Getting Comfortable with Faster Tempos

[SteC]

Hey,

I've historically struggled a little bit with feeling solid at faster tempos. My main question is more from a time point of view. I've spent my years working with the metronome at slow tempos and I feel confident with my time and sense of tempo at slow and medium tempos. But on faster songs I just don't have the same confidence and I often feel like the whole thing is just going to run away from me.

Any thoughts on what to work on to improve in this regard?

Cheers!

 

[Lobster11]

It sounds like you're trying to leap from a tempo you're comfortable with to one that's beyond your current ability. Just take it step by step. Whatever it is you're playing (a scale, a song, etc.), start with a tempo you're very comfortable with and then up the tempo a few notches on your metronome. If you're comfortable at that tempo, bump it up again, etc. I think the trick is to figure out the maximum tempo you can play cleanly and without errors, and practice at that tempo until it becomes comfortable; only then should you bump up the tempo again. The most important thing is to avoid practicing at a tempo that's beyond your currently ability to play error-free, because otherwise you're just practicing making mistakes. Remember, it's not practice that makes perfect; it's perfect practice that makes perfect.

 

[mambo4]

What @Lobster11 said: Find your speed limit of relaxed, accurate playing and slowly push it up. Speed is a by-product of relaxed accuracy. So strive for relaxed, accurate playing and the speed will come.

In my experience, a tune with an originally punishing tempo
Became comfortable (and even got faster ) after a few months of weekly practice
Had I been self disciplined enough to hit that problem daily
I bet I could have shortened months to weeks or even days.

I college I used to get up early to practice my scale exercises to a metronome
and would note the speed At which I felt I was able to play reliably
After a few moths of this I could look back and see proof of my steady progress
That was quite motivating

 

[SteC]

Thanks y'all! Great ideas.

I should try get back into keeping a better log of what I've been working on so that I can see if I've actually been able to consistently push up the tempo over time.

 

[Govner22]

For faster songs it helps me to turn up a little so I can more lightly brush the string and thus more quickly hit the next note. Some folks can dig in deep and play fast and that’s ok too but this works for me.