Speed Barrier

If you're hitting speed barriers, you need to go back and work out the "bugs" in your playing. Figure out where the difficulties come from. What notes of the studies tend to get shortchanged? What intervals feel awkward? Does the whole thing feel awkward or do you notice things, slowly but surely, crumbling as you progress? Play VERY slowly (without metronome) and experiment with new motions that are more efficient and less effortful. I can't give you any specific pointers since I can neither listen to you, nor see you play, nor have you given us any details other than that you can't play as fast as you want to. So you'll have to experiment with some new movements on your own. Truly master the new motions at a slow tempo, and you won't even need to incrementally increase speeds with a metronome. You'll find that, when you discover a good technical approach, it carries with it a sort of 'potential for speed' that is apparent from the start. If you don't feel that potential WHILE you are practicing slowly, you won't attain rapid speeds.

I agree with everything said by John, but this part I have found very relevant recently because I have discovered and rediscovered it several times in my own development. Great post John!

Play any five-note group in Hanon way faster than you ever dreamed of, but only five notes, and overhold all five. You will instantly feel in your hand, in between which two notes your hand wants to fall down spoiling your speed. Each microscopic collapse is a speed block. Maybe a five-note group is too much. Start with two notes played extremely fast and overheld, and teach your hand to achieve it without the slightest bit of collapse. When you find that quality it will sound and feel markedly different. Do this with each two notes of an eight-note group. Then groups of three notes (notes 1-2-3 of an eight-note group, then 2-3-4, then 3-4-5 etc). Then four-note groups similarly and finally five-note groups. Let me know if this helps. AFF

Ok. Have made some progress. Still have certain "minor collapses" as Alan names them and want to show you something. Hanon #1 at 65 bpm Hanon #1 at 76 bpm Yes it does. The 3rd and the 4th are the problem. It is a strange feeling. Anyway, I have the assumption that the right hand has the problem of not having the appropiate counterweight. If I press the arm then the wrist blocks itself and the hand doesn't function properly anymore. If I try to loosen up the fingers don't have the necessary "backing" to maintain the key fully pressed. It's something like "hop...hop...hop"...they press until the key reaches the keybed and then they slighlty go up. Not much but enough to interupt the sound. I must stress that this thing doesn't happen always. I have days and days. I think I'm on the right way but the healthy reflexes aren't fully in charge yet.

Some very strange things occured...I posted a recording of the 1st movement from a Clementi sonatina and I realise that a couple of weeks after playing this piece I can't play at that tempo anymore. Even if the tempo was not quite appropriate for me (it was too fast for my technique) I could play it. Now I can't play that fast even with mistakes. I think Alan was right. Each and every minor collapse hinders the musical and rhytmic flow and also reaching higher tempi.

Arrrgh! It's not PRESSING the arm, it's letting the arm hang. If you really let the arm hang you will be totally loose but still have the means to connect your fingers to the keys. Now your in a state where moving your fingers is both necessary and highly beneficial. AFF

I haven't made myself clear...sorry... I wanted to say: "If I press the arm I'm making a mistake because that generates tension. If I try to loosen the arm up, then the fingers don't have a counterweight to keep the key fully pressed." No matter what I do the structure doesn't seem to function as it should. Anyway...I think it's all about practicing slow and being careful to keep your fingers active. However if I activate a finger too much and too sudden then the hand -together with the arm- starts to hop. Tiny little jumps that one can see in the film I've posted.