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Thats in fact the question - what is music all about ? Can not one note played at the right spot with the right emotion have a bigger value then meaningless runs and chops ? I personally found out the hard way after years of extrem practicing where I suddenly got cut off music standing on the big stages and could not play at all anymore. The way to music has to be the opposite - start with one perfect note at the perfect spot. And that's what I try to teach my students - thats the way to music and happiness in music and maybe one day such fast runs come but then they fit perfect in the moment they are played. In fact music is more then just playing notes - it's a way of life. Maybe for some guys it's the right thing to do to play always as fast as possible and for others not - it's a personal choice and a personal way of living.

I am often impressed with people who can play really fast, but speed without musical context can quickly get boring for me. For me, I prefer music with feeling. Sped can be part of the emotion, but it needs to fit in with the music to hold my attention.

Hi all, let me share my mean 50cent on the next generation high speed picking guys: would you enjoy a 1hrs concert with a guitarist playing at 250bpm 16th (and faster) notes nonstop? For me a clear "nope". While I'm marveling the technical skill and the effortlessness, too much shredding is not transporting emotions for me. What do you think about it?

Yes what I learned over the years is, that life balance is more important. I can tell because I also went the other way with extrem practicing.

Life balance is so important for me. Also, strategic breaks seems to help me with whatever I am studying... Half hour to two hours of intense study... Go away and do something different...then when I come back I feel I have internalized more than if I would have gone hard for four straight hours. Also, yeah... Girlfriends, work and other obligations and be a distraction to improvement. But, I think we can have it all if we learn to take everything in moderation.

Here's another guy - Greg Howe He has amazing and similar skills like Max Ostro and Matteo Mancuso ... but not so overwhelming perfection like the young players. Well it's still great and professional ... but the difference is what I was just talking about in the post before. Well maybe to compare that with 100m sprint - the winner makes it in 9.76 and the 4th one in 9.85 ....