A specific accuracy question

[JimDunlop]

I've tried searching for "accuracy" as a keyword, and the best I could come up with were some forum links dealing with this as it relates to fast arpeggios, and stamina using Czerny or Hanon exercices -- whose value (or lack thereof) still seems to be hotly debated by many on this board.....

But specifically speaking.... I'm currently working on: "Csikos Post" by Hermann Necke.  (Popular here in Asia for some reason, but otherwise a seemingly unknown dude)...  A lovely piece to be sure, (not even sure what grade level it would be) and friggin' fast too.  My brain is faster than my hands -- I know exactly the notes I NEED to play, but my hands aren't moving as fast.  I can probly get about 7/10ths up to speed but not as fast as it should be. 

If you aren't familiar with this piece -- the right hand pretty much sustains a full octave as it zips up and down the keyboard in 8ths at Allegro con brio.  A few arpeggios and almost trill-like runs in 16ths -- luckily not too many...

My hands are big enough -- I can play 10ths, but my accuracy is off.  I'm neither reliably short on the 7th nor reliably too long on an aug. 9th.  I just was never a good marksman.  Whenever I went to the shooting range as a kid -- I sucked!  Maybe this is an extension of it... :-)  Is there anything other than hammering away at it (6x10^15 times) until I get it reliably right?  Or is there a more intelligent way?

Thanks in advance!  :-)


MODS: Any chance of moving this to the correct forum???

[jlh]

I am not familiar with this piece, but my initial reaction to your post is: Don't practice it fast all the time!

Start slow and work up incrementally.  You may know exactly the notes to play, but your hands haven't been properly trained in practice if you're having accuracy issues. 

The amount you incrementally raise the tempo in practice depends solely on how fast you can play it without making a mistake.  ANY mistake.  If you can't play it perfectly at a slow tempo, how can you expect accurate results at performance tempo?  If, when practicing you hit some wrong notes and don't stop to correct them, you're essentially training yourself to hit the wrong notes and you will hit them consistently unless you take the time to practice only the right notes.

By slowly raising the tempo, you basically fool your hands into thinking it's not as fast as it actually is.  In other words, when it is finally up to performance tempo, it will be much easier to play and you will hit fewer wrong notes.

Even when it's as fast as you want it to be, still practice it slowly or everything will degrade over time like Newton's second law of thermodynamics.  Also, spend time thinking about the piece and everything you need to do to make a successful performance of it, instead of always just plunking through the notes.

In the words of cellist Colin Carr, "Think twice, play once, instead of playing badly without having thought at all."

[jlh]

I listened to a MIDI file of this piece from this website:
https://www1.kcn.ne.jp/~mappy001/midibox/classics/csikos_post.mid

Is this the same piece?  Sounds like it's a parody of sorts...  I hear some definite Liszt influence...

[JimDunlop]

Yes... that's the piece.  A pretty bad midi unfortunately, but that's it.

Could be a parody.. I don't know.  A parody of what though, exactly?

JD

P.S.  I apologize.  This should have gone into the students' corner forum.  Not this one.   SORRY!!!!