@henry_5823msn-com Hi Marty, After years of hard work I can play most fiddle tunes at around 120 BPM
Improvising over a standard 1 4 5 chord progression I hit around 130 BPM
good for you. I'm closing in on 90-100 on some tunes. On some of the B parts, I my not play note for note per Devin, but I am getting better at improvising along the way and most importantly staying mostly within the scales (or recalling a stock lick). I'll hit a few sour notes here and there, but really strive to land on the root at the end of an improvised phrase. I just love these fiddle tunes. A woman in one of my jam groups who plays fiddle got me started on them.
@henry_5823msn-com I have accompanied a fiddle player also for years you can see him in my profile picture
unfortunately he passed away 2 weeks ago 😪
I sometimes hit the wrong note as well but it passes that quick no one will ever know 😀
@henry_5823msn-com Devin always encourages everyone to improvise. Right now I follow his lead as close as I can but I am pretty new to this style. I try to improvise a little more on the blues.
I like to hear it called improvising but my ear tells me I’m just fumbling to find a note lol
Use a metronome. It will work for you to speed up your playing.
@jerseychicadee Your secret is safe.
Consider downloading Strum Machine. It is a Bluegrass backing track program. There are hundreds of Bluegrass songs preloaded and you can also easily create your own. Then you can set the tempo and have it increase every repetition any amount of bpm you choose.
I take the lesson here I’m working on and create the backing track in Strum Machine, or modify the song if it already exists.
I have no affiliation with Strum Machine other than being a user
@canuck I completely agree. Blazing speed is impressive for what it's worth but it can become a negative if the feel of the song is lost. I really like players like Bob Minner and Kenny Smith. They always seem to be right in that "sweet spot". Definitely not slow but it never sounds rushed. Very musical!
