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That thought led me to a book by Jamie Andreas that I hadn't looked at in a very long time. She talks about practicing with "no tempo" at all and actually "posing" over the positions to try and eliminate tension.
I'm curious about what others may do to try and polish up a piece that just doesn't seem to want to get "done", even after much practice?
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Hi Bob, I'm familiar with something similar to that, and I can see where there would be merit in it.
Years ago when I was taking classical guitar lessons my teacher had me practice something he referred to as "Aim Directed Movement". No tempo or even music making involved. What it's about is to train the brain on how to play mistake free. The idea is to never play any note or chord in a piece, unless you are 100% certain that it is the correct way forward, i.e. or place for your fingers to go. In other words, you can only make the next move when you are completely sure that it is the correct one. (Thus, no tempo involved).
If you go slow enough, and concentrate, you can do it. But it's easier said than done. Trust me!
Sometimes it's easy, like going from a C chord to a G chord. Other times, like involving faster scales and string crossings, and more awkward fingerings, not so much.
I found it to be a very demanding task. It's always tempting to speed up and go too fast. Move the fingers before the brain has given the green light. But it is very effective at cementing memory if you stick with it.
Note: As I said, this is not "musical" practice. No tempo requirements. It's just an exercise to test yourself and how well you know where the fingers are supposed to go; to verify if your brain and fingers are indeed in sync!
Just thought I'd mention it, since that book you mentioned reminded me of ADM.