maintaining (relatively) consistent tempo

[cwjalex]

i have a recital coming up in which i am playing mozart's k310 (first movement) and i'm having trouble maintaining relatively the same tempo throughout the entire piece.  do you guys have any tips to achieve this?  i have played through it a billion times and i am thinking one reason for the inconsistency is that i have been practicing it at many different tempos higher than my intended speed so that i will be more comfortable technically playing it.  maybe 2-3 weeks before the recital i should constantly practice it at the intended tempo of 120 bpm?  i wish i could just wear a wrist watch that had a blinking metronome so that i could always get back on track.

[quantum]

Fragment the piece so you are only practicing small sections at your desired tempo.  Also try practicing sections outside of chronological order.  Following that play the piece as written, and see if you can decipher if any parts of it feel different or inconsistent from what you were doing in fragmented practice.  If any such portions remain, these are the parts that are causing tempo fluctuations and require focused practice to iron out.  Look for parts of the piece that cause technical uncertainty, or lack of mental clarity and direction. 

Practicing the piece at different tempi would most likely be a good thing, as one has a basis of distinguishing between differences in tempi and will thus have a basis for recognizing the phenomenon and correcting it when it fluctuations are undesirable. 

[outin]

 i wish i could just wear a wrist watch that had a blinking metronome so that i could always get back on track.

Do you use the metronome a lot when you practice? Maybe you've become too depended on it? Have you tried counting in your head instead to assess a tempo you can keep throughout the piece?

No one should care if you play your piece exactly 120 bpm at the recital...after all the composer had no access to metronome. Instead I would chose a tempo that you can keep consistent throughout. Basically that means looking at the more difficult spots for reference.

[cwjalex]

Fragment the piece so you are only practicing small sections at your desired tempo.  Also try practicing sections outside of chronological order.  Following that play the piece as written, and see if you can decipher if any parts of it feel different or inconsistent from what you were doing in fragmented practice.  

Practicing the piece at different tempi would most likely be a good thing, as one has a basis of distinguishing between differences in tempi and will thus have a basis for recognizing the phenomenon and correcting it when it fluctuations are undesirable.  

i do this.  i am performing it without any repeats and it's a 5-6 minute piece.  despite the amount of time i practice it i probably only play it around 10 times all the way through a day and the rest of the time i practice different sections in different order.  i think one of the problems is that i only know a couple or a few pieces that are at least this long so i am not that used to maintaining a constant tempo for this long.  

Do you use the metronome a lot when you practice? Maybe you've become too depended on it? Have you tried counting in your head instead to assess a tempo you can keep throughout the piece?

i practice about 50-50 with/without a metronome.

No one should care if you play your piece exactly 120 bpm at the recital...after all the composer had no access to metronome. Instead I would chose a tempo that you can keep consistent throughout. Basically that means looking at the more difficult spots for reference.

i know it's not that important to play exactly at 120 which is why i just want to maintain "relatively" the same tempo.  whether i start at 116-124 it doesn't matter to me as long as i stay within a few bpm throughout the piece. it's true i could probably just fix the problem easily by playing the piece at 105-110 bpm but i think it sounds better at 116+ and i like to push myself.  i have about 5-6 weeks until the recital which is enough time to correct this problem.

what's annoying about this piece is that it isn't that hard to play casually but it's difficult to get performance-ready.  it's very revealing in that it makes every technical deficiency extremely noticeable.  

[outin]

i practice about 50-50 with/without a metronome.

That's sounds a lot to me, but then again I rarely have the thing out at all...If I have trouble with the pulse, I just make myself do some counting and that usually either solves it or tells me I am not yet ready to play at that tempo.

what's annoying about this piece is that it isn't that hard to play casually but it's really difficult to get performance-ready.  it's very revealing in that it makes every technical deficiency extremely noticeable.  there are many tricky sections that are difficult and i can't come up with a good reason why.

I don't play Mozart but I do play a lot of Scarlatti and it's just like that... You think you've got it, but then you realize it's still far from perfect. And that perfecting stage seems to take ages...

My advice is to isolate the parts where your tempo starts fluctuating and then practice the whole piece at the tempo where you can nail them. Practice those parts separately also. Just never let yourself get away with the tempo fluctuations. Within a few weeks you should be able to bring the whole thing up in tempo. Somehow it usually happens by itself, when one is comfortable enough with the music.

