An Addition to my above posted drivel: When learning a song, I play it at slow-as-molasses speed, to get the timing, phrasing, and feel correct. When I can nail it every time I play it, I start speeding up the metronome about 5 bpm at a whack. I do this until I get the piece nailed at "performance" speed. Once I can play it on autopilot, I throw tone and timing out the door and play it as fast as I can possibly play it. I do this once or twice during a daily practice session. From this, I have found that I can gradually add the tone and timing back to a "breakneck" piece, and soon, I am able to play a piece coherently at speeds you would not normally encounter in most playing situations (say, Salt Creek at 240 bpm). I don't do this as a frivolous exercise, or for musical masturbation; when playing bluegrass, you encounter many differnt versions of song, as well as many different tempos. The goal of this exercise is to be able to sit in with ANYONE and play. BTW, you DO practice with a metronome, don't you?