BRETT ON PHRASING AND SPEED

Over the last few years I’ve realised that there’s a speed threshold for me. Once I cross that tempo threshold, I go from truly improvising in the moment and using my melodic creativity and imagination, to just letting my fingers do the walking and playing well-worn shapes and patterns. I try to extend that threshold every day by practising and sharpening my intuition so that I can keep the ideas fresh and interesting at any tempo. But of course it’ll always be a work in progress and that’s okay. It’s a personal journey so whatever represents ‘slow’ for you may be fast as hell for someone else.

I wondered why I was so focused on playing fast in my younger years when all my major influences were incredibly melodic and tasteful players. I realised that it was the only barometer I had for measuring my progress, as I didn’t have any experienced musicians around to alert me to things like exotic scales, rhythms, odd meter groupings etc. The list is endless but I had no idea what these things were or how to do them, so I was kind of flying blind. I assumed that if I could accurately move my fingers faster around the notes then I must be getting better, right?

Don’t get me wrong, I love playing fast and I love hearing the amazing young players who are pushing the envelope of what’s possible on the instrument. I just have to call myself out when I know that I’m doing it for the sake of it instead of really trying to bring something to the song.

AS EVER , BRETT’S SOLO IS BOTH RHYTHMICALLY AND HARMONICALLY ADVANCED AND WILL TAKE A FAIR AMOUNT OF TIME AND EFFORT TO DIGEST NEXT MONTH Jon begins a new series with a real GT favourite, the most excellent Allen Hinds