~ How To Practice for Maximum Speed ~
Part 2: Speed Builder Strategy 2
by Tom Hess

Please be sure to read Part 1 before attempting to follow the advice offered here in Part 2. I am offering a completely different approach to building great speed compared to what I described in part 1, but this new system does not work well unless you have mastered the ability to play cleanly and accurately at slow tempos (this is critical).

Unlike the first system described in part 1, which takes several weeks to complete, this new approach can be done in a single practice session. This new approach is not intended as a substitute for my other method, it is rather a supplemental practice tool intended for more advanced players.

“My Ladder System”

Let’s say you can play a particular technique at 100 bpm (beats per minute) on a metronome cleanly and consistently. Let’s also assume that your goal is to play the same technique at 200 bpm.

Warm up for: 15 minutes in the winter months
10 minutes in the spring and autumn months
5 minutes in the summer months

Play at 60 bpm for 2-3 minutes
Play at 90 bpm for 2-3 minutes
Play at 75 bpm for 2-3 minutes
Play at 105 bpm for 2-3 minutes
Play at 90 bpm for 2-3 minutes
Play at 120 bpm for 2-3 minutes
Play at 105 bpm for 2-3 minutes
Play at 135 bpm for 2-3 minutes
Play at 120 bpm for 2-3 minutes
Play at 150 bpm for 2-3 minutes
Play at 135 bpm for 2-3 minutes
Play at 165 bpm for 2-3 minutes
Play at 150 bpm for 2-3 minutes
Play at 180 bpm for 2-3 minutes
Play at 165 bpm for 2-3 minutes
Play at 195 bpm for 2-3 minutes
Play at 180 bpm for 2-3 minutes
Play at 210 bpm for 2-3 minutes

As you can imagine, the beginning of this routine will be easy if you can already play this without problems at 100 bpm. But it will be totally impossible to play well during the latter part of the routine. Play it anyway! Yes I know it will sound horrible, it will be a huge mess of sloppy musical chaos. Don’t worry about that when doing this routine, because you are not going to practice this way every day.

The ladder system is designed to do two main things:

1. (most important!) It will train your brain that greater speed is possible (even if sloppy for now) for you. To go far beyond what you think you can do well today is important as a psychological tool. You see, speed (like many aspects of music) has more to do with self – imposed psychological limitations than physical ones.

2. It gets your hands to move faster than they ever do in normal practicing (even though the motions are sloppy and not something you will put into a recording of your next solo),

Most speed barriers come as a result of synchronization problems between the two hands – lack of speed is usually not caused directly from how fast you are able to move your hands. BUT because the main cause is synchronization issue between the hands, your practicing becomes limited to synchronization practice and not on sheer speed (even if you are totally aware of it). Your increased synchronization skills will improve your overall technique, but you will have not really trained your hands to move much faster than before…..This system does. I’m sorry to have to keep repeating the point, but it is so important ‡ This system is a supplemental one and not a substitute for normal practicing.

A word of caution: Because this practice system is extremely demanding on your fingers, hands, wrists and arms, you must be very careful to avoid pain. If you feel any pain when doing this technique, you must stop at once and rest before attempting this again. Never play in pain, or excessive stress on your muscles or joints. Doing so can cause you serious long-term physical problems. Also, make sure you are thoroughly warmed up before practicing anything strenuous (especially when attempting any ladder systems!).

That is a cool technique. It is similar to one I use with my students.
I find that the returning to a lower bpm helps to really lock in with the time/tempos. That way, you learn to play in time.
There are a lot of players who can play fast, on their own. But they have trouble playing faster passages, when playing with others.
Thanks for the tip. I'll try the addition of your "Ladder" this week.

i like swain's idea of bringing it back.. what has helped me has been a similar idea, but i will try to find a tempo where i can play the passage perfectly, but where i have trouble, then i push the metronome up 10-20bpm and practice there for a few minutes (over-shooting how fast i would actually play it by 10-20 bpm), then return, and i have found this to work extrememly well..

the other thing that i have realized is that you don't want to "practice scales" this way.. lots of people can tear through a c major scale (or any other scale), but to really improve your speed you have to practice playing lines at these tempos, then you have to practice creating lines at these tempos.. i would suggest learning "donna lee" as a starting point.. lots of good stuff, and some diminished stuff (from the other thread) is in there too.. take it slow at first to get the mechanics and pay lots of attention to how your phrasing changes as tempo increases, this will help you get a feel for how you phrase lines too.. hope this helps,
rob