How to build speed without losing time

Speed comes from raising the tempo in small steps you can already play cleanly. This guide gives you the steps, the rules for when to move up and a 60-minute session to run with a metronome.

Get it right, then in time, then fast

A fast passage that rushes or wobbles sounds worse than the same passage played slower and even. Work in this order, and only move to the next step once the one before it holds up.

  1. Right notes, right fingering or sticking
  2. Every note sits with the click
  3. Raise the tempo while keeping 1 and 2

If going faster makes your timing slip, you've gone too far. Drop back to the last tempo that was clean and spend a few more minutes there before you try again.

Find your clean tempo

Your clean tempo is the fastest you can play a passage correctly, in time and without tensing up, three times in a row. Find it by starting slow and going up 4 BPM at a time until something breaks. The last tempo before the break is your number. Most of your practice happens just below it, with short trips just above.

  • 80-90%, below: Repetition that stays clean. Use it to settle fingerings and warm up the passage.
  • 100%, at your number: Hard but possible. This is where you earn the next step up.
  • 105-110%, just above: Short bursts only, a beat or a bar at a time.
  • 120%+, too far: You'll tense up and fluff notes. Repeating that teaches your hands the wrong version.

When to move the tempo up

Play the passage three times in a row without a slip, then go up 2 to 4 BPM. A mistake on any take resets the count to zero.

One clean take can be luck. Three in a row means you can do it on demand. For a passage you need to play on stage, raise the bar to five.

Expect to start each day a little below yesterday's best. Warm up at 80 to 90% of your number and climb back to it before you push past.

Habits that make the steps stick

  • Slow practice is where the motion gets built. At half speed you have time to notice a wasted finger lift or a stick bouncing too high, and fix it. At full speed you only notice the mistake after it's happened.
  • Small steps, over weeks. Going from 100 to 120 BPM on a hard passage usually takes weeks. A few BPM a day adds up faster than jumps you can't hold.
  • Stay loose as the tempo rises. Check your grip and shoulders at every new tempo. If they tighten, that tempo isn't ready yet.
  • Fewer, cleaner repetitions. Stop when you start making careless mistakes. Ten minutes of good takes beats thirty minutes of tired ones.

Bursts above your tempo

A burst is a fragment of the passage played above your clean tempo, short enough that you can keep it clean. It lets you feel the target speed without running the whole passage badly.

How to run bursts

  1. Set the click 5 to 10% above your clean tempo.
  2. Play one beat of the passage, stop dead on the next downbeat and hold for a beat.
  3. Rest for a few seconds, then repeat five times.
  4. When one beat is clean, play two beats, then a full bar.
  5. Move to the next beat of the passage and start again.

Keep bursts to about ten minutes a session. Afterwards, go back to your clean tempo. It should feel easier than it did before.

Stay relaxed

Tension is what caps speed for a lot of players. Tight muscles move slower and tire sooner, and pushing harder makes it worse. Fast playing should feel light.

Where tension hides

  • Shoulders creeping up towards your ears
  • Neck pushed forward
  • Jaw clenched
  • Hands gripping harder than they need to
  • Breath held through the hard bars

Check between takes

  • Drop your shoulders
  • Let your jaw hang loose
  • Shake out your hands
  • Breathe out slowly before the next take

When you get stuck

  • The notes are there but the timing isn't. What happens: You hit everything, but it rushes or comes out uneven. What to do: Set the click to the subdivision you're playing, such as sixteenths, and count aloud. Drop 10 BPM until every note lines up.
  • It works sometimes. What happens: You can hit the tempo now and then but not three times running. What to do: You're tensing up. Go back to your clean tempo and practise staying loose there before you push again.
  • One spot always breaks. What happens: The passage is fine apart from the same few notes. What to do: Loop just those notes plus one on either side. Try a different fingering or sticking, then use bursts on that fragment.
  • Short is fine, long falls apart. What happens: You can play a bar at speed but not a whole section. What to do: Add one bar at a time at your clean tempo. Tiring early is often a sign of tension too.
  • It's gone backwards. What happens: You could play it last week and can't today. What to do: Bad days happen. Drop 10 BPM and climb back over a few sessions. Record yourself to check whether it's really worse or just feels it.

A 60-minute speed session

  • 10 min, warm up: Scales, rudiments or easy exercises at a comfortable tempo.
  • 15 min, slow work: Your problem passage at 50 to 60% of the target tempo. Every note clean, with no wasted movement.
  • 15 min, step up: Raise the tempo 2 to 4 BPM after each set of three clean takes. Stop when it breaks and note the tempo.
  • 10 min, bursts: Short fragments 5 to 10% above your clean tempo.
  • 10 min, play it in context: Play the passage inside the song at the fastest tempo where everything still holds together.

On a shorter day, halve every block for a 30-minute version. Write down your clean tempo at the end of each session so tomorrow starts from a number.

Let the metronome raise the tempo for you

Set a start tempo, a target and a step size, and the tempo trainer climbs while you play.