Finger speed

[Tubaguyjoe]

there is also a game that is really really fun and exercises your fingers too. its basically dance dance revolution for your fingers on your computer. Theres tons of songs and it kicks major ***...if you im me ill tell you where to get it, my aim is the same as my name. if you like ddr or have ever played it you will love this.

[dopey]

i do scales which tend to increase my speed.. that and playing various etudes at faster tempos..

triplet patterns are fun to play at high speeds i think.

[Leland]

Eventually, it'll probably just "click", and your fingers will fly.

When it happened to me, I ceased thinking note-by-note. Instead, I began thinking of them as a whole group of notes, which all happened with one motion of my hand.

I can't think about whether each note is speaking as I play it, because that'll slow me way down. I just have to hit the fingers against the bottom of the valves' stroke and BLOW.

(I'm obviously thinking of this stuff on the spot!)

Try "rolling" your fingers, like you were playing a four-note arpeggio on the piano. Roll them really fast, and only pay attention to the first finger that hits, making sure that it comes down at an even tempo. Eventually, you'll become aware of what the other three fingers are doing, but only think about how they moved in the past, and not during the action itself.

The point that I'm trying to make is that you can't consciously activate each finger individually; the motion has to be subconscious and automatic, and during practicing, you should only worry about what you did after it's done. Then, analyze what went wrong, plan it in your brain, and think ahead as you try again.

Once you've figured out how to do the most familiar lick at top speed, start applying the same sensations to other stuff.

For working out the muscles, I've heard that one way (a vintage BD exercise) is to just finger the valves over and over, really fast, until you can't stand any more. Take a short break, and do it again.

[Dean]

The only way to play fast is to play slow. Kinda sounds cliche, but its true. Control is more important than speed. If you lack control, your fast passages will sound sloppy and incoherant.

Set your goals by working up a fast piece that you've always wanted to play (or perhaps a few pieces). Always begin practicing, with a metronome, at a speed at which you can play every note perfectly. Then, simply gradually speed it up. This is a surefire way to increase your finger speed and accuracy. Jason Ham has an interesting mathematical equation on his web site concerning this method. (I forget the URL offhand)

Using this method is a GUARANTEED way to play anything you want as fast as you like. Persistance and patience are all thats required.

A great book for finger dexterity is the Clarke technical studies for trumpet. It's full of simple patterns that are played in all keys--some of them are quite finger-twisting. After mastering these, you will have quite an arsenal of finger-patterns available to you.

Also, consider your instrument. Some instruments are simply easier to play fast than others. Rotary valves or piston? How long is the travel of the valves? Are the valve springs so stiff that they tire your hand muscles? Maybe they are too weak, and the valve wont return to open fast enough. All these will affect your fast playing. (I am a euph player, so I dont know jack about tuba models... just something for you to think about)

Good luck!

[tubachris]

the important parts are patience and quality. as you practice arbans at a slow speed go for exact tonguing and finger coordination. make sure that your fingers are pressing the valves precisely and with a bit of force sort of like over training.
the sound needs to be initiated with a tongue that is not over heavy but again precise. try to get your sound to "sound" as quickly as possible (use short notes)
i base this all on the fact that first thing to go at high speeds is usually the coordination between pitch, finger and tongue.
if you practice like this, nothing will be wasted and you will achieve your goals.

[smurphius]

probably the easiest way is using a metronome, set it to tick somewhere you can comfortably play, play through it once or twice, then increase it little by little. this works well with just about any hard passage that you're working on for that matter as well. best of luck!

[Leland]

The only way to play fast is to play slow.

Bassist Victor Wooten has some of the fastest hands on the planet, and he advocates exactly that.

In one of his videos, he demonstrates some super-hard pluck-thumb-pick-slap lick, then takes a metronome, sets it to about 40 bpm, and plays it again, with every rhythm and embellishment intact. He then increases the metronome about two clicks, plays it all again, and says to keep increasing the tempo by tiny increments, but only when the all the notes, including any grace notes and such, can be played perfectly.

Bass players (just like tubists), especially to remain employable, have to pay extremely close attention to tempo control and clarity. They're also the ones who seem to recommend this approach the most often, so I decided to try it out.

Goodness gracious, what a difference it makes! It takes a while to work up one passage, but by the end, I'm fully cognizant of each & every pitch, attack, button, tongue placement, and even the spaces between all the notes. I can also hear the melodic & chordal elements much more easily, and slight tempo fluctuations within the lick are better recognized.

Now, I'm not talking about just decreasing the tempo to where I can sound reasonably well. Take it way, way down (Victor, and others, say to start at the slowest setting) and go up from there. You'll spend roughly half an hour on eight bars, but it'll be a thousand percent better.

FWIW, I used this method with our section last fall when we were learning the Finale from Tchaikovsky's 4th Symphony, and heard no complaints from the music director.

[Tom B.]

I would also recommend the Arban's book, but I would order the "tuba-specific" version:

http://www.encoremupub.com/9125nfo.htm

Using the trumpet or trombone versions might be good for learning to read in other registers, but right now you don't need to be practicing two concepts at once. As an earlier poster mentioned, you need to be able to see groups of notes rather than individual notes. That will come quicker if you're looking at the notes directly, rather than making a conversion.

[Roger Lewis]

What I believe you are suffering from is what psychologists call "mental dissonance". You have too many things going on in your conscious mind at the same time to do any of them clearly. If you are still thinking fingerings, then your speed will be slow as this analysis takes too much thought time. Once the fingerings become reflex (hind brain) the fingers will be able to move faster as you have eliminated one of the thought processes. Work on "Reading" the scales so the association between the viual stimulus (the dot on the page) and the fingering for that dot become joined and turn into a reflex action. It takes time and it requires you to work slowly for a while to absorb the material and build the reflex.

Just my observations.

[MaryAnn]

I rarely see this method in print but can verify that it works if you're willing to seriously apply it.

If you are needing to learn a fast passage (no matter what the length) do it from the end forwards. I don't mean to learn it backwards, but to learn the last few notes first. Even if it's just two or three notes....learn them at the speed you want to finally play them at. Then, go back one or two notes...and add them in on the front, so you are now playing five notes as fast as you want. Do that until you have it just plain rote. Then add a couple more....and work your way backward through the passage.

This works not only on passages but on scales; you can learn to flat-a$$ fly through your scales by learning them from the end instead of from the beginning. It will cut your practice time drastically because you never add but a little bit to what you already know.

I use it on more physically complex intstruments (like classical guitar and piano) for learning entire pieces, because of the patterns needed with both hands. I start at the end of the piece and work forwards, and I learn it in about 1/10 the time. I could still benefit from useing it on my scales but am lazy.

MA

[MichaelDenney]

Using a metronome certainly works, even for my middle-aged fingers. I got a Korg MA-30 off *bay for $15 or $17 that lets you increase tempo in increments of 1 bpm. Great little unit. Pat Sheridan teaches this method.

I can hardly wait for my wife to wake up so that I can try MaryAnn's method.

[Leland]

I can hardly wait for my wife to wake up so that I can try MaryAnn's method.

I can vouch for it, I've used it for a decade now.

Yeah, I'm not old yet.. lol