Piano - How do I play faster and more accurately?

Question

I am working on Rondo Capriccioso by Mendelsohn, which is supposed to be played very quickly. Anyone have any tips on how to practice so that I can play faster without getting my fingers all tripped up or missing notes?

Answer 1

Keep practicing.  The more you play it, the better it will be committed to memory and you'll be able to play more fluently and quickly.  

Also, make sure your fingers are bent and your wrists are up, not lazy.

Practice your scales to improve on quickness.

Answer 2

use a metronome at a pretty high number

Answer 3

Practice

Answer 4

PRACTICE SCALES LIKE CRAZY AND BUY A BOOK OF HANON WORKS. THEY SUCK BUT THOSE EXERCISES HELP A LOT. PRACTICE THOSE TONS!!  

Answer 5

RJS1121 basically said it: to play anything fast you have to practice it slow.  You need to practice it at whatever tempo you can play the whole thing through without any mistakes.  Then, speed up a little.  And a little.  And a little.  And a little more.  You get the idea.  Never practice a piece faster than the tempo you take in the hardest part.  

Answer 6

Just play over and over again, you'll get there eventually, it's all about having confidence in yourself and your ability to play.  Once you've mastered the song accurately when you've played it slowly you'll have more confidence to play it faster.

Answer 7

HI LM.

You should be using a metronome,  but not at a fast tempo to begin with.   Find the tempo that you can play perfectly.  For example,  of you can play the piece without mistakes @ 100 then set the metronome at about 108.   You are looking for a point that is challenging but not frustrating.   Practice a few days at this tempo and then move up by 4 to 8 numbers... so now you are at 112-116.  Keep moving the tempo up gradually.  What you are trying to do is trick your fingers into playing faster without going "off the page".  

I don't know how long you have to work on the piece,  but if you have plenty of time,  don't rush it.  Work slowing.  You will be surprised at how you will get to the tempo sooner than you thought you could.

You have another responder suggesting to practice scales.  This is so important and you should already be doing this on warmups every day anyway.   Use the metronome on your scales / chromatics / arpeggios and any finger technique exercise.  Soon your fingers will be moving like the wind.

Hope that helped....  it is what students should be doing for the improvement of speed, agility  and technique.

Thanks for reading.  And work hard :))

Answer 8

First memorize it.

Then keep on playing it, make sure you do it fluidly and smoothly, hit the rights notes at the right time.

Speed will come through technique, baby steps is all it takes.  Just increase the speed a bit when you feel comfortable.  If you go too fast and are messing up, it's best to slow down again and get more familiarized with the notes.