ON DEVELOPING PRECISION AND SPEED

IT NEVER HURTS to be reminded of the benefits when working more difficult passages up from slower tempos. It’s also worth noting that the process doesn’t have to be looked at from some rigid, militaristic perspective. I like to look at it as being able to have more control over the individual motions and nuances of lines so that they can properly and more fully be expressed at quicker speeds rather than feeling forced. Not having control at slower speeds inevitably encourages gaps and bad habits in one’s playing. I recommend finding specific tunes, or parts of tunes, and use them as etudes that involve the type of technique and precision you’d like to develop. This way you can apply the technique in a realistic musical context rather than always having to play lines that sound like scales and warm-up exercises. When I played with Allan Holdsworth’s band at his tribute shows a few years back, I had to perform the harrowing NonBrewed Condiment. Besides the sheer excitement and terror of playing a tune like that, I saw it as an opportunity to work on various techniques involving precision and speed. Non-Brewed is one of those tunes that always needs upkeep. You can’t walk into a gig and perform it without having played it for a few days, or longer. The melody still serves as a useful exercise because of how demanding it is, and I’ve used it to develop economy picking, legato, hammer-ons, and time feel in a rapid 32nd-note context. A difficult piece like that can also be a study in how particular positions on the fretboard play a role in facilitating your technique. Transcribe your favourite players - guitarists, horn players, piano players - and be willing to explore different positions on the fretboard to see which one(s) facilitates speed, dexterity, and time feel best.