Bro...i love seeing a young man not only familiar with players like Hughie Thomason but incorporating their licks & style into your playing. The outlaws were unbelievable. GG&HT is a virtuoso's showpiece. The rhythm work is as impressive as the lead. I've run into many of the same roadblocks over the years. Im old enough to have seen the outlaws & skynyrd, with Stevie Gaines, live! Thanks brother. Took me down memory lane!!

Steve Gaines was an absolute LEGEND. Gone far too soon... I've always never had the patience to learn licks slow. Just at speed and repeat until it's cleaned up, but I never thought about trying to play it even faster than at speed! Great lesson for us hybrid Saguto Golfers/Guitarists! Thanks, Tom!

May you be blessed with GREEN GRASS AND HIGH TIDES FOREVER

Great lesson my friend! Your way of genuinely talking to your audience is why people love your videos. I was really soaking in your teaching because of the vibe you put out. Amazing concepts- thank you for sharing.

Bravo! Not everybody shares their process in developing guitar skills, but you do! Precious suggestions and tricks I'll definitely check to play smoother and faster. Thank you for your effort in explaining this!

Best video I saw about playing fast in at least 16 years! Improved playing after practicing only 5 min at 200bpm. You really start feeling the inefficiencies of your right hand. Simple as that. Thanks for that! Liked and subscribed

Thanks, that was a perfect lesson bro. It woke me up musicly. Your hard work is appreciated

Your a natural born orator, teacher, and guitar player! Thank You for the videos, Your style really helps me. Hope You keep putting them out.

Great Lesson Tom ! I know a little is a masterpiece of Steve's playing. You're 100% right, I play faster and more relaxed when I practice and let muscle memory take over. When I think about it too much, it becomes choppy, and stuff vs fluid.

Great lesson dude . The light bulb moments are great . I had a old dude teach me i know a little and a bunch of other stuff as a young teen . That was about 90 or91 when i begged my parents for a knockoff strat at the guitar shop. That guy worked at the little shop We would go in the back and hed play all those Skynyrd boogie tunes. It's a good feeling when you start to figure stuff out eh . In Georgia about all you heard was southern rock music and I wanted to be like those great pickers . They sure could play fast. Keep it up buddy you got it

Thanks for the hint! This video is what I've needed. I had it backwards and this opened a brand new approach in my playing! Thank you, again! PS I loved your video on I need you by skynard.

Love the Outlaws licks you played there. Awesome playing as always Tom.

Good stuff,Hombre. We really appreciate your efforts! Regarding the Southern pickers,I learned some valuable lessons from my only guitar instructor at age 16...he was very close to Bob Wills,the King Of Country Swing. It was late 1976,early 1977 and I wanted to learn Ted Nugent-style but he refused me and made me learn Green Onions,instead. Grrr. Thing is,after getting a copy of One More From The Road I played him T For Texas. That old feller came alive! He said Steve and Skynyrd were legit,he was surprised and happy. He said you gotta learn to swing in your leads,like Roy Clark! But mostly he taught me to enjoy learning and playing guitar. That ol feller would SO dig this channel. Salute,Don Tolle🥺

One of the best guitar lessons I've ever heard! Blessings my friend!

I remember seeing a video of Shawn Lane and he said something similar. It’s been a long time since I watched the video so I could have some inaccuracies. I’m paraphrasing. He said he didn’t believe in starting slow and gradually getting faster because it trained your brain to play slow. He said play fast even if it’s sloppy and your hands and brain will catch up.

This is such a good video. Realising that the brain is a fundamental constraint and working out how to overcome that, by essentially just doing what you want and giving the brain time to adjust, is an amazing realisation. I had a similar realisation when it came to learning Chinese. I could approximate the sound using English sounds but when I tried to make Mandarin sounds by shaping the tongue and lips, it sounds rubbish at first but eventually the muscles, the ears and the brain catch up and the sounds become clearer and we can hear the subtleties of the sounds and the brain is behind it all as the mouth and ears do their thing. Great lesson. Doing slow and doing fast is not necessarily the same thing at different speed. What a great thing to realise! Nice one!

