Playing fast is amazing. It sounds great, is exciting and it adds momentum to your solos in a way that is challenging to recreate without using speed.
There is also a strong precedent of blues guitarists playing fast.
Stevie Ray Vaughan, Eric Clapton, Gary Moore, Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, Rory Gallagher and Joe Bonamassa are just some of the many blues and blues rock guitarists who play fast.
So for all of these reasons, it makes perfect sense why guitarists aspire to play quickly.
However – trying to crank up the pace of your solos when you first start improvising causes a lot of problems. Just some of these are as follows:
- You have less time to think, which makes it more challenging to craft interesting ideas
- It puts you under technical pressure, increasing the likelihood you’ll make mistakes
- By focusing only on speed, you potentially overlook quality, and the impact and sound of each individual phrase
- Playing fast for any length of time requires stamina. If you are playing very close to your technical limit, it will be difficult to sustain your improvisation and also play with precision
Put simply, unless you feel very comfortable playing fast – targeting speed at the beginning of your improvisation journey can really be to the real detriment of your solos.
It can also makes improvisation feel stressful. Playing up towards your technical limit creates a feeling of pressure, which makes the whole process less enjoyable.
If you have been focusing on speed for some time, then dropping the pace might make your solos feel a little pedestrian at first. Your initial thought might be that there is no excitement or momentum in your playing.
That is a good thing, and a sign that you have pulled the pace down to the point where you are comfortable and have time to think.
The challenge now, is not about playing as fast as you can, but instead creating interesting and exciting licks, in the absence of speed.
These are ideas that we will cover in the coming videos – so head over there when you are ready! 😁
