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Playing slowly to learn to play fast

Author: SunnyDaze
Date: 2022-01-08 14:09
Attachment: MM Equivalency (1).jpg (95k)

Hi,

I have made a bit of a breakthrough on the business of playing slowly to learn to play fast. I wondered if I could tell you? I think this is a post for adult learners mainly or possibly for teachers of beginner players.

I was trying to play Gade's fantastic piece for grade 4, and getting nowhere, because I just can't do the fiddly bit at the end, at anything like the required speed

I was also switch from single lip to double lip, which is quite a big change.

Anyway, I had this good idea to go right back to the start and do the music medal curriculum from ABRSM. It's really good because it's intended for small children, and has a really large range of pieces to choose from at a very low level. The pieces are carefully chosen so that the process of playing them builds up the foundation skills, without introducing anything that is specifically difficult on the clarinet, until higher levels. So it's much better than just playing a zillion Christmas carols, for example, which might involve really tricky break crossing in even very simple tunes.

I can sight read the pieces up to silver medal standard, which point I have to actually start practicing them.

The thing is that by sight reading all these oddles of pieces, I'm finding that it's a really nice way to get fluency in my fingers. It's also good because with the pieces being so easy, I get a chance to actually play FAST and to feel comfortable doing that. It is much better for me than trying to play a difficult grade 4 piece fast, when I am not fully confident at playing it slowly.

I just wondered if I might mention, because I don't think that the music medal curriculum is especially well known, and I'm finding it very helpful.

Each medal level is assessed by the teacher at home, and a video sent to ABRSM. The student gets a certificate and a badge in the post. I will attach the diagram of how the medals related to actual grades.

Jen

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