racing...going too fast in a difficult passage

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clif9710
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Joined: Sat Mar 17, 2018 4:01 pm

racing...going too fast in a difficult passage

Post by clif9710 » Wed Dec 12, 2018 5:11 pm

I am practicing Brahm's Hungarian Dance #5 (advanced tour #6) that includes three measures of 16th notes, rapid fingerwork.

What's strange is that I find I can play these measures fine at almost normal tempo if I play them alone. If I play the entire selection, I can't get through the same measures without flubbing them.

After much frustration, I realized that in my nervousness upon reaching these measures, when I play the whole thing, I speed up to race through them instead of keeping to the tempo at which I play the preceding measures. By looking carefully at the red error notes, I see that they come too soon.

In other words, my problem is not that I can't play the three measures fast enough, it's that I haven't been able to control myself and go too fast. This is something I haven't run into before...being required to slow myself down in a difficult section to maintain tempo through the entire piece.

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sw1tch73ch
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Re: racing...going too fast in a difficult passage

Post by sw1tch73ch » Wed Dec 12, 2018 8:09 pm

This may be an instance where playing it at a slow tempo and concentrating on the rhythm of the piece will help. Practice it slow until you have that rhythm solid, then speed it up a little at a time, so that you are practicing the rhythm of the notes at each tempo. Hopefully at full tempo you'll keep the relative rhythm going.
== Just keep playing. Just keep playing. Just keep playing, playing, playing! ==

-- jbs --

clif9710
Posts: 47
Joined: Sat Mar 17, 2018 4:01 pm

Re: racing...going too fast in a difficult passage

Post by clif9710 » Thu Dec 13, 2018 5:28 pm

That's the solution. I'm following it and it's working. Patience is everything!

andrewwegierski
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Re: racing...going too fast in a difficult passage

Post by andrewwegierski » Fri Dec 14, 2018 1:21 pm

This is a common phenomenon in all of music. So, you'll practice a small difficult section over and over, work it up, and think you got it.

But then when you put it in to context with its surroundings, the game completely changes. This is not only mental - being nervous, but also physical - you have to know it so well that when you don't have time to concentrate on just IT, you can still play it.

Like John said, I recommend slowing everything down and putting it into context. The good news is - since you already worked out this challenging bit, it shouldn't be a problem at slower tempos. Be patient and slowly increase the tempo!
Andrew Wegierski

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leriche
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Joined: Sat Jun 15, 2019 11:27 am

Re: racing...going too fast in a difficult passage

Post by leriche » Wed Apr 01, 2020 1:15 pm

Hi
I have exactly the same problem with this piece. Driving me nuts. Will try what was suggested Thanks :D

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