Calm Jam

Guide 2 of 5

How to slow down music to practise without changing the pitch

Slowing a track down is one of the best practice tools there is. The trick is to slow it down without it dropping in pitch.

Why slow down

Slow playback gives your hands time to find the notes and your ears time to hear the changes. Most teachers suggest playing a phrase perfectly slowly before speeding up.

Pitch-preserving speed

A tape slowed down also drops in pitch. Modern browsers can stretch the audio instead, so the key stays the same. The Calm Jam amp turns this on for you. Go down to 50 percent, in steps of five.

How slow is slow enough

Pick the speed where you can play the whole phrase cleanly. If you make a mistake, drop another step. When you can play it three times in a row without a mistake, go up one step.

Loop the hard part

Use the A–B loop. Press A at the start of the hard section and B at the end. The player repeats it until you clear the loop.

Be kind to the sound

At very slow speeds the sound can get a bit watery. That is normal. Use it for learning and go back to full speed to hear how it should sound.

Quick answers

What is the slowest speed?

50 percent, which halves the tempo.

Does the speed setting stay when I change page?

Yes. The player keeps going between pages and remembers your speed on this device.

Try it now

Open the amp, pick a calm track and slow it down.

Press playA Short Walk With You
0:001:31