From Presto to Adagio

 

I never sit down to practice without a metronome.  Of late, my metronome settings in practicing sessions was hovering around 200.  That was a good tempo for some of the scalar and melodic etudes and exercises on which I've been working.  

This week, I've set my metronome to tempos below 100.  From presto to adagio, in terms of Italian tempo markings.  Slowing everything down this drastically drives the focus to tone, execution of tone, techniques of tone, and additional aspects such as clarity, definition, and balance.

I'm also working on some new two-handed techniques, and I firmly subscribe to the theory of learning new things at very slow tempos, and then over time gradually increasing the tempo.  

All in all, it's been a very adagio week.

-kk