Interesting comment about taking up fiddle...I'm a guitar player but took up fiddle a few years ago for a couple of reasons: 1) It was lying around the house and I couldn't stand to see it not played. 2) There's always lots of guitar players and often not much else. The side benefit is that it's improved my guitar playing: speed, feeling, sense of melody or "where the song's going". So it's worth a shot; the main problem is it takes time away from practicing guitar (no minor problem).That being said, there are some tunes I can pick fast and others my fingers just won't cooperate with no matter how much I practice (with a metronome, slowly at first, etc.). So I guess I have to agree with the others: practice is necessary but sometimes not sufficient for us mere mortals.

- Dave T