Am I Playing The Piano Fast Enough?

This seems to be the principal worry of many piano students. I do not, of course, dispute the fact that it is important to play certain pieces fast. Otherwise one cannot get the desired effects.

Still, it is a bad habit to try to play a new piece fast from the beginning. It only causes serious delays. Faults creep in that are not noticed and then are hard to eradicate. And worst of all, it ruins clearness, that virtue that perhaps more than anything else enables us to tell the artist from the novice.

Dear Students: when you take up the study of a new piece, do not worry about whether or not you are going to be able to play it fast enough. Play it slowly and correctly and let it work itself up. Remember what the great pianist, Harold Bauer, said, “If one catches the spirit of the music, it doesn’t make much difference whether or not it is played a few degrees faster or slower.”

Time after time, I have come across pianists who cannot read music well and rely on memorization to save them. Do you admire pianists who can just pick up any piece of sheet music and play without stumbling? If you want to take your sight reading to the next level then check out the piano course "Mastering The Art Of Piano Sight Reading!"