Rich Well raised this topic over on the Banjo Hangout - Jamming to a Very Fast Song - I’d like to hear your thoughts on this @BanjoBen
"As the day we can jam together in person gets closer, I have a question about a situation other intermediate jammers undoubtedly have encountered, too. You’re at a jam. You’re doing well on slow and moderate tempo songs — both backup and lead — but on really fast songs, all you can do is vamp. To do more, you need a strategy. You’ve already stripped out all the ornamentation, but your right hand still can’t keep up. Is there a right-hand pattern that may not be especially interesting, but is streamlined and limits finger movement enough to allow you to play faster for a brief stretch? (Maybe because it keeps the thumb on the 5th string, or uses several quarter notes.) Are there other solutions?
On his DVD set, John Hartford talks about eliminating what he calls “ghost notes” (notes other instruments will play) in order to play faster. That’s somewhat along the same lines: finding a way to play simpler in order to play faster. (But I’ve never figured out what notes Hartford eliminates.)
If others have faced and solved this problem, I’d love to hear how they did it. I’m not talking about increasing your speed for everything you play. (I’m not a big fan of playing extremely fast.) This is for emergencies. Simplification strategies to keep up on an occasional jam song that allows you to do something more than vamp."
Of course there are certain licks and moves that I won’t try super fast, and I have certain licks that I know I can play faster, and that’s how I will adjust my picking.
