Welcome to LivingPianos.com, I’m Robert Estrin. The subject today is about how speeding causes accidents. That’s a really interesting phrase that somebody brought to my attention recently. I thought maybe I could shed some light on what he’s talking about because he is a piano teacher who is in the piano industry and he has keen insights. When you play a performance, your heart goes a little faster. You may get a little bit nervous, and you will tend to go faster without realizing it. And what happens? Things fall apart, and it can become a disaster!
I always recommend taking a deep breath when you sit down to play for someone.
Before you start to play, think about your tempo, and then slow it down a notch in your mind. When you think of your piece, then just slow it down a little, you might be at exactly the right speed. What else can you do to avoid speeding and causing accidents in your playing? Well, one thing is to practice with a metronome. Try to have a little margin above your performance tempo. Practice playing faster than you need to play so that, in the inevitable situation where you play a little faster, you are prepared. Maybe you’re accompanying another musician and they take a faster tempo, so you have no choice. Be prepared by practicing faster.
Lighten up your playing.
Speed and power are inversely related. The faster you play, the lighter you must play in order to avoid fatigue. So if you find you have to go faster for whatever reason, lighten up your playing. Conversely, an incredibly valuable technique to avoid problems when playing fast is practicing slowly. You can develop security by playing very deliberately at a slow speed and playing very articulated notes with raised fingers. This trains your hands to know which fingers are down and which fingers are up. If I were playing the E-flat impromptu of Schubert, in order to play it up to speed, I would have to play extremely lightly with my fingers right on the surface of the keys. It would be really difficult to play that with raised fingers. It’s literally painful to do that! However, when playing slowly, that’s exactly what you want to do. Feeling each finger on each key is so satisfying. It trains your hands and really solidifies your musical performance.
You want to have the opportunity to find any weaknesses by playing slowly.
It’s like putting your playing under a microscope. It’s an analytical way of making sure everything is secure. If you play fast all the time, mistakes will creep in. You might not have absolute clarity. If you were to play fast all the time and then slow down what you were doing, you might find that instead of playing every note cleanly, you might actually be overlapping notes. If you only play fast, how do you know the releases are really true and precise? Slow playing allows you to analyze every finger that’s down and every finger that’s up.
Remember these tips!
In performance, deliberately play a little bit slower. Prepare yourself by practicing slowly with raised fingers to solidify your playing. You can also do progressively faster metronome speeds so you can get up to speed cleanly. As you get faster, stay closer to the keys. Try to get your music at a faster speed than you will perform so you have a margin of safety in your playing, I hope this is helpful for you! Thanks again for joining me, Robert Estrin, here at LivingPianos.com, Your Online Piano Resource.
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For premium videos and exclusive content, you can join my Living Pianos Patreon channel! www.Patreon.com/RobertEstrinContact me if you are interested in private lessons. I have many resources for you! Robert@LivingPianos.com
6 thoughts on “Speeding Causes Accidents”
I don’t know if this is a common issue, but I find that I can play faster and accurately on real ivory keys. On the acrylic keys when I go fast I get a bit goofy, almost sliding. Are all acrylic keys so glossy and shiny like those on my Schimmel? I also like the feel of playing on wood keys that some organs have. Recently I played on an organ that has keys made of cow bones, my fingers felt more “secure”
I find that plastic keys are more secure with dry fingers and ivory keys have a better grip if your fingers are slightly sweaty.
Dec. 18, 2023
Dear Robert,
Dec. 18, 2023
Dear Robert,
I confirm everything you say in this video,
and I confirm it by an experience I am having practicing Bach’s Chaconne from his Partita #2 in D minor.
As I am sure you know, Bach wrote it for one of his favorite instruments, the violin,
but it makes a remarkable piece of keyboard music when played an octave lower.
There are passages with single-note runs that befuddle one.
They can only be learned by slow practice with raised fingering on every note.
But when you try to play it up to speed, you have to have a light touch.
I thought I was nuts in the way I have been practicing this piece,
but you confirmed in this video that I am right on track!
In addition to livingpianos.com being my online piano store,
you, with your livingpianos.com videos are my online piano teacher!
Thank you so much.
Sincerely,
Charles in Albuquerque
In fact, aside from selling pianos all over the country, I teach students online all over the world! The Bach D minor Chaconne has several different transcriptions. Brahms has one for the left hand only! The Busoni transcription is my favorite!
I think the digital piano can offer more scope in establishing good tempi and smooth and musical performances .During practices, change your voice from piano to organ or any other voice..The changing in sound is different and your musical ear as well as your technical finger action will sharpen up as you play through the sections of your piece.
This way of practising with different “voice” really helps you to maintain a desired and flowing tempi for your pieces.
I always tell people to play on as many different pianos as possible because you gain insights into your playing with a different sounds and response. Using a digital piano in this way, provides similar benefits!