The Secret Power of Extreme Slow Practice for Bach’s French Suite

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Welcome to LivingPianos.com, I'm Robert Estrin. Today I'm going to tell you the secret of extreme slow practice. This is an incredibly valuable technique. I'm going to demonstrate how this works and how it can be unbelievably valuable for your practice. I'm going to play part of the Bach French Suite in G major. The second movement, the Courante, goes really fast. I'm going to play it, and then I'm going to solidify it using extreme slow practice right in front of you. I'll explain how valuable this is for you for a number of reasons. But first, let's have some music!

[@GarySherrill]

Thank you for your excellent advice. I'm nearly 70-years old and am struggling with older pieces. Practicing slowly will help me to clean up my fumbles and train wrecks.

[@fortissimoX]

I've done a lot of experimenting with slow practice, and I can't recommend it enough! Here are a few of my tips for those who want to take it to another level. - Play based just on your tactile feeling, without looking at the keyboard. This literally means never ever looking at keyboard, just look at the score and then very slowly, find where are other notes if there are some bigger jumps, and play it. - Instead of focusing on hands and / or score, focus on all other parts of your body. Is there any tension in your body while playing? If so, consciously release that tension while playing. Let the only tension in your body be the one you intentionally create for the sake of the performance. - What about your breathing during playing? Pay close attention to it, is it relaxed? If not, that could also mean that you are not playing slow enough. - Can you notice any thoughts that are coming to you while you are playing, that have nothing to do with playing? If so, try just igoring them and bring your attention back to playing. From my experience, those who are considered prodigies in music, are those who have natural born ability to be in that state of focus all the time during their performance. That comes just naturally to them, and in most cases they don't even understand why other mortals struggle so much 🙂 For the rest of us, well, we can do our best to bring more focus and joy in our playing, hoping that we will be able to be realize as much as we can of our potential.

[@velcroman11]

Thank you Robert slow practice is so important. My teacher says to me ALL THE TIME, “practice slowly”. She says if you think you are playing slowly, play slower.

[@Lutemann]

One summer after I graduated from music school I came up with the idea that at some tempo I could I could play my classical guitar repertoire as solidly as the best players out there. So I set out to never practice anything any faster than the speed where this absolute solidity occurred. It was a very tough, rather boring summer, but it worked. This is not easy to do but it works. It really upped my level.

[@M_SC]

Wow. I’m imagining that and it’s quite the summer

[@Lutemann]

@@M_SC It was very tough. I think it changed my personality.

[@robertdyson4216]

This is what I picked up from Shura Cherkassky. He said - people will be surprised how slowly I practice placing each finger in the middle of the key.

[@josephboucher3898]

One of my teachers once told me that Rachmaninoff would practice so slowly that a listener often couldn't identify the piece. Possibly apochryphal, but certainly believable. I take a part of most practice sessions and do just that, and what I've learned about the mechanics of making sound is well worth the time. It's almost meditative, and bad sound production just blares out. Thanks Robert!

[@synesthetically]

The story comes from Abram Chasins and his visit to Rachmaninoff where he heard Rachmaninoff practicing the G-sharp minor Chopin etude, Op. 25, No. 6, at the pace of 20 seconds per measure.

[@mikeportjogger1]

I don't actually play keyboards but I've taken this on board as excellent advice for improving for the instruments I do play.

[@theUrbanJoe]

From my first Bach pieces until today I focus on caressing the phrases, notes and keys. I break it down and polish it that way. Slow is good to be able to really hear what’s going on. Even in Bach, I work for subtle dynamic shading to shape the phrases. It takes concentration and focus to make music vs just hammering notes. Listeners can always tell when a performer is truly connected with the music! I was also blessed my grandmother was a very accomplished, beautiful pianist.

[@lawrencetaylor4101]

My favorite guitar teacher says to use extreme slow practice. And when it gets more polished, slow it down some more. Very good video, Robert. Merci.

[@nickk8416]

Thank You Robert for such wise advice. I wish I had this 50 years ago. I took your slow practice advice on both Liebestraume cadenza's and after a couple of weeks they roll off my fingers. Regards.

[@RareguyUk]

Great advice, I couldn’t agree more!

[@rgnyc]

Slow practice and "hands separated" were my piano teacher's strategies for me when I was a young student, and I've always returned to them.

