Guitar Lead Speed: The Need or Not
🎸 Stoic Stoner Quote:
“Play as fast as you want — just don’t outrun your soul, or your accuracy.”
🎶 The Need for Speed... Or Just a Lack of Soul?
By the Stoic Stoner
I was watching an old Chet Atkins video — the kind that feels like sipping a slow coffee on a porch somewhere in the quiet corners of your mind. At some point, he says something to another guitarist — not in judgment, but in that gentle Tennessee way — about playing fast. I’m paraphrasing, but the essence was this:
“Play as fast as you want… just don’t make mistakes.”
That hit me. Like a perfectly bent note. Like the moment you realize the silence between notes is part of the music too.
⠀
Now, I’ve met a lot of speed demons on the fretboard. Cats who could shred so fast you’d think the neck of the guitar owed them money. But here's the rub: fast ain’t the same as deep. Speed is a tool — not the song.
Truth is, anyone can run a scale. You can blaze through the minor pentatonic like it’s Mario Kart. But if you ain't saying anything with those notes, then you're just a metronome with fingers.
It’s like driving.
You ever been on a long road trip, baked on the moment, just feeling the road? That sweet spot between the cruise control and the horizon? That’s groove. But push too fast — take a turn without control — and you’re off the road and into chaos. Guitar’s the same. Speed without control, feeling, or intention? That’s not art. That’s noise in overdrive.
I’ve heard players like Steve Vai who could melt paint off the walls — but with soul. His speed wasn’t for show. It was storytelling. Emotion in motion. That's not speed for speed's sake — that's poetry, just written really fast.
So here’s my take:
“Play as fast as you want — but if you’re not making people feel something, you’re just clocking BPMs.”
And if you're gonna run a scale? Fine. Run it like it means something. Every note should have a reason to exist. And if you miss the mark, slow down. Taste the notes. Don’t just chew through ‘em.
In a world full of noise, play something that stops time. Even if it’s just one note — bent just right, held just long enough, soaked in soul.
Stay lit. Stay present. And play what you feel, not what impresses.
— ☕🎸 The Stoic Stoner
Comments
Post a Comment