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!

    As usual I am exaggerating. It will be fine. Whatever I'm playing - I am just trying not to massacre it completely. A bit of massacre is fine 🙂

      Nightowl 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?

      Quite right! Still, fast pieces are a challenge to me. I currently play pieces that are RCM 4-5.

      *
      ... feeling like the pianist on the Titanic ...

          iternabe practicing at tempo well below one's own threshold does nothing to help gaining speed

          I am also in the disagree camp, here. My current piece is a slow Blues and I practiced it very slowly. I got faster and faster from alone. I even did not want to speed up. Now it is too fast and I have to concentrate to keep my tempo slow during playing.

          Edit: this 👆 is when practicing without metronome. With metronome you have indeed you increase the speed from time to time. But only when you can play it errorfree enough.

            Animisha Thanks, that gives me hope that I might also reach that level of play. Currently I'm working on 3 pieces which all contain two part writing for the right hand, so they are all stretching my skills - especially the Chopin piece. I also dip into some pieces from the Alfred hits book 1, as a change from these tricky pieces. I'm making progress but book 2 is much more challenging than book 1 (which is understandable).

            "Don't let's ask for the moon, we have the stars." (Final line from Now,Voyager, 1942)

              5 days later

              Appropriate piece in my book for the time of the year... Spoooooky story!

              Background story: I was playing around with my new keyboard and the sounds. I thought that one would match the theme of this tune. And I also wanted to test the Yamaha Rec'n'Share app.

              It's not very well played... but I had to abandon it to keep the peace in the family 😃 While I was recording this, my husband came in and declared it was the most awful thing he ever heard. I told him it's called Spooky Story - to which he replied "Sound like it! More like a Nightmare. When are you done with it?" (I will spare you the rest of his complaints, they were all in the same vain anyway) So yeah, I didn't dare any more takes after that. Even the cats stayed away! ^_^

              Yes, I know, a headset would be the solution... but the song wasn't worth that much effort anyway...

              Anyway, here it is.... Spooky Story (page 48) - never to be touched again.

              As usual I am exaggerating. It will be fine. Whatever I'm playing - I am just trying not to massacre it completely. A bit of massacre is fine 🙂

                Sophia It made me smile although I guess I prefer to be in the audience.

                  Sophia Anyway, here it is.... Spooky Story (page 48) - never to be touched again.

                  Is that a promise? 😄🙃

                  I'm with your husband on this one - something about that sound effect hurts my ears. Well played though.

                  "Don't let's ask for the moon, we have the stars." (Final line from Now,Voyager, 1942)

                      The sound reminded me on good ol "Ghost n Goblins" computer game. Ok, not the same sound and not the same tune, but the same mood. I liked it - well played! 👻👍

                      One tip for future practice: Get a good pair of headphones. Or an attic. Whatever is cheaper.

                        WieWaldi Get a good pair of headphones. Or an attic.

                        Great suggestions! He is quite relieved you didn't come up with a third solution:

                        Nightowl Is that a promise?

                        You be careful what you wish for... now I'm quite tempted to pierce your ears with "Modern Sounds" in a bagpipes voice setting... 😆

                        As usual I am exaggerating. It will be fine. Whatever I'm playing - I am just trying not to massacre it completely. A bit of massacre is fine 🙂

                              OMG, please tell me you're joking and there's no bagpipes option on your new toy! What sort of sadist invented such an instrument of torture?!? 😬

                              Funny you mentioned "Modern Sounds" - after listening to that piece and several other excuses for music from book 3 I've decided I'm probably not going to buy book 3. Playing awful pieces comes with the territory of being a beginner, but once I've finished book 2 I'll be done with Alfred's.

                              I recently bought a book called Very Easy Classics which has several of the nicer pieces from book 3, and apparently they are all arranged for people playing at levels 1 to 3, so I'm hoping they will be manageable. I will start that book once I've gone further into book 2. I'm about to start work on Polovetsian Dance, which is quite a pretty piece.