Tom. Your golf vids are unreal. This is equally awesome. lol. Love it.

Great! Thank You!You play very well and clean.

You're absolutely right !

That's cool, I know a little. That song has been on my bucket list for over forty years. I gotta start playing more.

You’re giving guitar lessons now?! Your golf videos have helped me and have been struggling with guitar speed my whole life so guess I’ll give this a shot too!

Tom, i enjoy watching you and listening to what you have to say. You remind me of myself at your age, same build, same mannerisms. BTW, i like your tie. I should tell you that I'm 67 years old, and i just restarted playing after 30+ years NOT playing. I started playing guitar when i was 17 or 18 and played for just over 10 years. There was no YT, no Internet. I played mostly what i learned by ear. That is, if i heard it, i could play it. I got damn good! I played some classical as well, and i had to learn ro read music for that, but I'm not that great at it. I had a nice acoustic, a classical guitar, an LP electric, and a 12-string acoustic. My hands were really strong, cuz i "worked for a living." If I'd known anyone in a band, i prolly would've played in a band, but since i didn't, i didn't. But ppl were always telling me i should. (By this time, i was in grad school (neuroscience & medicine), and that was my main focus.) Anyway, i didn't plan it, but i stopped one day, and didn't play again for more than 30 years. (LSS, I met my wife to be, and we went away for a hot weekend. I was going to serenade her, when i pulled out my guitar, she said, "I'm not really into guitar." That killed it. I should also tell you that many years later she informed me that she didn't mean to kill it, she just had other plans at that moment! She felt bad about it, and decades later, she encouraged me to start playing again. By this time, though, i no longer had my guitars, so i had to start over with everything. When i first started back playing, i had nerve impingement in my neck that affected my left hand. I finally got that fixed with surgery, and noticed improvement the very next morning, but i still couldn't play more than 1-1/2 to 2 minutes before my hand would cramp up. I couldn't even play enough to build calluses. I did hand exercises every day, but got nowhere. Finally, 7 months after my surgery, i was trying to play, and suddenly realized I'd been playing for 40 minutes. Wow! It finally "stuck!" Now that I've started back, I've been playing every day. I gotta say, I'm getting good again. Maybe even better than i was. But i need to play every day to keep my hands in shape. I mostly play acoustic to keep my hands strong, and because it's just easier. I keep my guitar on a stand, and i can just grab it and play. Anyway, I've noticed that i hardly ever think about my right hand. It's very relaxed, and I hold the pick very loosely. I can alternately pick easily, and just pick any way that i need, it works, including "hybrid" picking. I'm gonna try what you said. I've noticed lately that i started practicing scales for the first time a couple weeks ago, and after a few days i could pick much faster than i could before. So, I'll try practicing "I know a little." THAT SONG is one I've lusted over! I want to play it so bad! (Truthfully I'd forgotten about it until i saw this video, but it's been activated again, lol.) Keep up the excellent work, i mean FUN! 👍 👌 Take care, dude.

Great lesson.

Awesome Video! So glad I found someone that loves that Skynard sound!

great lesson man, seriously. thanks a lot!

Thanks for that Tom .Just met you.I can tell A nutter when I see one. You're right, lets get it on, love it , I'm subscribing now. Cheerz .x

Concentrate on relaxing and breathing. That was what helped me....One day, many years ago,..I realized when I was playing or attempting faster guitar licks and phrases,...I was holding my breath a lot...this creates tension and fatigue QUICK. Lots of players do this and do not realize it.

Great video. Truth is spoken here. I stumbled onto this as a teenager way back when none of this knowledge was available anywhere. Then Shawn Lane said he always played fast and worried about cleaning it up later. Ah! Confirmation from a legendary player! Yes, start fast with the intention to get clean, it will get clean per your intention. Another thing I would add is to observe the more conserved motion your hands make at high speed, no string hopping/changing pick angle and for the left hand replace almost all pull-offs with hammer ons. Then practice THESE motions at slower tempos to ingrain them. Youll find that hardly any sound comes out of the strings and be tempted to introduce more velocity be reverting to the larger motions allowed and required at slower tempos to obtain some volume. But do not revert! Stay with the fast tempo-minimalized motion techniques, but practicing at the slower tempos. This will help to burn them in and make them more consistent.

great vid Tom! And that Peavey hp signature is killer!

