Against the odds, this week, I have achieved a goal in music, the recording of a cover in one take. It might sound like a simple thing to do. However, my fellow musicians may have something interesting to say about the fact that recording is like pressing a button to guarantee mistakes. The red dot and the presence of the camera makes anyone forget what they're playing.

This makes me go back to the quote on the start. I haven't been too active on the recording theme because there was the need of making practice count for better results. So, the journey of learning at a slower pace has been hard, but effective. There's also the fact that playing slow doesn't prepare you for playing fast. You can only play fast by practicing fast. Nevertheless, there's a benefit to go around pieces at slower tempos.

Also, it isn't as easy at it seems.

Faster tempos require lots of dexterity and precision might be forgotten since the notes chance so fast some mistakes can be covered by playing fast. This can't be done with slow tempos. Here you need to have tons of concentration and remember to keep your notes for their whole length. Also remember the other elements that are inherent to the rhythm of the piece you're playing.

There's lots of videos from musicians encouraging the practice habit of increasing tempo by fixed BPM (beats per minutes) and going down whenever you can't play at a certain speed. It is a nice way to disguise the fact that songs need to be practiced a lot before you can actually play them and getting the benefits of repetition.

However, it is not always mentioned that repetitions need to be clean regardless of speed. That is the way in which we are able to learn patterns in the way they are supposed to be. Elements like rubbato, ornaments, dynamics, and else come only after the main ideas of a song have been assimilated during practice. Those are the extra things that make your performance your own.

After giving this piece lots of repetitions and different tempos, I decided to record it. And the results are these. Something to be proud. It feels amazing to be able to record without having to make a 100 takes. So I can finally say I'm on a stage on playing where I could tackle any challenge if given enough time time to practice. More important than that, I can practice effectively to get to the performance to the level that makes me feel satisfied, for now.

The other part of practice is to challenge yourself. But that one comes after the basics are good. For me, it's only the beginning.

• Photos 📷: by @davidsuarezms

• Video 📹: taken by me (Redmi Note 8)

• Thumbnail 🖼️: by me, created with Canva.

• Editing 🎬: by me, made with Capcut.

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