Alfred Adult All-in-One Course Level 2 and 3
WieWaldi I was thinking, if there is a mental trick to retain the tempo.
For some people it works better to embody the beat by tapping the free foot or even just a toe. There's something with the physical movement that can make it easier to keep a steady pulse compared to just thinking about it.
About the apps. If your digital piano has bluetooth audio in, you can set it up to hear your phone's metronome in your piano's headphones or speakers. I much prefer the sound and interface of apps compared to my piano's built-in metronome.
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candela If your digital piano has bluetooth audio in
Unfortunately not. Not even Line-in. 
The successor model has BT audio, now. If I'd give any digital piano shopper a tip, it would be this.... Drum-computer, backing-track player, and a sophisticated metronome. All easy and without cables.
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I put my phone away when practicing piano. A standalone metronome is much less distracting. It is also quite a bit easier to use, whether changing tempo in small or large steps. This one by Seiko is what I have. Highly recommend it.
Speed comes from working at speed so that your brain can begin to process and recognize what's going on.
Race car drivers do not practice driving slowly so that they don't bump into each other. They train to drive fast with control of the car. They push themselves and expect a little rubbing while racing.
In the same vein, you will not get faster by playing slowly and carefully. You must push the speed limit of your fingers and expect to fumble. This is how the human brain works and you will begin to correct the fumbles automatically. Eventually you will stop fumbling and can control the speed at which you play.
Just like a race car driver controls the speed at which he drives..
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Well, it's interesting that you mentioned a race car driver though - because of all people, a racer can't afford to fumble at all. He fumbles, he dies. So although I agree with what you're saying (we need to push ourselves to go a little faster than our comfort zone), it's no use speeding it up to the point of fumbling. I think the trick is to stay just within the "no-fumble" zone until it becomes the "whoa I feel like a tortoise" zone and then crank up the speed a notch. Rinse, repeat 
By doing that my current piece is now at the 70bpm "fumble? what the heck is that?", 80bpm "here are my fumble zones" and 100bpm "are these weirdly flailing objects moving in the general direction of the correct keys really my fingers controlled by my brain?" But give it a week or two and I will probably be able to give a different report 
Would it be an idea to split these last few posts into your new thread?
Well, I'm happy to say I am moving on from A Classy Rag because I got a recording done today - practice pays off There were a few pieces I got up to about 60-80% okay-ish (I will polish those later), so that means I'm now ready to move on to the unfinished symphony (Schubert). I'm looking forward to that one - it's like the classical version of a boogie woogie or ragtime piece 
Sophia, you are really zooming through book 3! I'm still moving through book 2 at snail speed, but I think this is quite common at this stage. I have been working on the Elgar piece for a few days, and have made a tentative start with Dark Eyes, but both pieces are stretching my skills as they include fiendishly tricky two part writing for the right hand. The Chopin piece is next, and I've briefly attempted RH notes, but I'm not ready to properly tackle it yet.
I really don't think I'll progress further than grade 2 or 3 - I don't think my old brain is up to the level of multi-tasking involved beyond that level. I foresee that complex pieces probably involve 2 part writing for BOTH hands - the thought is terrifying! I will play for pleasure at an intermediate[ish] level but not become a slave to piano.
"Don't let's ask for the moon, we have the stars." (Final line from Now,Voyager, 1942)
Nightowl I really don't think I'll progress further than grade 2 or 3
Well, you say that now, but remember when we were in book 1? I listened to some people perform pieces from the second book and I thought I'd NEVER be able to play that. And here we are today - playing them. Sure, not as well as the professionals, but then again they once were where we are now. I agree with not becoming a slave to piano but I do think that as long as we keep at it regularly, we have no choice but to become better at it
I think the real fun starts when we allow ourselves to get away from Alfred dictating what we play and start picking music that we LIKE to play. Every now and then Alfred has such a piece, but nowhere near often enough. Though this third book is a little more pleasant than the first two - and I'm allowing myself to gloss over over pieces that I don't care for a little more often now. As long as I'm able to keep up with what the book is trying to teach, I'm okay with it now.
We'll see, but I'm not picking things up quickly now, and I can't imagine wanting to spend 100 hours to master a grade 5 piece, which is what might be entailed at that level. The professionals make it look so easy, and so effortless, but some of them have been playing for DECADES! Not that I'm being defeatist, just keeping my expectations real.
"Don't let's ask for the moon, we have the stars." (Final line from Now,Voyager, 1942)
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Nightowl I'm not picking things up quickly now, and I can't imagine wanting to spend 100 hours to master a grade 5 piece
But that is actually not how it works You're not picking new pieces up more quickly, true. But you're picking up MORE DIFFICULT pieces just as quickly as you picked up the easy pieces in your earlier days. That is the beauty of following a method book - it eases us into playing more and more complicated stuff gradually enough that it doesn't feel like progress.