                              "Don't let's ask for the moon, we have the stars." (Final line from Now,Voyager, 1942)

                              Hehe, yeah I simply knew that would definitely not be your taste

                              I hear you on book 3. I'm not sure if I would have bothered if I hadn't purchased all three in one set. But now that I have it, I'd say that about one third of the pieces are quite nice or just plain fun to play... the rest are between meh and dreadful. I'd argue that the additional theory makes it worth it though.

                              That said... the piece that I just started introduces arpeggios and I can already tell we're not going to be good friends. I understand the need to learn them, but they remind me of an opera singer in a warming up exercise... going up and down and up and down.

                              Which gives me more time to taunt/haunt you with spooky toons

                              As usual I am exaggerating. It will be fine. Whatever I'm playing - I am just trying not to massacre it completely. A bit of massacre is fine 🙂

                              Sophia He is quite relieved you didn't come up with a third solution

                              Earplugs?

                                The kitties were conspicuous by their absence... good breeding shows. 😀 Cats have such sensitive ears, they could probably still hear the cacophony from a mile away - have pity on them Sophia!

                                "Don't let's ask for the moon, we have the stars." (Final line from Now,Voyager, 1942)

                                Well, after skipping some more awful (to my ears!) pieces and still polishing that arpeggios piece, I just started Adagio in A Major (Morovsky). Nightowl, I think that piece is right up your alley, it's absolutely lovely: gentle and lyrical! It would be a sacrilege to play THAT on my keyboard in a spooky voice 😂

                                It's also another stretch piece for me - quite literally as it turns out! At first I thought the book made mistakes in the fingering... those stretches couldn't possibly be played realistically. But after spending a few minutes with the first bars, it started to make sense. Now I'm quite enjoying this new challenge and probably found another piece to spend extra time with 😊

                                As usual I am exaggerating. It will be fine. Whatever I'm playing - I am just trying not to massacre it completely. A bit of massacre is fine 🙂

                                Well Sophia, you talk of it being a stretch piece, then say that after "spending a few minutes with the first bars" it starts to make sense. So... it's actually not that difficult for you, but remember the rest of us mere mortals might take an hour to achieve what you manage in a few minutes! 😬 So stop being so annoyingly blatant about your innate talent or I might have to throw a strop about how unfair it is! [Stamps feet and feels urge to throw something at Sophia.] If you weren't so annoyingly likeable this would be even more annoying than it already is!
                                Meanwhile I'm working on the Chopin Etude, but progress is painfully slow. I am just working on the first 8 bars, hands separate, and even that is pushing my mediocre ability. I have read comments online where people say they think this piece is more like grade 3/late intermediate level than grade 2, and I'm beginning to agree with them. Which is why I'll be content if I manage to play this section hands together this side of Christmas 2025.

                                "Don't let's ask for the moon, we have the stars." (Final line from Now,Voyager, 1942)

                                  Nightowl ...after "spending a few minutes with the first bars" it starts to make sense. So... it's actually not that difficult for you

                                  Heh, no. I wish, lol. I mean it makes sense that it's physically possible to play C# and A with thumb and index finger - something I had never even considered until now. It felt really awkward at first, but it can be done! Same with some other finger settings.

                                  I can play the first two bars now, at about this speed but not quite as smoothly:

                                  Edit: if it makes you feel any better, I still can't play that gorgeous Chopin piece smoothy either - there is something very, very difficult about it!

                                  Spoiler alert: I actually planned on playing that Chopin piece for the first recital here on PT. There was no way I could learn it in that time, and settled on a later piece in the book that was actually a lot easier to play (Fascination). So you're making FASTER progress than me, you rascal!

                                  As usual I am exaggerating. It will be fine. Whatever I'm playing - I am just trying not to massacre it completely. A bit of massacre is fine 🙂