Hey Larry

I know what you’re saying… these older fingers aren’t as nimble as they used to be

For me personally, its better to play a few notes with felling than to burn up the fret board with meaningless and soulless noise.
Focus on what you can do, let your heart & soul shine thru what you play and don’t be concerned about the speed

This song is a good example of saying a lot with just a few notes………

Hi Larry, I’m also 78 and can certainly sympathize with you. There’s a German saying: “An old man is not an express train.” In other words, I don’t have to set a high-speed record because 1. there are an infinite number of great slower songs, 2. I simply play many songs a little slower than Brian played them and 3. a song always sounds better and more musical when you don’t push it to its limits. I’m fine with that and I stick to Howlin Wolfs motto: “I`m built for comfort, not for speed”

Dieter

Larry, I’m about 10 years younger than you and I agree 100% with Dieter above. Speed is a highly subjective thing. I generally always have to slow down Brian’s playing to play it myself.

I suppose if you did want to build up your speed you could use a metronome and start out slow and increase it little by little. But for me that takes the fun out of playing so I just play it a little slower which always sounds just as good to me!

Happy New Year!

Hi Larry – I’m older than you, and I’ve never been able to play very fast. It has nothing to do with my age, because my reaction time is as fast as it ever was. It has nothing to do with my coordination, because I am active in sports and regularly work out at my local gym. The people who CAN play fast say this: If you can’t hum the lick or hear it in your head, you can’t play it. So if you want to play a fast lick, the first thing you have to do is be able to hum it or hear it in your head at a very fast pace. To me, that is just plain boring.

I take inspiration from the words of BB King, who said in an interview: “I can’t play fast like some of those boys, so I just try to get the most I can out of every note I play.” And who has ever gotten more out of a single note than BB King?

(BTW, the photo in my icon was taken when I was 72.)

I never wanted to play fast. None of my major influences played particularly fast. So I don’t even try. Playing tastefully and accurately were and still are my goals. Maybe I’m making a virtue out of necessity but I don’t care.

Shredding is good for a party trick. This applies particularly to great jazz players like Jack Wilkins, RIP Jack. I was lucky to hang out with him for a while when he visited NZ, he was a wonderful guy. He gave me a guitar lesson, and a signed poster which we will always treasure.

Jack was massively entertaining. When he did a shredding demo at the end of a Cole Porter jazz guitar workshop he blew the roof off, but you had to be there to fully appreciate what I’m saying! 🙂 Wish I had made a recording of it.

I don’t care to listen to 100% speed playing for the sake of it from people who don’t know any other way to play. I respect the digital skills required but music? Really? Nah.