If you picked up a grade 5 piece today, it would take you 100 hours to master. But once we gradually reach grade 5, it will take you just 2 or 3 weeks, same as a piece such as HN took you two weeks. If you had tried HN a year ago, you'd still be picking it out today - that is why we need to learn pieces at our own skill level. Something all the method books are good at
Ok, that was me going into full lecture mode for once, lol. Back to regular 
mode so you'll know me again
Fair point Sophia. But I still doubt that I will progress beyond grade 3(ish) level - I'm too much of a plodder and I think my brain doesn't operate fast enough to go beyond that. I speak slower than average - it takes me a bit of time to formulate my words and thoughts. Hence my belief that I won't ever be able to play fast tempo, complex pieces, because my brain doesn't "do" speed! It works OK, just not quickly enough for that.
"Don't let's ask for the moon, we have the stars." (Final line from Now,Voyager, 1942)
Nightowl I really don't think I'll progress further than grade 2 or 3
I have had those thoughts as well, and I think I have spent years playing grade 3 pieces and etudes. But nowadays, most grade 3 pieces seem too easy to me! I don't know how it happened, but it did. 
*
... feeling like the pianist on the Titanic ...
As you progress you will find that some pieces will be a bit more difficult. These will be the ones which teach harder concepts. The ones which repeat those concepts so they become ingrained will be easier.
Not to start another round of "speed kills...," but if you want to get faster you must practice for speed and not accuracy. No auctioneer was born babbling their sales nonsense, they all needed to learn how and what to say and then say it faster. And, while not everyone can sling the lingo like an auctioneer can, that doesn't mean you have to live life in the slow lane chanting at a walking cadence either.
Practice triplets. Practice full measures of 8ths and 16ths. Practice your scale and arpeggio runs. Push for speed, your fingers will fumble at first, but you will get faster. Then pull back from full throttle and concentrate on not hitting wrong keys or being out of sequence. You will be faster. Then push for more speed again and repeat the cycle.
Now play something you know and which is extremely easy. Play it as fast as you can. Again. Again. Again!
Now play it at tempo. And be amazed at how difficult it will be to slow down.
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Player1 And while not everyone can sling the lingo like an auctioneer can, that doesn't mean you have to live life in the slow lane chanting at a walking cadence either.
Good point P1, maybe there is some middle ground to be found and if I don't try I'll never know. I've not yet encountered a piece which includes 16ths, but I've worked on the chromatic scale and there are a couple of pieces in book 2 which feature nice chromatic runs. Those things can be included as part of my practice routine.
I'm currently playing the BF Polka as a warm up piece each day, trying to pick up the speed a bit. When played by professionals those note runs sound quite impressive, and the piece is cheerful (helpful as we go into winter, when my mood dips).
"Don't let's ask for the moon, we have the stars." (Final line from Now,Voyager, 1942)
I have had those thoughts as well, and I think I have spent years playing grade 3 pieces and etudes. But nowadays, most grade 3 pieces seem too easy to me! I don't know how it happened, but it did.
Thanks Animisha, that's good to know. It seems that while progress is slow on the surface, somehow the brain gradually builds faster neural network connections. What grade is your current playing level?
"Don't let's ask for the moon, we have the stars." (Final line from Now,Voyager, 1942)
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While I agree with practicing at tempo well below one's own threshold does nothing little to help gaining speed, the real question is what is that threshold and where to play around that threshold.
In my limited experience, the speed thresholds is when I begin to make occasional mistakes. If I begin to make same mistake in repeated runs, or I feel I am losing control, then that's above the threshold - time to stop and reduce the tempo! Even at the threshold, where occasional mistake happens at random slip of mind/finger, I still find prioritizing accuracy (by a couple clicks down on my metronome) is much more effective. When practicing just below my threshold, accurately and in control, for a little while, I can usually raise the tempo back up a few clicks and achieve the new speed still accurately and in control. Rinse and repeat that, is what I find the most effective way to raise speed.
In addition, scales & arpeggios are different because there mistakes generally means wrong or missed note. When practicing pieces, occasion mistakes does not mean just wrong notes. Even after I can play through a piece at tempo, I have often had to slow down to get articulation, dynamics and pedaling right before adding speed back again.
Nightowl I've not yet encountered a piece which includes 16ths
Those will be introduced towards the end of the book. Luckily that is a piece that is SO slow, that it feels more like you are playing 8th notes One gorgeous piece that makes very effective use of 16ths is Musetta's Waltz - but that too sounds gorgeous whether played slow or slightly faster. Alfred just never lets us down!