Steve McA

[vac911]

I have been reading some of Jamie's articles and have been interested in the concept of playing slow to get fast, while staying accurate. I've been playing guitar for 44 years, even went to Berklee College of Music for a short time in the early 1970's. However, there were quite a few of those years where I would not pick it up for weeks at a time, and generally would not learn anything new when I did pick it up.

About a year and a half ago I started to seriously take it back up and I have improved a quite lot during this time period. I spent about 6 months studying under Jimmy Bruno where I primarily got the entire fretboard under my fingers using his 5 shapes to play the Major/minor scales. For the last couple of months I've been taking lessons from a local teacher and have been trying to nail the modes. It has been difficult to learn a completely new fingering method. My teacher had to literally force me into learning his 3 note per string 7 mode method. But I'm glad he did because it opened up the fretboard even more.

The reason I'm at this site is because of speed. I can play fairly accurately at slower speeds, but my lines break down quite often when playing at speed. I have been studying The Principles and am implementing them into my practice sessions. I'm hopeful I will see a dramatic change in my playing.

I like Smooth Jazz, Blues, and Latin Beat type stuff.

Would like to submit a video Jamie, what would you suggest?

Steve McA

[chefrusso]

Would like to submit a video Jamie, what would you suggest?

Absolutely and positively submit a video. Jamie will be able to show you what is causing your fingers to break down when you play at higher speeds. I've seen it happen time and time again. Even though you're a very experienced player, I know there are things that you have missed which will hinder your ability to play at higher speeds. Jamie is an absolute master at diagnosing those problems and giving you the solutions that will fix them. I'm still playing at the intermediate level, but Jamie's advice (as well as so many others here) has been the catalyst which has allowed me to experience vertical growth. Good luck and welcome to the forum.

[Jamie]

Hi Steve,

Great to see you here!

I am figuring, with your experience, you probably have the same situation as Steve, who just posted in our Workshop forum. Check his work out, and see if you understand what he is doing.

I would want to see plain scale work from you, at the top of your speed, slower as well. Or, my waking ex, same way.