What tempo to aim for when practicing scales
Hello Dave,
I have noticed that when practicing a lick or a piece in general is that once I achieve certain speed in playing it then when I attempt to play if slower it comes much more easily to me, so basically I aim to play some things I practice at the maximum velocity possible, not because I intend to perform them that way, but because when I do have to perform them in a slower pace they would feel like "a piece of cake".
I am not sure however if that is is best approach so I have decided to ask the master once again.
My question especially concerns practicing scales. I play most of the ones that you explain on the "Movement Exercises Study 2 - Essential Scales" already at 180 BPM (2 notes on a beat).
I had felt pretty confident about them until I have decided to play them in a slower pace and then I noticed that they do not actually come as easy as I had imagined. Moreover my intonation on the bends is sometimes way off...
So then it will be back to square 1 with me and maybe I have to start practicing them at a much slower pace and a tuner in front of me watching out for those bends.
to sum up:
At what tempo(s) would you recommend practicing those essential scales?
Many thanks in advance!
Thanks, Dave! That's what I plan to do. I will take a step back.
I could still use your help with the tempo I should use for the scales.
Off the top of your head: If I had to use a common tempo on my metronime to practice all the essebntial scales in order to improve my intonation, how many bpm would you recomend?
Hello again Angel. I don't have a recommended tempo... start slowly and go as fast as you can play accurately over time.
Thank you, Dave! I will do that.
Hello Angel. I recommend that you play anything that you study at a very slow speed first, making sure that your technique is good, rhythm is good, and your notes are in tune...then speed up over time. Practicing too fast usually leads to many errors that have to be fixed later (sometimes fixing the errors takes much more time than if you practiced them slowly to begin with). This is my experience with students.