[@jeremiahreilly9739]

Robert, thanks. Love the advice. As a classical guitarist as well as a pianist, I practice guitar MUCH more slowly, say 1/16th note @ 40bpm. AND, actually half that tempo! At the first click I prepare my fingers and at the second click I play. Prep. Play. Prep. Play. Set the metronome to the briefest note in the piece. Now that's slow practice.

[@racine09]

I am finding this to be true. It locks in coordination and confidence.

[@ToddEB]

This helps for my guild recital on Friday!

[@lawriefoster5587]

Once again, thank you. This works with learning how to type, also, if I may suggest.

[@mikesmovingimages]

Not only slowly, but slow enough that in your mind you can easily anticipate the next notes/chords as your play them, from memory.

[@ZoltanTemesvari_temy]

The French Courante has never been this fast dance. It was rather majestic.

[@redMaple_QC]

I used to repeat words over and over and over. It's true that it doesn't sounds like words.

[@desiderioelielton2051]

The best way to practice is considering two beats for each tempo.

[@ajames283]

Pro tip: play back slowly and harmonize every accented beat

[@goranvuletic8873]

I am self-taught and the problem I had with practicing is that I didn't believe in the connection between extremely slow and normal. I couldn't understand how the slow can engrave it in my brain to later play it faster when it looks as if I am playing something completely different. But it's "See and believe!"

[@LivingPianosVideos]

That's when progressively faster metronome speeds can be a lifesaver! Try going one notch at a time, particularly with specific sections that are problematic, not necessarily playing through an entire piece notch by notch.

[@TheCompleteGuitarist]

And there was me waiting for the extreme slow, is it in part 2?

[@DihelsonMendonca]

💥 Although Franz Liszt could play anything by sightreading, he says on a letter that when he wanted to learn a new piece and memorize it, he would play very very slowly, and store the information in the brain, carefully to not forget anymore. So, one of the secrets is really to play very slow and only after completely understood, raise speed gradually. 🎉❤

[@robcat2075]

He thought that was extremely slow.

[@eric1966tomson]

Yes it is 😌

[@deedeewinchur]

I KNOW this yet not doing it, so I'm gonna do it. One bar at a time veeery sloooow, one note after another. I'm playing flute btw.

[@lilyofthefoxvalley]

I'm always telling my students that I'm talking to myself every bit as much as to them when I tell them to practice slowly.....

[@yangluo]

When you put glasses on and play, it almost looks like Perahia…

[@dsargeant]

Set a metronome to click twice for every 16th note.

[@BitXBitKeys]

Did anyone else ask themselves…Is that slow? Wow Robert, you are talented. Would you recommend starting even slower if that felt fast? Or does that mean the piece is too advanced.

[@paulkramer7844]

In Germany they have the students also work on pieces above their level, because in time, their technique will rise up to the level of the piece. That is how I learned Beethoven's Appassionata - years of slow practice and gradual progress until one day I discovered I could play it fast.

[@LivingPianosVideos]

Absolutely! Play at whatever speed you have complete security.

[@lloydlim]

It’s always a bit funny to me when I say “play it slow,” because I know I’ll have to say “slower than that” 2x, followed by “in slow motion.”

[@frankargento2569]

I like to set the metronome to the sixteenths at the slow speeds.

[@LivingPianosVideos]

It's important to find the speed at which you have total security.

[@andrewash9318]

Yes, it’s true

[@AzeveidoMateus]

For me it’s minute waltz. I can play it, but not clean. No matter how much I practice.

[@zappajohn1176]

Maestro una consulta ¿este consejo solo es para memorizar bien la pieza? ¿Para alcanzar velocidades altas en ciertos pasajes de la pieza se deben usar otras estrategias?

[@CD318]

GJ, Bob

[@ericrakestraw664]

The Bach courante you played sounds like one of the Goldberg Variations.

[@scarbo2229]

Yes, same key, G major.

[@SENTIENT.7]

What metronome are you using?

[@LivingPianosVideos]

It's this one: www.amazon.com/Wittner-865061-Metronome/dp/B0002E2YMG/ref=sr_1_21?crid=2INBDYCFSCN5G&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.Sa-z7STkQu3EdtwlnlftfxsfmrtRjYHV_gAm-e5jAssDamAKQBQgWR_75cTjBTPRjc0w9-QOrJXQr7hnn4spo1Bt76WKgX6feP8LIeeCPuIMQXeVLCgawfTvO8U2s-Itck-RTIPfUy4OAciefcjb-HgUHUjnnm2c8JUrEy7dubhtGDXJ51ly7KNQkJdgV0VQhSQihRuwg0CCrHWiNuN7pKLZLqWkaBZ8VBmpcmtjj4g.g_BpWk_VDdHiE7i09QUwf-dZu7M1XxXhph3il74ta1s&dib_tag=se&keywords=metronome&qid=1737040275&sprefix=metronome%2Caps%2C125&sr=8-21&xpid=rLXi3QsorFTQZ

[@SENTIENT.7]

Awesome thank you.

