Fast practice, slow progress. Slow practice, fast progress. No practice, no progress: — Fay Adams
Practice at the speed of no mistakes. – Liszt
The experts have spoken! When you practice at a slow, comfortable pace, magic happens. Tricky parts become manageable and confidence is boosted. Sections that looked impossible become playable! Take a breath and embrace taking your time with a section that is difficult. Explore it, break it apart, figure out how it works, and put it back together again (more on this in a future post), but do it without rushing. It’s tempting to want to get it over with quickly, but if we calm our body, mind and playing, we start to make our practice time into a musical meditation. Let’s break down the steps together:
- Take a few slow breaths.
- Choose a small, tricky section of the piece you are learning. No more than 2-4 measures long.
- Play the right hand part slowly. Like snail speed. Then play it three more times.
- Check in with your: rhythm (clap it first if necessary), technique (are there slurs that need to be more legato with a slight lift at the end?) and dynamics.
- Play the left hand part slowly. Then repeat 3+ times checking rhythm, technique and dynamics.
- Play it hands together slowly.
Bonus: add a metronome to keep the tempo steady. Pick a speed well below the actual tempo marking – one that’s slow enough for you to be able to play it accurately. Adjust as necessary as you become more confident.
And don’t worry, playing at a faster tempo will happen naturally as you become more and more comfortable with the piece.
Happy practicing!
Songbird Music 