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thestrad.com

10 views on the benefits of slow

practice - The Strad
One of the most important considerations is the choice of tempo at
which to practise. Teachers with a more or less pronounced streak
of sadism have forced students to practise long segments almost
exclusively at an extremely slow tempo the slower, the better.
Aside from being extremely tiring such an approach does not bring
the desired results. The most appropriate policy is to take a best-fit
approach to practising divide it according to the purpose of the
exercise and then assign the most suitable tempo for it. For
example, work on intonation, due to the control required, should be
attempted in small segments and at a rather slow tempo. Larger
segments should be practised at a tempo that ideally allows all the
positive attributes of slow and normal tempos maximum control
with right movements. The Russian professor M.M. Beljakov named
such a tempo working allegro.
Rok Klopi, The Strad, October 2006

Doing slow, analytical practice and studying orchestral scores and

piano accompaniments are essential. At the moment I am preparing
for a concert at the Royal Festival Hall in London, where I am
performing John Taveners The Protecting Veil. When I practise, I
have to concentrate on a particular kind of long and sustained
sound in the highest register of the A string. In order to prepare I
practise regular scales and arpeggios with very slow and long

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bows, always listening to the quality of sound.

Raphael Wallfisch, The Strad, November 2014

Play slowly and practise short sections. If too much happens too
fast, the brain cannot notice small differences. Learning needs to
happen in manageable chunks, and slowly enough for the brain to
notice critical bits of information. The greater the detail that can be
noticed, the richer the feedback loop of learning. If we cannot
manage the learning process, it is simply because we have bitten
off more than we can chew. By working one step at a time, slowly
enough, we ensure a successful process of achieving outcomes.
Piet Koornhof, The Strad, September 2002

The most important reason for practising with a metronome is to

keep you slow. As string players, we are always engaged in
multitasking and if you leave out any of these tasks, the music and
technique both suffer. Being able to think of as many tasks as
possible is one of the main reasons why its important to practise
slowly. It is a proven fact that the more tasks you are able to
perform at the same time, the quicker you will benefit from the
process of osmosis. Because we all have the tendency to play too
fast, we need an outside influence to keep us slow.
Gary Karr,The Strad, July 2010

In his excellent bookPracticing for Artistic Success: The Musicians

Guide to Self-Empowerment, Burton Kaplan urges the necessity of
finding the Tempo of Consistent Control. To find your Tempo of
Consistent Control, you will need a metronome. Then try this
process:

*Set the metronome to the tempo at which you think you can play

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the passage
*Begin playing
*Stop when you make a mistake even a small one and set the
metronome 5-10bpm slower

Repeat this process until you can play through the passage with no
mistakes. After trying this a few times, you will begin to recognise
what a Tempo of Consistent Control feels like it is a calm,
centered feeling that is entirely devoid of anxiety. Stay with your
Tempo of Consistent Control for at least four days, before moving
on to the next comfortable place you will be surprised how much
more secure you feel at the next stop on the metronome now that
your foundation is strong.
Shelly Trampoosh, The Strad, October 2011

I play each section slowly, working on intonation, character and

building up my tempo. I push myself gradually. Some passages will
take longer than others to play at a faster tempo, but I dont move
on the overall speed of any section of the pieceuntil I am ready to
play the whole thing at that speed. For me, this makes the learning
process much faster; it helps to make sure that there are no
sections of the piece that I fear. If I move the whole piece on, then
slow down for one difficult section until I can play it properly, I am
more likely to dread that section when I have to play it up to speed
in performance.
Natalia Lomeiko, The Strad, February 2016

On breaking up the piece into short segments I can carefully

address particular technical challenges, such as intonation and
coordination, without trying to be particularly musical. This might

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include practising in rhythms, trying different bowings, very slow

practice and so on. When I try to go through the piece and bring it
up to tempo, I record myself and put tick-marks by the spots that
are still not perfect. When I start my next session I go to those
particular spots, and when I feel completely secure I erase the ticks.
When there are no more ticks I feel pretty good.
Almita Vamos, The Strad, July 2015

At the moment Im practising the Kodly Solo Sonata for a concert.

In some of the perpetual motion sections, the metronome marking
is = 160. I start at = 120 and run the section through at that
tempo before breaking it down. Where there are semiquavers and
four beats to the bar, I start by holding the first note for one beat
and playing the other notes as written. Then I increase the speed to
= 126 holding the second note of each group, then to = 132
holding the third, = 128 holding the fourth, then = 144 for a
group of eight. I gradually work up to = 160.
Alisa Weilerstein, The Strad, June 2015

Generally for Bach, tempo has to be built up with time. I have a

week to practise the Sixth Suite, so I start off playing the Prelude
slowly, and only after three days, when my body has had a chance
to get used to each position, I start speeding up little by little. By the
sixth day Im finally playing at the correct tempo. That said, theres
always a certain degree of freedom in the Bach Suites Im more
concerned with retaining the dancing mood and the colours of the
piece.
Maxim Rysanov,The Strad, January 2014

In difficult passages, I find it helps to tackle a two-minute excerpt by

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playing it through at a moderate pace. Then evaluate and pick

several smaller sections from that same excerpt, and work on them,
as slowly as necessary, until you understand what is wrong, why,
and what the solutions are. Build up speed, phrasing, dynamics and
then try the original excerpt again. You could try pretending you are
giving yourself a lesson. What would you tell the student you about
the passage that isnt working? More often than not, youll have a
pretty good idea of where the answer lies.
Yevgeny Kutik,The Strad, December 2015

Read: Never practise for more than five hours per day, says violinist
Itzhak Perlman

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