[@RangerB-16]

That’s fast for me…just a beginner. Slow is when you make no mistakes.

[@LivingPianosVideos]

You must find the speed at which you can play with total comfort and accuracy and work up from there.

[@taniacummings9207]

I think most people play Bach too fast. The beauty and intricacy really comes out at a somewhat slower pace. I can't play fast these days anyway. I'm doing everything more slowly!

[@oneirdaathnaram1376]

@@taniacummings9207 I think exactly the same way as you. J.S. Bach's music is that much perfect that it sounds more or less okay even at very high speeds. But when it becomes breathless, then a lot of soul is lost. By that I do not want to advocate any "romantic" approach of playing Bach (with rubati and overstressed accents etc.). But the lines should be well articulated, at times weighing the right hand, at times weighing the left hand, and at times legato, at times staccato or a rhythmical mixture of both. My master of that kind of playing Bach is András Schiff. Barenboim is nicely expressive too.

[@man0sticks]

Extremely slow practice may or may not be beneficial, depending on how it's done. Robert fails to mention one important aspect: What are we to be thinking about as we practice slowly? The closest he comes is when he says "look at the score." I assume that he means reading the piece from the score as if playing it for the first time, which is not how anyone plays a piece that they have played many times. Once the piece is in the hands, we tend to stop using the score except for a few visual cues at certain points in the piece, or we play entirely from memory. Extremely slow practice short circuits the process of playing from memory and forces us to see the piece anew. Having done that, the real challenge is to then incorporate any improvements back into the piece when playing at speed, without old habits reasserting themselves.

[@LivingPianosVideos]

This method of practice is for a piece you can already play on a fairly high level. It is not intended as a substitute for formative practice.

[@yeohi]

​@@LivingPianosVideosCan you please explain formative practice or give a link to a video about it?

[@doranselwyn8608]

I still couldn't keep up reading the music with your slow version.

[@LivingPianosVideos]

You have to find the tempo that works for you.

[@mrdarbab]

That’s normal speed. I’m still learning the left hand till it’s someday automatic.

[@rabeepopal1669]

❤

[@thomasg321]

That wasn’t that slow. Cut it in half.

[@LivingPianosVideos]

It’s important to take whatever speed you are totally comfortable with.

[@thomasg321]

@@LivingPianosVideos ok

[@christopherczajasager9030]

It's not a courante....it is a corrente😅

[@1firstguitar]

I don't think your "slow" playing was really that slow. Slow enough so that you can think clearly about every note, yes? Maybe even solfege one melody while hearing the intervals of the other?

[@LivingPianosVideos]

Depending upon the piece, and the level it is at, sometimes, I play things incredibly slowly to gain value.

[@michaelkennis6097]

I do not like those very fast baroque works, in fact i find it interferes with the musicality and beauty of the score.

[@taniacummings9207]

Oh I so agree. I wrote a post on here earlier, said I thought most people play Bach too fast. The beauty really comes out at slightly slower speed. I have reached an age where my fingers and learning brain are slower so maybe I am biased 😊

[@oneirdaathnaram1376]

I would not even say that there do exist "very fast baroque works" as speed indications often lack in the original score (or are being hinted at only with the title of a certain type of dance), and the decision for a certain speed is the result of the interpretation of nowadays modern practice. And I very much do agree that very often I find the speed of a rendition bluntly exaggerated. I do not want to hear virtuosity, I do not want to hear many notes. I want to hear music. Music that breathes and touches me and that has a nice tone (while not excluding some expressive accents at times). After all, it boils down to the question what speed brings out best the musicality and beauty of the score. Overrushing certainly blurs anything, I agree.

[@Doshbuzz]

Slow not slow enough

[@qwaqwa1960]

A bit shocking you're using an edited edition...

[@qwaqwa1960]

And then you show a clean one. Odd... :-}

[@LivingPianosVideos]

I use many different editions for all the music I play. I always reference urtexts.