Marion: I suppose it depends on how the rhythm changes through the song. I have a tendency to speed up on some songs, and have been justly (I suppose) criticized for it. I don't normally accompany someone, so in answer to 53's question, if you're accompanying yourself, unless you have clinical multiple personalities, you should be able to keep up with yourself. But, I play guitar and set the rhythm in my gospel group and on some of the upbeat songs, I like to kick it off with some real energy. I play the opening intro at a pace where I want the song to be, and the lead singer sometimes comes in WAY slower. I have to slow down to him (rather than trying to force him to speed up to me, with everyone else not knowing what's going on.) The interesting thing is that when the lead singer who starts out slow gets into the song, he speeds up. By the end of the song, we're often taking it faster than I started it, as I keep pace with the lead singer. Or maybe I'm speeding it up, and he is keeping pace with me. Sometimes, it's hard to tell. But then, I am singing too, singing harmony, so it's different than just playing the guitar that sets the rhythm. If you're accompanying someone else and you do it often, you start to recognize each other's idiosyncracies and never try to force each other. The one thing you never want is to have two musicians at odds with each other when they're playing. Might's well pack up and go home.
Jerry