Do you really know your arpeggios ? Here's a test !

[pamosmusic]

You guys are somewhat supporting my point... You can only perform what your able to play physically....

I worked on technique as a kid... young kid. Once I understood what teachers were teaching me... I usually could perform what they were teaching me... better. And I'm no one with medium pro skills.

....

The muscle memory of playing slow.... doesn't work when playing fast, it's different technique. (muscle memory). I would also say it's different mental memory also... I don't practice... haven't since I was a kid, if I put in the time like many on this forum says required... I would need to skip life and sleeping.

I think this is a bit of a weird conversation because it sounds like you're in agreement with everyone else ... You worked on chops when you were a kid which is cool but it's also an acknowledgement that there has to be a technical foundation before you can just fly away at 280bpm. I don't know if playing fast requires different technique on it's face. I will say that playing slow facilitates bad technique that won't stand up to faster tempos so you have to be careful to make sure that you're holding the pick properly and staying sufficiently relaxed and applying the right amount of pressure w/ your left hand and fingering things in a way that will enable you to play fast later but ideally you have the same good technique at a slow tempo that you do at a fast tempo. If you have bad technique at a slow tempo then you aren't going to be able to just play at a fast tempo and determine what works at that tempo and slow it down because you'll still have bad technique at that fast tempo. The danger of speeding up less than optimal technique to a point where you realize that it's not going to get any faster and then having to slow back down to fix it is a fact of life. That's time you're always going to waste until you've got it right and it's automatic and that takes years. I know that because I've been practicing for hours a day for 10 years and I still do it (sigh).

[pamosmusic]

Reg, I wonder if you are attributing a special quality to your long sessions, when really it is just a matter of total quantity. It is to be expected that if I practice for an hour a day and you practice three hours a day that you will make more progress. But if I practice an hour a day and you practice for seven hours only on Monday, my guess is that I will make more progress.

That's also a matter of efficiency ... not all practice is created equal. In the case of Reg or someone else who's been practicing for decades they probably get more done in an hour than I get done in two (or three or five but I digress).

[Reg]

Hey Jonzo... I believe if you put in 1 hour seven times and then your twin puts in one seven hour session , your twin will improve much faster. A example is most guitarist try and put some time into sight reading.... generally even after years... they can't really sight read, where as anyone who has put in long sessions for months... becomes a good sight reader.

I'm not saying steady short sessions don't work, it's just you generally don't reach high levels of performance during those short session. I am... saying the longer sessions work better. Ideally one or two long sessions with steady short session would probably work best. The longer sessions to reach higher levels of technical skill and the short session to stay there.

I can show up at any gig or session and read lines with horn sections, lock into any pocket with any rhythm section and sometimes actually pull off a decent solo... all subjective of course. But I don't need to rehearse for the gig or session. I guess it's just a different approach to playing... I apologize for sounding arrogant... I'm no one and am at best a middle of the road pro...

I don't practice, but I do play 4 hour gigs, sometimes twice a day, and 8 to 12 hour studio sessions sometimes, That would be my practice. I wish I had the time to practice. Generally when I have extra time I'm composing or arranging... and live.

And like I said... I have my technique together, have for as long as I remember, 40 years or so. I generally don't have to work on my fretboard skills. When I run into something new... I usually just need to understand what is is or where it's from.

I'm not saying my technique is perfect or the best approach... but it's what I've used for ever, It repeats, and adjusts and I trust it. It works for me. I didn't develop it from the slow approach over years. Not right, wrong, good or bad, but an organized system and approach that works for me.

Peter... cool playing on your sight. thanks

[matt.guitarteacher]

In my meager experience the "breakthrough" stuff seems to come from longer sessions. Some things just need reps under fingers and maybe short practice over time is good, but the long ones inform the "what you need to work on" in the short moments later on.

[pamosmusic]

Peter... cool playing on your sight. thanks

Youre too kind

[ChrisDowning]

Reg - are you comparing playing a complete phrase - say 24 notes - that you have worked through and practiced beforehand; to ad-libbing a solo around chord tones / approach notes / and the like, which you are working out on the fly? If so, I can see where you are coming from and agree. One way is being entertaining and running through a lot of stuff we have played many times - the ad libbing bit can be like composing in the moment, which is far more challenging if the fundamentals aren't there in the fingers.

[Reg]

Yes, improv, composing in the moment...for this thread, we're talking about arpeggios, so using arpeggios as approach for creating relationships and developing... as compared to, as I said memorized performance.

Sorry if I didn't make myself clear...I seem to be good at that, the not making myself clear skill thing.

[PMB]

Like a gnat flyin through the rain drops.... wow, I love that image. cool one liner. Good point...and yea the understanding of what one wants to hear and play takes some skills.

So whats slow, 300 BPM is fast, unless your feelin it in half time feel. Generally don't you feel almost all up tempos in 2. I play a lot of fast latin music which is almost always very fast ... but felt in 2, with tons of the triad arpeggios, almost like montunos. It's almost time to go play some BS ...

Raised a good point there, Reg. Listen to Parker's uptempo solos and it's clear that he's hearing and phrasing everything in half time. He also had the ability make musical decisions with ease at the last possible moment. Like the greatest baseball batter who can seemingly slow down and arrest time, almost as if a 90 mile ball had been gently lobbed their way.

[gsegal]

I found that limitation in practice is a great tool to advancing your fretboard knowledge. I do the position practice and also single string limitation as well. Try to arpeggiate chord changes on a single string connecting to the closest note of the next chord, in quarter notes, at a slow tempo at first. Do that on all strings and you will see the improvement of knowing all your chord tones and being able to use them in any area of the guitar.