How do I play faster? It's the never-ending athletic question about flatpicking.
There are specifics worth knowing — pick angle, right hand technique, double escape vs. single escape, left hand efficiency, hammer-ons and pull-offs. But really, it comes down to one unglamorous answer: time spent practicing.
The One-Tune Challenge
Try this: spend the next week or two focusing on increasing the speed on just one fiddle tune you already know. Every day, spend 15 minutes with the metronome pushing your boundaries. Consistency is the key — every day.
Consistency equals an increase in speed.
A Real Example
Here's a firsthand example. Larry Sparks' "Slow Train" sits around 170 BPM — that's really pushing it. At first, brushing up on this tune, 170 BPM wasn't there. But with steady daily practice, what once felt like dragging along at that tempo started to feel comfortable.
That's the point. You don't get faster all at once. You get faster every day.
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