My harmonium teacher makes me practice certain exercises over and over again. He constantly wants me to increase my speed.
Initially, I wondered why - after all I never play the harmonium at those high speeds in actual life. And I am a person who believes that slow is beautiful - especially when it comes to music.
Later on I realised why it is necessary to be fast at a craft or skill. The whole purpose of training for any skill is to equip the person to operate in a System 1 mode (i.e. Reflexive) where the person does not need to think while performing -but yet performs beautifully and flawlessly (without mistakes). Thinking requires time, and is therefore inefficient. Moreover in music or in sports, there is not much time to analyse, think and then react - it is therefore important to develop spontaneity.
So now I understand why I need to be able to play the harmonium really fast - it goes beyond the mere thrill of speed. If I can play it flawlessly at really fast speeds, then I will be even more creative and spontaneous when I play it slow.
Initially, I wondered why - after all I never play the harmonium at those high speeds in actual life. And I am a person who believes that slow is beautiful - especially when it comes to music.
Later on I realised why it is necessary to be fast at a craft or skill. The whole purpose of training for any skill is to equip the person to operate in a System 1 mode (i.e. Reflexive) where the person does not need to think while performing -but yet performs beautifully and flawlessly (without mistakes). Thinking requires time, and is therefore inefficient. Moreover in music or in sports, there is not much time to analyse, think and then react - it is therefore important to develop spontaneity.
So now I understand why I need to be able to play the harmonium really fast - it goes beyond the mere thrill of speed. If I can play it flawlessly at really fast speeds, then I will be even more creative and spontaneous when I play it slow.
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