Getting up to tempo
Hi David,
I'm studying LOA-6. The study song "The Split" is really fast. I started from 60% of the origina tempo, split it into small loops - one per lick/phrase. After I was able to play all the licks comfortably at slow tempo I started playing bigger chunks like whole 4 bar sections or full choruses. Then I memorised the song and now I can play it from memory comfortably at slow tempo.
I'd like to get this song to the full tempo. I started increasing the tempo gradually while focusing on difficult parts. I'm at the point when I can play it at 83-85%, but when I try 90% I loose precision and tone in many faster passages. Especially on fast phrase on bars 9-10 of the head.
So I started focusing on this phrase at about 85% of the tempo, but I notice no improvement. I feel like I'm actually regressing - the more I practice it the more I struggle with playing it precisely, relaxed and with good tone.
I have similar problem with other songs. All my submissions for LOA programme where done at 85-90% of original tempo. I'm still working on getting "Gary's Blues" from LOA-4 to the original tempo. I'm at 95% and still there are two phrases that I'm messing up quite often at that tempo.
What is the right approach to learn to play at a higher tempo? Is it good investment of time at this point of my study?
Kai.
Hi David,
I followed your advice and gave The Split some rest and practiced scales and played other songs for a couple of days.
After coming back to it I focused on practicing fast passages from The Split optimising my technique for speed. I realised that practicing at slower tempos caused development of the habits that don't work at full tempo. For example I was playing fat juicy slaps on almost every note. This was causing problems at high tempo in fast phrases where playing slaps is not possible or doesn't sound that good. After correcting this and practicing for a week or so I was ready for the recording.
I just submitted my LOA-6 material with The Split at full tempo :)
This article has interesting observations on the subject:
https://bulletproofmusician.com/struggling-to-get-a-tricky-passage-up-to...
Regards,
Kai
Hello Kai. You're going about it the correct way in your studies. Part of your progress as a student is to challenge yourself with faster and faster tempos. Simply put, there is music out there you'll be asked to play (as a member of a band for example) that are at faster tempos.
I'm okay, as you mentioned, with a submission being sent in at 15%, so that's fine with me. In regards to challenging yourself to play material at a faster tempo, I've found after much work with not much progress (and you've been following a good study routine, which you have been, to move on to other material for a while... cross training as it were... focusing on playing your scales at increasingly fast tempos, etc. When returning to The Split, you may find that the time away and this cross training to be enough to kick you to the faster tempos. Give it a try... work on other material for a while that continues to challenge you and then go back to this song. Let me know how it works.