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Hello. I sometimes encounter passages that I know I in advance are going to be difficult for me to realize any improvement, no matter how much I work at it.

I am currently working on the first section of a piano sonatina by Gurlitt (Op. 54, #4). The tempo here is allegro non troppo. The piece is fairly simply except for 2 sections of 4 measures apiece playing repeating alternating 16th notes at Meas. 14 and 68. If I want to be smooth and even, I can only play these sections at about 70bpm. Faster than that, and it gets ugly. And yet, no matter how much I practice them, I cannot get to a place where I can increase the tempo. I can never achieve smooth AND fast.

Interestingly, there are other passages where I know I will get faster as I play it more. The sonatina by Kuhlau (Op 88, # 1, allegro) looks tough on paper, but each time I play through it, my fingers feel strong and I can play it a little faster than the last time. So I am curious why I improve as I play this piece, but can't seem to improve on the Gurlitt.

I have a piano teacher. When I ask my piano teacher about these difficult passages, she tells me "don't worry about it". If I press the question, she will point out errors I make in other parts of the piece but seems to ignore the difficult spots (why yes, I did make an error there, but I know I will fix that error, probably the very next time I play it. The part that I cannot fix is the part I am asking you about). When I ask the teacher if I should play those troublesome sections by pronation and supination of the wrist or using fingers alone, she has no suggestion. I feel I am getting no direction despite my direct request for direction.

So can anyone help me to improve on these troublesome passages? Currently I practice them at 40, 50, and 60 bpm for about 10 mins. every day - just focusing on being relaxed, loose, and even. Despite this for the past couple of weeks, I am not improving.

Can you play MM14-15 up to tempo hands separately using the given fingering?
Are you using the given fingering?
Have you tried 2-4 and 3-4 for the RH passage?
Have you tried using the same LH fingering in the treble (crossed hands) figure as you're using in the bass figure?
Can you play it at tempo in half bars? beat 1 to beat 3 and beat 3 to beat 1, etc, in 9 RH note sections? In beats (5 RH notes at a time)?

A bunch of 16ths? Try changing the rhythm to long-short, long-short... As if they were dotted eighth sixteenth. Then change the rhythm to short-long, short long. Doing this gets your fingers used to playing some of them fast. Then go back to the original rhythm.

Can't play them all at the final tempo? You can also drill just a few at a time at the final tempo. Play the first 2 notes. Easy, right? Then place 1,2,3. Then 1,2,3,4, and so forth. Start on different notes and do the same thing. Like start on the 5th note and play 5,6, then 5,6,7, then 5,6,7,8 and so forth. Be creative in finding different ways to break things up into small segments that you can play at the final tempo. Finally string them all together.

And these things take time. 15 minutes a day drilling the two measures in various ways for a week should result in an improvement.

It doesn't sound like you have a bad teacher. What's the purpose in trying to fix errors in the most difficult sections (that she may think may be too difficult for you at the present) when you are making consistent errors in the easy parts? Sometimes those "easy" parts are not as easy as they appear. Maybe she wants you to focus on fixing those errors first because she thinks you should be playing those sections without errors. Improving does not mean being able to play a piece faster and faster. Improving means you are making less mistakes at a speed you can handle and once those mistakes are gone then you work on picking up speed.

So your teacher is then correct - don't worry about it. Stick to practise at around 60 bpm and when the brain has grown enough tissue the tempo will come up all by itself and is likely to be a sudden leap rather than a progressive rise.

For me, the "don't worry about it" approach means not bothering to play the piece. The piece is boring and is not interesting to me at such a slow tempo. I would prefer to work on the difficult measures by themselves and not bother playing the entire sonatina.

In that case, I strongly suggest that you leave this piece alone and come back to it in a year's time, when your technique has improved sufficiently. Tell your teacher you're bored with it and want to move on.

Beating a dead horse is no way to improve. Developing the technical skills required to play accurately at speed is not something you can achieve in a few weeks.

For me, the "don't worry about it" approach means not bothering to play the piece.

How long have you been playing/studying piano?

Not every piece will be up to tempo or perfect, but if a student can demonstrate they've learned a concept, then it is a success and we move on. Playing fast is one of those things that may be forgone in favor os other concepts.

The perhaps larger question for me is why the method I have successfully used to conquer 99% of keyboard difficulties I encounter fails occasionally (like with the Gurlittt allegro).

I believe you are correct that the teacher feels I have achieved her goals for me in playing the piece (i.e. like successfully playing those measures where the hands cross, using appropriate pedaling in the slower second movement, etc.), and so does not share my concern about the tempo.

The perhaps larger question for me is why the method I have successfully used to conquer 99% of keyboard difficulties I encounter fails occasionally (like with the Gurlittt allegro).