Dude great video thank you 👍

This idea of just playing fast and not worrying about it being sloppy when you start completely makes sense. Thank you for showing how inefficient and differently your picking hand operates when slowing it down. I think that demonstrates why that method is ineffective. You still have to think about picking method in terms of angling the picking hand and things like that, but the details of the movement, the hand will just learn as you do it.

This is a fantastic video.

BRAVO!

Thanks Tom, I've followed you for years my friend. 👍🏻

Thats a nice Hartley Peavey series guitar. Own one for a few months about 10 years ago.

I actually did this with SRV's Mary Had a Little Lamb solo. There is a triplet blast that I concentrated a month on and could not get it at speed. One day, I put it at tempo and I messed up.BUT, when I cut back a little, I was nailing it. I did that a couple days and then I was at tempo

By working on some techniques, especially, I actually messed up some of the things I was already capable of doing. And I now wonder what I was doing back then. I agree so much!!

I go from golf lessons to guitar lessons and here you are again. ✌️

Green Grass opening lick. Love it.

Makes Sense.. Thanks Boss,

Killer Stuff Bro.. And Great Instructional/Advice/Pointer Video Upload ☺☺😎👊💯

My right hand has been really good from early on. I was lucky in that regard. Lynyrd Skynyrd is one of favorite bands. I remember the hours spending with the free bird tablature learning that solo.

Right On Brother 👍

Tom the golf guru shredding. Love it

Totally right on about just going for it. I’ve never actually heard anybody say that before, but it’s definitely how I learned to play faster. That and I used to like to sit and practice picking while I’d watch TV or listen to Keith Richards’ or Anthony Kiedis’ audiobooks. Keith said rock n roll is all in the right hand. I agree. It’s amazing what you can do while barely even using the left hand. In fact, now that I think about it, my best playing is done when I barely use either hand. Just sort of let other people’s music kinda bounce off it and pretend I’m doing something to contribute greatly. Anyway, I’d just practice picking fast and rhythmically either on open strings or while doing next to nothing with my left hand. And I’d try lots of different rhythms and try to get fast and clean and even, often playing megadeth riffs actually. And I would make tiny adjustments to my picking style and experiment. I did something similar to get faster and more even and cleaner with finger picking too. These things and just trying to play fast picking songs at full speed or faster are what worked for me. That and I always warm up by playing Led Zeppelin “Black Dog”, followed by “Heartbreaker”, and sometimes followed by “Livin’ Lovin’ Maid.” Black Dog is pretty much the perfect practice and warmup song. And no, “next to nothing” is not a euphemism or pet name for anybody. Or any thing. Damnit, now I have a mental image of me wearing a gray ball cap that has a drawing that appears to show the inside of my head with only the words “nothing” in an otherwise empty cranial cavity. And also I’m wearing a gray, hooded sweatshirt with the words “I’m with Next to Nothing” printed on it. Situated front and center beneath the words is an arrow pointing down. (I didn’t say “Simon says.”) And now I have a mental image of me just wearing a gray ball cap. But sadly I cannot describe it, because I don’t even understand what I’m looking at here. You’re weird. What, I’m not the one reading it!

GREAT, GREAT, Thanks

Same concept as a bow hunter I practice at 60-70 yards. When a 20 yard shot is needed .. slam dunk, almost easy to do. Great idea with guitar practice.

