The Secret to Playing Fast Isn’t About Speed at All
1. Slow Down to Speed Up
There are many occasions during the process of learning the piano where you might be required to play at a speed that is not only a technical challenge but also a mental challenge. In other words, in order to play at speed, you need to be able to physically move fast enough, and you need your brain to keep up!
A common way that many players use to try to solve these issues is to slow down what you are playing. However, this doesn’t necessarily solve both problems. Slowing down will predominantly solve the brain problem because if you slow something down, your brain will no longer struggle to keep up!
But, what do I actually mean when I say “you need your brain to keep up”?
Well…when you play anything on the piano, in order for it to stick in your head, you need to reliably play it correctly lots of times. If you play something incorrectly most of the time, then it will be difficult to see improvement! This is actually also the same if you play something differently each time as well. Let’s say you use a different set of fingers each time you play something, then you are unlikely to reliably play the section of music correctly.
So, slowing down your playing allows you to reliably play the music correctly and the same every time you play it, which will help build muscle memory and therefore you won’t need your brain to work so hard!
That doesn’t necessarily help you with the first problem though, which is the technical challenge and being able to physically play the music at speed.
2. Control Yourself
So, how do you build the ability to physically play at speed?
The answer is to…play at speed! However, by doing this, you run the same risk I mentioned earlier; you could end up playing incorrectly lots of times and therefore make it difficult to improve. So to ensure that you play both at speed and correctly, you can practice a small amount of notes at a faster speed!
Building technical skills on the piano requires building control into your fingers. Mistakes tend to happen if you practice in a way that doesn’t control the variables, and therefore you lose control of your hands.
For many technical issues in a piece of music, you can preemptively build the technical skills that you need by practicing technical exercises such as scales, arpeggios, Hanon, etc. But there are also many situations that you won’t easily be able to prepare for. A good example of this is in any of the Chopin Nocturnes.
If we look at bar 3 of Chopin’s Nocturne Op.9 No. 1, there are 22 notes to fit in this bar in the right hand. While some parts of this bar can be practiced with exercises (such as the chromatic scale), this bar will still need to be practiced as a standalone issue. Not least because you have to play those 22 notes in the same amount of time that you play 12 notes in the left hand!
So for this, we have our two practice options: a large amount of notes slowly - to help our brain process what we need to play, or a small amount of notes quickly - to help our hands build the technique. For this example, I would likely play through it slowly several times, note the fingers I want to consistently use, and then play through the section in small chunks that are manageable at speed. Throughout this process, I would be trying to play correctly every time!
3. Build Relaxation
One other problem that I have yet to mention is tension. Tension is a problem that often arises when trying to play something at speed…but it doesn’t have to! The reason for tension in most cases is because you are trying to force something rather than being methodical.
Let’s say you have a series of fast scales in a piece of music. If you try to force your hand to play at a speed (or duration) that your brain and technique are not yet ready for, then you will tense up to try and force your hand to keep going. The problem with tension is that, like many things on the piano, if you practice in a tense way, then it is hard to undo later. Much like if you practice with one set of fingers and you try to change them later.
So in order to play without tension, there are two things we can do. Firstly, only play small sections quickly or large sections slowly until you don’t have to think about it. Secondly, build in relaxation!
If you are playing and you feel tension in your hands or wrists, then this is an opportunity for you to build in moments of relaxation into the music to cue yourself to release. Let’s say in the Chopin Nocturne, you can play bar 3 but you have tension in your wrist as you try to play at speed. For this, I would suggest pausing on note 11 (halfway) or more frequently if needed to actively releasing your wrist and fingers before carrying on. Doing this will train in the feeling of releasing tension so that eventually you don’t have to think about it, and your hands will just do it.
Matthew Cawood
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