[outin]

BTW. I read this advice somewhere: It's not about how fast your fingers can move but how fast you can think about what you are doing. And the best way to learn to think faster is to practice slowly enough so that you can keep your thinking up with your fingers. Your thinking should become faster gradually...

Of course sometimes one has to be able to go on autopilot, but when practicing it might help to think about the above.

[cwjalex]

this is just a weird piece for me.  i shouldn't be having as much difficulty as i am having considering the amount of time i have practiced it.  i'm having a lot of problems that i don't have on other pieces that are more difficult and that i have practiced far less.  i'll record a first take of this piece sometime this week and post it.

[outin]

this is just a weird piece for me.  i shouldn't be having as much difficulty as i am having considering the amount of time i have practiced it.  i'm having a lot of problems that i don't have on other pieces that are more difficult and that i have practiced far less.  i'll record a first take of this piece sometime this week and post it.

Think about it this way: The time you have practiced the piece is irrelevant if you haven't practiced the right things the right way. Endless repetitions just don't always work. Some things come easy while others don't. How you deal with the things that don't come easy is what counts in the long run... Some things that seemed totally impossible to me before have began to make sense after I figured out new ways to work on them. I'm sure the same will happen to you with this piece if you just keep on trying  new ways until you find the right one.

[cwjalex]

Think about it this way: The time you have practiced the piece is irrelevant if you haven't practiced the right things the right way.

the problem is there is no "right way".  different things work for different people.  i have practiced this piece in many many different ways and i am continuing to progress i am just puzzled and a little surprised at how much difficulty it is giving me. 

[quantum]

Try singing the piece or tapping out its rhythm while you physically walk to your desired tempo (unless you have a keyboard you can play and walk with).  For most people it is fairly easy to maintain a consistent walking rhythm.   Observe what differs from when you are playing at the instrument.

Record yourself playing, and listen back to the recording for the points where the tempo fluctuates.

[cwjalex]

Try singing the piece or tapping out its rhythm while you physically walk to your desired tempo (unless you have a keyboard you can play and walk with).  For most people it is fairly easy to maintain a consistent walking rhythm.   Observe what differs from when you are playing at the instrument.

Record yourself playing, and listen back to the recording for the points where the tempo fluctuates.

my teacher also suggested singing it out.  i play on a keyboard so its easy to record.  i have recorded myself playing and listening to it back but not many times.  i definitely need to do it more.

[outin]

the problem is there is no "right way".  different things work for different people.  i have practiced this piece in many many different ways and i am continuing to progress i am just puzzled and a little surprised at how much difficulty it is giving me. 

I never said there's one right way, I was talking about the right way for you obviously.

If I cannot manage to play something the way I want to no matter how much I try, sometimes I just make myself go back to the beginning. It helps me to take a break, 1-2 weeks or so, enough to "forget" the inefficient movements and the wrong aural image which tends to guide my playing. Then I get back to it with a fresh mind, review my fingering choices and often that's enough to come up with a solution.

But if you feel you're continuing to progress with the way you do now, then there should be no problem. Maybe you just thought things will always be as easy and now you're facing the harsh reality?

[cwjalex]

But if you feel you're continuing to progress with the way you do now, then there should be no problem. Maybe you just thought things will always be as easy and now you're facing the harsh reality?

hah. i think anything is possible, not easy.  although you are right in the sense that i did expect it to be easier than it is. 

[outin]

Cwjalex, I didn't quite get if your issues are more technical or musical...?

Do you hear the music correctly in your head but are not able to reproduce it at tempo or do you not even hear the tempo issues yourself while playing? If it's the latter then leaving your keyboard and instead listening to a good recording and singing the piece might be the thing to do. And I'd definitely ditch the metronome and practice counting instead...

[cwjalex]

Cwjalex, I didn't quite get if your issues are more technical or musical...?

Do you hear the music correctly in your head but are not able to reproduce it at tempo or do you not even hear the tempo issues yourself while playing? If it's the latter then leaving your keyboard and instead listening to a good recording and singing the piece might be the thing to do. And I'd definitely ditch the metronome and practice counting instead...

i think the problems are more technical.  i'll record a first take today.

[cwjalex]

i just posted a recording of this in the audition room.

[quantum]

my teacher also suggested singing it out.

Singing and walking to the tempo simultaneously, may help especially in this case.  The walking will give you a basis for a consistent pulse into which you place the music.