metronome.
3. For muscle memory.