Dexterity?

[SAdoublex]

i hear this term often used. i have an idea but i want to be 100% sure. what is dexterity?

-Jay

[larry]

From dictionary.com "Skill and grace in physical movement, especially in the use of the hands; adroitness."

Generally, I think of it as finger speed and accuracy: nimbleness.

Or, the ability to emulate a certain Mr. Gordon :wink:

[Razzy]

Heh. The thing is, dexterity really comes from practicing SLOWLY. After a good hour of shedding my scales and arpeggios and patterns as slow as I can bear, in time, I can then play them faster than ever before, in time.

[alsdiego]

I confess, I used to think Razzy's point was BS, because its so counter-intuitive... you want to play faster, you practice faster, right? Wrong! Maybe someone who understands these things can explain why, but Razzy's right... it's just one of the mysteries of life, grasshopper!

I used to practice scales and arpeggios as fast as I could go, and I got stuck at about 85 (playing 16th notes, that is). Then I slowed it way down to about 60 and just held it there for a couple of months. To my amazement, I can now do the same stuff at 95! Why? Beats me. But that's what happened.

[otomah]

Interesting discussion - a couple of thoughts on why practicing slow may improve your speed.

1. Practicing slow allows you to work on the details of the moments. Fingers are kept closer to the keys and that becomes habit.

2. The slower you practice the more time your brain spends in the "get set" stage of a movement. That's all the stuff that the brain has to do before it fires the message to the muscle to move. You usually don't notice the "get set" stage of movement. One time you might is when you go to pickup a suitcase or box you thought was full only to find it empty. The brain had already done a whole bunch of figuring with the wrong assumption and the effect of that "get set" time shows up when the box flys up in the air. There is a lot of "get set" stuff going on when you play, but its all sub thought level. Or maybe that's just BS

3. My favorite - when you practice slow you practice relaxed. I still think the biggest hinder to speed is tight muscles (one against the other( and thats what you've got when you're tense. Practicing relaxed leads to playing relaxed.

I still practice too fast too often.

[alsdiego]

otomah,

Interesting point about tensing muscles... I think that's true.

How fast is too fast for maximum improvement efficiency... that 's tough to say. Basically, there are two schools of thought. One is Razzy's "slower is better". The other school says "Only as fast as you can play with your fingers totally relaxed, and no errors." Being a compulsive sort, I adhere to the second school :oops:

To determine my current comfortable speed. I play a relatively difficult scale/arpeggio, say Db on the alto. I play at my "natural" speed while staying relaxed. I then transfer that tempo to my metronome. One useful gadget for this is the Korg MA-30 metronome. It has a "tap in" function, where you tap a button at current "comfortable pace", and the metronome determines from that the metronome setting. That's why I'm practicing at 95 now instead of at 60 (for 16th notes), and that feels quite comfortable at the moment.