Hi Marty. Since I already know about your progress, i won't offer another 'congrats', but I will say that from the tape you got to me, you're playing isn't as slow as you think it is.

Excellent advice here, but at the risk of being a wet blanket, I think that there really ARE folks who simply are blessed with great speed. There's a young man here named Mark Roy who I first saw as a beginner at about age 16. He's only 17 now, and plays as fast as any human on the planet. Yes he's practiced...probably about 8-10 hours a day over the last year, but the speed was there within the first month...the rest is 'cleaning up the notes'.

I've never been able to play 'fast', in the way that the vast majority of listeners hear (and see) it...but it's all relative. My bass runs are clean, pretty inventive, and as fast as I need them, but my treble string playing is at a pretty mundane level (compared to the players I admire). I've practiced and played a lot, but I simply don't have speed AND clarity...so long ago, I opted for clarity.

I think that learning the left hand first is important, understanding the "who, why, and how" that motivated the players you like, and really puttin' the work into it are important....but there are 'mortals' and Gods. Django and Doc didn't get THAT good JUST from practice!

Rick