Annoying moments in getting a piece up to speed

[sonata_5]

Have you ever had that moment getting a piece up to speed, and you get frustrated and take a break, then you try it one more time and it works! But then you try it again and you overthink it so it doesn’t happen again anymore! This always happens to me! 

[brogers70]

Yes, that happens. Getting up to tempo, for me anyway, is not a gradual, steady increase. It's more like a noisy graph in which the trend is upwards but there are a lot of day to day ups and downs. Over time, though, the tempo at which I can reliably play without crashing does increase. Also, every place where you screw up is good information, so even if a crash seems to have been totally random and just due to loss of focus, I still go back the the point where the problem occurred and try to figure out what the fault was and then drill the spot and a bar or two on either side, hands separate and hands together many times until it feels relaxed and comfortable at speed. It helps. And yes, it's definitely frustrating.

[pianistavt]

Have you ever had that moment getting a piece up to speed, and you get frustrated and take a break, then you try it one more time and it works! But then you try it again and you overthink it so it doesn’t happen again anymore! This always happens to me! 

You didn't ask for help but I assume you'd like some ??
An effective solution is to use the metronome to edge the tempo up, gradually.  Also, apply this to hands-alone practice.  I find my lh lags behind the right in increasing tempo, so I play lh alone with the metronome a fair amount.
Good luck.

[lelle]

Yes, that happens. Getting up to tempo, for me anyway, is not a gradual, steady increase. It's more like a noisy graph in which the trend is upwards but there are a lot of day to day ups and downs. Over time, though, the tempo at which I can reliably play without crashing does increase. Also, every place where you screw up is good information, so even if a crash seems to have been totally random and just due to loss of focus, I still go back the the point where the problem occurred and try to figure out what the fault was and then drill the spot and a bar or two on either side, hands separate and hands together many times until it feels relaxed and comfortable at speed. It helps. And yes, it's definitely frustrating.

Sounds familiar!

OP: I'd consider the first time you can do something fast not as "ah, yes I can do it now", but rather a small test in fast tempo to collect information for what you need to work on. You "can do it" when you have gradually and consistently been able to do it mistake free at a higher and higher tempo until you reach your goal.