Mozart Sonata no 8 speed, how can I feel again secure?

[faa2010]

Since February, I started to learn the first movement of Sonata no 8 of Mozart in A minor. My teacher has told me that I have made good progress despite some flaws.
.:
However, today, I watched the next performance:

Listening to it, has made me feel insecure about my progress, because I have reached the speed of 60 bpm and it is very slow, besides some false notes. I tried to played it faster, but it just made it worse.

I think it was better when I didn't listened it or compared it to another performance.

What can I do?, please, I need some suggestions or an advice. On Wednesday is the exam and I am going to play that movement.

[dogperson]

My advice  is to go back to playing it very slowly, as slow as you need to go get it extremely accurate. Repeat until you know it is accurate, and then increase the speed gradually to a level where you still have the accuracy.  You will sound much more convincing and will get better marks if you play it well regardless of the speed. Play it accurately and musically.   You were comparing yourself to one of the worlds best concert pianists, an unrealistic comparison. 

[bernadette60614]

I've played this as well, and listened to the same recording.  However, what helped me:

Listen to other artists play this piece.  Not all of them play it at this tempo.  In fact, while it is a matter of taste, I find her tempo too fast.

I think what is more important than the speed is the contrast in this piece. This was written after Mozart learned of his mother's death, so there's the typical light, airy Mozart and then there are some deeply somber, and angry sections.

I am far from a professional, but I think it is better to have a "clean" performance which "speaks" (evokes the contrasting moods) than lightning tempo.

[faa2010]

Thanks,

I recorded the movement, in some part I got nervous because when I heard a flute I though it was a drill alarm.

[_piano_angel]

I would also say practice slowly and try to get every note right and when you can do that, try to speed it up little by little. This sonata is really not that easy (although imo the second movement has some parts that are way harder than the first, even though it's slower)
I've listened to your recording and I agree it's really quite slow but one can always improve.
I'd also recommend to get an overview for where you need to play louder or more silent and where to make accents.
And as said before try to listen to different recordings. Just because one pianist plays it doesn't mean everyone else does. Here are 2 very different ones for example :

I would also recommend working more on this sonata musically.
Otherwise if you really can't get it up to speed without making mistakes etc. , then try an easier sonata the next time . The a minor is one of the most difficult ones by Mozart as far as I know

[adodd81802]

It is definitely too slow (in my opinion) Not just that I think it's too slow, I can hear it doesn't sound like you feel it's ready. If it was your intentional tempo, I would hear that through the performance, no matter what the tempo.

The fact your trills are at a faster speed than the rest of this piece, suggests to me that your fingers can play faster, In which case you probably haven't spent enough time on the whole piece.

How long have you spent? (I know you said February, but what does that translate into actual daily practice time)

It is a big piece to be fair.

Obviously I can't see you in the file you provided, but when I hear it, I imagine seeing you really intensely looking at your hands with your brain fully engaged to ensuring you get the notes as correct as possible. Possibly looking quite rigid in your hands and arms... maybe i'm wrong.. Nevertheless

While it's nice your focused, it would be clear that you have not spent enough time getting the actual notes comfortable under your hands as you're still thinking too hard about hitting the right notes than you are building up speed and musicality.

As an echo of what has been said here, it would help, I am sure, to slow down even a little more, find where you can play the notes without worrying about hitting the correct notes. When you're comfortable enough that you are not tense, you are not worried, consider grabbing yourself a metronome and finding out what that tempo is and give that as a base to work from.

Next rather than run through the whole piece continuously, consider working on just the first phrase or couple bars, isolate them and improve them.

Rather than just mindlessly increasing the tempo every repetition, my suggestion would be considering rhythmic practice where you'll be simultaneous working on 2 things (which are tied together really)

1: Increasing speed
2: Controlling your fingers

Please let me know if you'd like a further explanation on what rhythmic practice actually is, but I've found it to help.

Also note, I'm offering advice on my own personal experiences, if you have a teacher, your initial best course of action is to speak with them.

[adodd81802]

N/A

[dogperson]

Faa.
Good luck on your exam today..... Hope the Mozart goes well for you

[faa2010]

Hello,

Today was my exam, yes, it was slow, and it was somehow plain(although I tried my best to give it the correct pianos and fortes). However, my teacher gave me a passing note because she has seen my progress and acknowledged that it is a difficult piece.

She also told me to start getting the second movement, and to start to put the pedal, the colors and increase the speed.

Right now, I have done some recordings. Unfortunately they are too big to convert to mpg and I don't want to use youtube because of security issues, so I will try to find how to download it.

I hope it is better, but I played it faster than in my exam, because I decided to pay more attention to the accuracy than in the speed, and it is thanks to one of your comments adodd81802, where you said that because of hearing my trills, you said that I can play it faster.

Anyway, the teacher gave me the chance to improve it during summer vacations, as well as starting the second movement, continue with the Reverie of Debussy, and looking for new pieces, a Sinfonia of Bach (i have played already the 1st one), a Romantic piece (I was thinking in another Chopin Nocturne), a new Postmodern or Impressionist piece and a mexican one (going to start learning Danza Cubana 3 of Armengol). Oh, and also exercise 3 of Czerny op 299.