Back when I took piano lessons, I wanted to play fast. I wanted to get my practice time over with even faster. One of the hardest, but most important lessons I had to learn, and I try my best to impart to students, is that going slow and steady will, in the long, make you able to play fast. That seems counterintuitive, doesn’t it? But it’s true! Spending the time slowly in practice steadily and slowly repeating it to build up agility in your fingers and a steady rhythm. But then…..
The trick that I learned in going from slow to fast is….build up speed slowly! Crazy idea, isn’t it? But it works! If you’re playing steady and accurately at a metronome marking of 60 BPM, and you need to get to 90 BPM, don’t jump to 90 immediately! Go to 75 BPM….halfway between the two, and start again. Once you master it, you guessed it! Move up. If 75 stumps you, back up to 65 or 70. This feels time consuming, but it will help build up confidence, speed and agility. Try it and see!
Harmanny Music Education is now registering students for summer piano, voice, trumpet, beginning guitar or ukulele lessons in June and July. For more information, click here.