Accuracy before speed?

[Dalegreen]

In the end it comes down to how much time you spend with your hands on the guitar.
To get to any type of professional or performing level requires hours and hours of practice.
And yes, smooth and slow will always lead to fast and fluid in the end.
And to add one last note, if you enjoy practicing scales you will play them for hours. It creates good muscle memory and dexterity. It definitely will help you in your overall skill level when moving into instrumental and solo sections of songs.

[mawmow]

Accuracy first !
Speed will come by itself said my coach.

[Doug Young]

Originally Posted by thefsb

I
Playing fast and slow are very different activities. One can be done with your muscles under the deliberate control of your conscious mind and the other is too fast for that. So you can't learn the fast without doing it.

One aspect of this is fingering. While I definitely use the play slow and accurate first approach, it is possible to learn something wrong by going too slow. At a very slow speed you can play something with non-optional fingering or technique - an extreme case: at ridiculously slow tempos, you could probably play many single lines with 1 finger. That's going to break down when you try to go faster.

So when trying to get something up to speed, I generally practice slow until I think I have it, then push to see how fast I can go - then try to analyze where things are breaking down. It could be that I just need more slow practice, or need to slowly practice a single spot, or it may be that there's a better fingering that will fix whatever barrier I'm hitting. If so, fix that, then go back to practicing slow using the newly improved fingering until it feels natural, then start speeding up. An iterative process.

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by Doug Young

One aspect of this is fingering. While I definitely use the play slow and accurate first approach, it is possible to learn something wrong by going too slow. At a very slow speed you can play something with non-optional fingering or technique - an extreme case: at ridiculously slow tempos, you could probably play many single lines with 1 finger. That's going to break down when you try to go faster.

So when trying to get something up to speed, I generally practice slow until I think I have it, then push to see how fast I can go - then try to analyze where things are breaking down. It could be that I just need more slow practice, or need to slowly practice a single spot, or it may be that there's a better fingering that will fix whatever barrier I'm hitting. If so, fix that, then go back to practicing slow using the newly improved fingering until it feels natural, then start speeding up. An iterative process.

Hi Doug…
I like your thought of too-slow play might lead to issues as well as too fast. I'd probably amend that to say "Playing too slow without guidance and feedback as to the exercises/songs you are learning might lead to issues".

I found when teaching fingerstyle techniques over 4 decades that some instruction and guidance help steer learning in productive directions while shortening learning time.

So scales and etudes were part of lessons when I taught, but only part of it. The ultimate goal was making music, which proper technique contributes to greatly.

It's obvious when listening to you play (and watching) that either you cleverly figured out things, or had good sources of input as you were learning.

These days, I'm learning new songs to play with our Worship Team (I play backing and lead) nearly weekly. I'm sent chord charts and links to recordings, and expected to listen to recordings, and learn the parts (usually in 3-5 days). I'm often searching YouTube for live examples of players performing the parts, which also greatly speeds up my process.

In the absence of video examples, I often start by figuring out the easy versus best locations on the neck, and then experiment to arrive at the most efficient fingerings. Working it into the fingers, and my head is still best achieved slowly and then built up to the proper tempo.

I use an iPad as my 'music stand' for chart display, and I make notes on the songs so next time we play a particular song (sometimes weeks apart) I remember what I did last time and don't need to be retrained!

[Doug Young]

Yeah, Larry, if someone is learning from a teacher or has music with indicated fingerings, then presumably following the recommended path gets you started correctly from the beginning. I rarely do either of those, and am usually working out something on my own, a new composition or arrangement, leading to the scenario I described, where you need to find the optimal fingering yourself.

There are of course possible differences in what fingerings are optimal for any individual, as well, with the famous fight between Michael Chapdelaine and Segovia being an example, where Michael changed some of Segovia's fingerings to something he found to work better for him, to Segovia's irritation.

[rick-slo]

Originally Posted by Doug Young

One aspect of this is fingering. While I definitely use the play slow and accurate first approach, it is possible to learn something wrong by going too slow. At a very slow speed you can play something with non-optional fingering or technique - an extreme case: at ridiculously slow tempos, you could probably play many single lines with 1 finger. That's going to break down when you try to go faster.

So when trying to get something up to speed, I generally practice slow until I think I have it, then push to see how fast I can go - then try to analyze where things are breaking down. It could be that I just need more slow practice, or need to slowly practice a single spot, or it may be that there's a better fingering that will fix whatever barrier I'm hitting. If so, fix that, then go back to practicing slow using the newly improved fingering until it feels natural, then start speeding up. An iterative process.

Yes, my favorite word for that technique is Fartlek.
I have mentioned that word a few times in the past. I came across the term in the runners world https://therunexperience.com/fartlek/ and
adapted it to guitar practice (of course the reason for effectiveness is from a different angle). Sometimes practicing at a slow tempo for something that
ultimately you want to play at a rapid tempo creates additional problems - incorrect fingering, mental note grouping, wrist movements, etc.. You can
practice something difficult slow but periodically check at up tempo so that you don't devote muscle memory to some method that just won't work
at up tempo.

[RRuskin]

IMHO, speed is the enemy of progress. Practicing at a slow to moderate tempo improves technique & ability far better than trying to rush through it. Once anything is intuitively learned, one can usually perform it at any speed.

[gwlee7]

I wouldn’t get jammed up on his description of “muscle memory” as there is quite a debate as to its existence. I do use his way of adding and increasing speed though and it’s a solid plan.