Ways to Increase Speed
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Ways to Increase Speed
•Start slow and gradually increase the tempo on the metronome
You must start where you can play all the notes correctly. Only increase the speed of the metronome if you are playing the notes correctly and IN TUNE! You may have to start at an eighth note = 60. Then move up to 64…72…78…etc.
•Double each note
This gives you extra time to prepare for the next finger. If the passage consisted of playing D E F A, you would practice DD EE FF AA.
•Fermata (hold) different notes
This also gives you extra time to prepare for the next finger. For example, in a passage of running 16th notes, hold the first note of each grouping of four longer than the others. Then hold the 2nd note of each group, then the 3rd, and finally the 4th.
•Jazz up the rhythms for eighth notes or sixteenth notes
Play dotted sixteenth-sixteenth, sixteenth-dotted sixteenth, or if the passage is triplets, dotted sixteenth-sixteenth-eighth (also known as the Sicilian rhythm). Ask Miss Bartholomew to demonstrate if you are confused!
•Practice the passage forwards AND backwards
Twist your fingers around. Make your brain work extra hard!
•Add a bead to the necklace
Add a note to a sequence each time—DO NOT attempt to continue adding notes until previous notes are in tune and accurate.