4 ms·

agreed, practicing slow enough to get it right is the most important thing for sure. once thats in the bag, then the problem becomes getting it up to speed, and

agreed, practicing slow enough to get it right is the most important thing for sure. once thats in the bag, then the problem becomes getting it up to speed, and techniques you were using at the slow pace can be non-viable past certain tempos. for me, getting it up to speed involves constantly interspersing the slow flawless practice with attempts that are right on the threshold of what i can do, tempo wise.

laxatives 11y ago
That seems surprising. It's not like there's a discrete threshold between "able" and "too fast". I'm not a violin player, but just about anything I can play slowly on a bass or piano, I can also play quickly, given enough practice, even if it means I can only initially play it at quarter or third speed with a metronome. Aside from some virtuouso performances, I think any beginner/intermediate player with a decent ear and headphones/sheet can play any piece at quarter speed. It seems like muscle memory is one of those things you really can achieve through mindless repitition with good technique, while theory requires a lot more focused practice. edit: Okay, disregard that, the above comment is completely different and I guess I agree now.
- nitrogen 11y ago
  An example of the parent comment's point: learning a piece slowly but with poor fingering or posture can lead to one's fingers getting tangled or becoming exhausted and stiff when trying to speed up.
thaumasiotes 11y ago
I read somewhere that good practice for music specifically involves playing the piece through fast, ignoring your own errors, playing it through slowly enough that you don't make an error (and repeating this until you don't make an error), and then playing it at the intended tempo. So to someone this is a well-known idea. Is it not part of standard music instruction?
- bpchaps 11y ago
  I think the point of it is just to push you out of ruts so that you can gain the motivation to get back on track in learning. A good coding analogy might be in biting the bullet and start coding when stuck in a paralysis analysis loop is often a necessity to move on.

laxatives 11y ago

That seems surprising. It's not like there's a discrete threshold between "able" and "too fast". I'm not a violin player, but just about anything I can play slowly on a bass or piano, I can also play quickly, given enough practice, even if it means I can only initially play it at quarter or third speed with a metronome. Aside from some virtuouso performances, I think any beginner/intermediate player with a decent ear and headphones/sheet can play any piece at quarter speed. It seems like muscle memory is one of those things you really can achieve through mindless repitition with good technique, while theory requires a lot more focused practice. edit: Okay, disregard that, the above comment is completely different and I guess I agree now.

nitrogen 11y ago
An example of the parent comment's point: learning a piece slowly but with poor fingering or posture can lead to one's fingers getting tangled or becoming exhausted and stiff when trying to speed up.

thaumasiotes 11y ago

I read somewhere that good practice for music specifically involves playing the piece through fast, ignoring your own errors, playing it through slowly enough that you don't make an error (and repeating this until you don't make an error), and then playing it at the intended tempo. So to someone this is a well-known idea. Is it not part of standard music instruction?

bpchaps 11y ago
I think the point of it is just to push you out of ruts so that you can gain the motivation to get back on track in learning. A good coding analogy might be in biting the bullet and start coding when stuck in a paralysis analysis loop is often a necessity to move on.