 By John Wirtz
"How fast should it go?", asked Phil Heald of Bolton in the January issue of NWBN. Well here's my own view for what it's worth. Before you concentrate on speed, you should be able to perform the tune perfectly in time with a metronome, making sure all the notes fall exactly on the beat and the flow and tonal quality is consistent. Then when you go to a session or practise with a rhythm guitarist, you should seek perfect synchronisation between both parts - rhythm and lead. This is what I refer to as 'feel'. When you have discovered the 'feel', the right speed will come naturally and it will instinctively feel right. Listen to Billy in the Lowground by Clarence White in Clarence White and the Kentucky Colonels and then, Doc Watson's version in Doc Watson on Stage. There isn't a great deal of difference in speed but the feel is quite different. Now for improving your speed. I have noticed a lot of guitarists (including myself) suffer from exaggerated movements of both right and left hands - I'll explain: Left hand: you need to keep your left hand formations tight and close to the neck (less motion needed to fret the strings). Your fingers should hover just above the strings - as closely as possible. Doc Watson and Norman Blake play a lot of their lead breaks around chord formations - they lift only the necessary fingers and no more! Right hand: Again you need to restrict your picking strokes to a minimum and concentrate on playing short and consistent strokes. Try to stay as relaxed as possible (this applies equally to both hands). If you feel your arm tensing up stop and relax for a moment before starting up again. Finally, here's a practise tip: Using a metronome to time yourself, record the rhythm part at increasing speeds, on a cassette tape. Then play the lead part against the recording and only change to faster speeds when you feel ready to. Remember to concentrate on tonal quality and timing before trying to play faster. Do this every day for an hour or more - you'll get bored but it's the only way! Good luck. John Wirtz, Buckland Down, Somerset. Write to John
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