So far we have examined this question from two ultra important aspects: How fast CAN you play? (the mechanical considerations of technique and physical ability) and How fast SHOULD you play? (the musical aspects of maximizing the artistic elements of your piece.) There are just a couple other vital things to say on this topic.
1. "Slow and steady beats fast and erratic everytime" This is a catchy way to express a basic truth about both what a piano student CAN do and SHOULD do regarding tempo.
Artistically, the fundamental assumption of every single listener I've ever encountered in 40 years of professional performance is that the underlying beat of music is STEADY. A listener does not even need to know that particular piece of music to know that steadiness is how it is supposed to go. Even with accelerations and decelerations, steadiness rules.
Technically, this truth sets the pace for your performance. No matter what your desire, good performance requires you to play the piece only as fast as you can keep the beat while not making errors. Pauses, wrong notes, confusion, stop and start; all these things indicate that you are performing too damned fast. Slow down. It is not relevant whether you like it or not. A good performance demands even playing.
It must be noted here that if your audience is ONLY yourself, then all bets are off. You are welcome to do any old thing that makes you happy. If you actually like a stop-start-redo type playing, then go to it. Do NOT, however, make the mistake of thinking anyone else does. They will find this performance sadly lacking in quality. Also, you personally will never get to enjoy the physical sensation of making music with good , solid, steady rhythm. If you don't mind making these sacrifices, then fine, but they ARE sacrifices you WILL make.
Additionally, this type of playing is not very effective practice, either. Think of it. You hit the wrong note - once. You stop and then hit the right note - once - and move on. From your hands' point of view, it's a 50/50 proposition whether the next run through you will hit a "correct" note or a "wrong" note. Want to improve your odds of always hitting the correct note? Then stop and practice hitting that correct note again and again. Only by grooving-in the action by sheer repetition can you increase your body's chances of always doing "the right thing."
2. Find the "sweet spot" between playing too fast to stay steady and accurate and playing fast enough to make the music 'make sense."
A person can play so slowly that the notes are simply too far apart to relate to each other. No actual music is heard, even though the fingers are hitting the right keys. This is a huge problem, as any piano student knows that the goal is to make music. However, without any music being heard and understood by the mind, the student has no model of how that music is supposed to sound. This leads folks to only play tunes they already know. We will discuss this concept of "modeling" next week. It's a huge deal which can both help and hinder if not done right. But this essay is about tempo...
I believe that any piece that must be played so slowly that you can't hear any music out of it is just too hard for you right now. You might fix this by separating your hands to make the job easier and thus be able to play faster while maintaining accuracy and steadiness. But if the notes STILL don't make music in your head, then find something easier until your technical skill is up to the harder piece.
It should be noted that digital pianos and keyboards fix this entire problem. Simply record the music slowly enough to get the notes and fingering correct and then, upon playing the recording back, speed it up with your tempo control until it sounds right. All current keyboards can do this, and have been able to do so for several years. Thus, you get the best of both worlds - the practice of correct action, done slowly enough to ensure accuracy and steadiness, and the model of how the finished piece will sound so you have that to guide your efforts.
I hope these last few essays have helped. I know this material has been enormously useful to my own students.
1. "Slow and steady beats fast and erratic everytime" This is a catchy way to express a basic truth about both what a piano student CAN do and SHOULD do regarding tempo.
Artistically, the fundamental assumption of every single listener I've ever encountered in 40 years of professional performance is that the underlying beat of music is STEADY. A listener does not even need to know that particular piece of music to know that steadiness is how it is supposed to go. Even with accelerations and decelerations, steadiness rules.
Technically, this truth sets the pace for your performance. No matter what your desire, good performance requires you to play the piece only as fast as you can keep the beat while not making errors. Pauses, wrong notes, confusion, stop and start; all these things indicate that you are performing too damned fast. Slow down. It is not relevant whether you like it or not. A good performance demands even playing.
It must be noted here that if your audience is ONLY yourself, then all bets are off. You are welcome to do any old thing that makes you happy. If you actually like a stop-start-redo type playing, then go to it. Do NOT, however, make the mistake of thinking anyone else does. They will find this performance sadly lacking in quality. Also, you personally will never get to enjoy the physical sensation of making music with good , solid, steady rhythm. If you don't mind making these sacrifices, then fine, but they ARE sacrifices you WILL make.
Additionally, this type of playing is not very effective practice, either. Think of it. You hit the wrong note - once. You stop and then hit the right note - once - and move on. From your hands' point of view, it's a 50/50 proposition whether the next run through you will hit a "correct" note or a "wrong" note. Want to improve your odds of always hitting the correct note? Then stop and practice hitting that correct note again and again. Only by grooving-in the action by sheer repetition can you increase your body's chances of always doing "the right thing."
2. Find the "sweet spot" between playing too fast to stay steady and accurate and playing fast enough to make the music 'make sense."
A person can play so slowly that the notes are simply too far apart to relate to each other. No actual music is heard, even though the fingers are hitting the right keys. This is a huge problem, as any piano student knows that the goal is to make music. However, without any music being heard and understood by the mind, the student has no model of how that music is supposed to sound. This leads folks to only play tunes they already know. We will discuss this concept of "modeling" next week. It's a huge deal which can both help and hinder if not done right. But this essay is about tempo...
I believe that any piece that must be played so slowly that you can't hear any music out of it is just too hard for you right now. You might fix this by separating your hands to make the job easier and thus be able to play faster while maintaining accuracy and steadiness. But if the notes STILL don't make music in your head, then find something easier until your technical skill is up to the harder piece.
It should be noted that digital pianos and keyboards fix this entire problem. Simply record the music slowly enough to get the notes and fingering correct and then, upon playing the recording back, speed it up with your tempo control until it sounds right. All current keyboards can do this, and have been able to do so for several years. Thus, you get the best of both worlds - the practice of correct action, done slowly enough to ensure accuracy and steadiness, and the model of how the finished piece will sound so you have that to guide your efforts.
I hope these last few essays have helped. I know this material has been enormously useful to my own students.
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