Weeks ago i accidentally found this channel and found it very interesting, that there was differnt content than on most other channels. I like LS, Molly Hatchet, Allmans, etc a lot. I grew up with "one more for the road", "fillmore" and "flirtin..." . I i startetd visiting your channel more and more. Very different content and teaching style, very practical tips. With no PDFs or Backing tracks (incl. in Membership?), but speaking about your own ways, how you learn. "Start with speed" makes sense for me.... One question: i always wonder, if you are a fulltime guitar teacher/musician? Or do you play golf or are in a different business and guitar is just a hobby? And i love the underrated Variaxes...

Awesome video have a good weekend ❤😊

Good lesson. Outlaws, Molly Hatchet, Blackfoot and of course Skynyrd. The best guitar bands. Charlie Daniels was a pretty good picker as well.

I think you might be related to Mycroft and Sherlock. Your skills of observation are incredible! LOL, great job.

Love the southern rock licks

It finally came to me. Took me a week but I swear I've seen you before. Now I know. Danny Noonan in Caddyshack

I think I inadvertently used a metronome when I practiced scales & jammed to tapes & the radio. That timing tool was always there & you just had to catch up to it. Or slow down for it. But I guess your fingers just take over & you naturally learn about melody & harmony when you solo over random music.

Those thumbtacks in the wall had me rubbing my screen 😂😂

dude! you teach guitar too? love your stuff man

Truthfully Spoken👻 Yay Huey👏 Every plateau in playing is like being reborn 🛤️

Your guitar lessons are as good as your golf lessons! I stumbled upon this video and recognized your face and thought to myself…….WHAT?

thanks i love playing green grass too great song and great band

If you keep most of your weight on the neck side. Don't shift and lift.😂 Seriously though, you are a terrific teacher. I use a lot of economy picking in my playing. I highly recommend listening to players who are way faster than yourself and improvising over their lines. Not learning their licks but mimicking the phrasing. Over time, learn the actual notes, but you will already have learned the timing. That instills confidence.

Green Grass and High Tides is a rockin tune, Tom.

Good info. I’m not sure the, “learn it fast”method works for everyone. I know when I learn a lick, it’s more economical time wise for me to learn a lick slowly. By going slow, my left hand hits all the notes and provides a reference for my brain to know where each note is. By hitting each note precisely from the very beginning, it eliminates sour notes and bad habits. Unlearning bad habits is an added factor that holds back the progress of playing fast. Playing fast is accomplished by hybrid picking. No matter where your brain is, you still need to use more fingers to cover more notes. Trying to flat pick every note is ultimately limiting.

Tom great lesson on right picking techniques! What brand and model is your guitar? I like the look of its proportions.

Guitar version of over speed training used in golf. Using the metronome as you described. Not enough time to practice golf and guitar. Lol😂

‘Hi just found your channel. Wow. What a great player. You’re playing everything I wanna and do play! Please do some lessons on these songs , ‘ I wanna know how to play these solos. ‘❤Dreams” Molly H. ‘I know lil. ‘Green grass’

😂 Brilliantly entertaining. I laughed so much mide sides are splitting. 17 minute video to make one point: ‘Start fast’. However, (I assume inadvertently because I believe he was genuine) showing us how forcing himself to play fast also forced him to undo a lot of bad technique which you just can’t get away with at speed. For example, to be able to play fast, you need to practise and become fluent in your scale work and transitions, you need to learn how to minimise the distances your hands have to move, you need good pick technique, both hands have to be coordinated, you need to feel it not overthink it, etc. With all these things, learning slowly and building up speed will give you greater control over your playing, but it was fun to see this way of breaking through barriers caused by years of poor technique. Its great to see when a guitarist breaks through a personal barrier - however vthey manage it. P.s. Loving the cool threads, Man! With that tie and hairdo you are unique amongst shredders 🎉😅

🤔 Interesting....I'm going to see if I can get these concepts to work with a bass.

Starting at speed: I discovered the same thing working with piano, then if you can nail the passage at speed 4 times it feels to me almost like the neurons talk to each other to say "yeah we can do this thing." I literally feel a subtle wave of energy hit my hands, pretty sure because of the functions synapses perform it's new information being written into the nervous system. I gained what must be 5 years of speed and dexterity in a month that way and figured out a 4 step process to be used at each bpm plateau using the Hanon piano course "virtuoso pianist in 64 exercises" from 1903. It's definitely about finding the speed before finding the precision, then once you know you can move that fast you tune it.

