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This may not apply 100% of the time, but percussionist Rob Knopper tends to approach things by going fast first, and then slowing things down. Which sounds backwards, but the rationale is that going fast first gives you a better idea what the demands and constraints of the passage are going to be. And doing the at-tempo practice will get the gist of the motor movements into muscle memory. At which point, if you then slow things down to work out whatever remaining kinks might be there, you’ll have a better idea what you can and can’t get away with at tempo.
So I can see how it would sometimes make sense to start with slow practice when reworking things, especially if you already have played it at tempo before and know the constraints. But maybe it would also make some sense to do slow practice more as a way to refine your motor movements after doing some at-tempo work, than the other way around?