Nice Peavey!

Looks like a young Tom Hanks .awesome player.

brilll lesson,,,,,,,iv got the same guitar ,had it from new ,,giged it lots stilll going ,,stilll plays well

I really like your guitar. What brand of guitar are you using?

Kick ass!!!

Relaxation

Het Tom. I’m still in the late beginner stage and wanted to access some of your beginner stuff as a review and try to progress from there but not able to access beginner stuff through Utube ? Do I need to become a member for that stuff ?

you should look into shredding and combine it with your style. you can hold the pick more efficiently to get max speed.

Oh.... Jazz Guitarist👑are insane virtuoso shred maestros!

Tom-my dude is a #ShredMaestro👑😎 Very counter-intuitiveAF! 💎✨👌

I should have known this golf guru is a badass guitar player

This is mostly muscle memory,and relaxing the mind. Like another comment I don't understand the quest for speed. Like guns where shot placement is key,it's not how fast,repeating scales.the most important thing is phrasing, and being creative!

Troy Grady / Cracking the code has all this mastered - makes your alternate picking look like it's from the last century... The key besides pick slanting - you're hinting on - you don't need to pick at speed to remove the biggest 6 inches in guitar from your brain - you need to ingrain the complicated into the subconscious, which you can do at a slower speed and learn faster, cleaner - just switch your noggin off!

Kirk Cameron really rocks!!!

I'm never convinced why learning to play 'fast' is the goal of every younger guitar player. Its not a race! I've been playing guitar for 50 years and undoubtedly I could be better. When I started playing I also wanted to be fast!! But as I grew older and a little wiser (don't ask my sweetie about that, she would disagree ;) Anyway, what I realized was the reason I wanted to play fast was to build up my ego and not really feeling the gift of music I was given. Now, at 65 I play for my friends during a bible study, a dinner party, for my honey and see the smile on their faces when I play one of their favorite songs. Music is something you give to others from your heart. It is not a platform to show off YOU!!

Are you Tom Saguto of SagutoGolf? So you are an amazing golfer as well? Wow.

Opposite of what everyone else is saying who say to play it slow first and build up speed but it makes sense.

good vid...playing fast has at least one major component: "relax"...the more you tense up, the harder it is...lighter touch on the strings also makes a world of difference...(Pat Metheny confirms this...)...

Did Troy Grady advocate actually practicing (not just trying it out for a few reps) whole phrases or licks at target speed, or practicing just one note at target speed?

Great work, but I will add something else for you too add too your approach which will improve your playing even more!! Look at the way you pick & you will see that you are striking the strings with the pick really flat & little too zero pick tilt (forward & backwards tilting, which you should watch Troy Grady's you tube page!!) & when striking the strings, try with your pick striking the string with the edge rather than totally flat! This will make everything feel 100% smoother like a hot knife through butter!! I hope this helps you further!! Great work so far though!!!

Cool

So the $64,000.00 question? Should we practice our golf swing at a faster tempo? (love your golf videos) . Btw I think Gaines may have played that intro with his fingers. It was easier for me than with a pick. Stay cool dude!

Aww man you should do a don rich tribute lol

Oz Noy , First class player

Even thrue uneven, on/off beat alternations. On the beat between the strings, off the beat outside the strings, syncopation.

Floppy disk. Love you man😂

Wait a second! Aren’t you the guy giving me Ben Hogan swing tips???

Tom you have probably answered this a thousand times but did you and a lot of other youtubers change you're channel name because of copyright issues, just curious

The triplets sound like Flirtin With Disaster....😊

When you start slow it’s pretty easy to employ techniques that simply don’t work at speed. When you start fast there’s no choice but to employ proper mechanics. Best bet is to have as many tricks up your sleeve as possible and know which one will work best in a given situation.

Do your speed development secrets work in developing clubhead speed?

Wait what? Guitar and golf!!!