Wow... I just noticed something amazing! I really am underestimating my own capabilities. I just played through the few acoustic songs I know the Rhythm for (because I didn't have a lot of time and I had my Martin right next to me), and the amazing thing here is: I usually find acoustic guitars harder to play than electric ones, and I could get pretty close to shred-speeds! Normally I can barely play Sweet Child O' Mine's intro on acoustic!

What did I do differently this time? I followed a piece of advice I got from a professional guitarist at a Guitar Workshop this Sunday, that I had completely disregarded because I had lots of time for practice Monday and Tuesday this week, so I wanted to spend that time on better fretting-hand technique so I could play better. Stupid idea, I know now. The suggestion he gave me, after seeing me struggling with playing some fast licks, while he just played a basic 12-Bar Blues, was: Relax. Simple as that. Relax completely. Get rid of all tension. Loosen the grip on the pick and use as little movement as possible while picking.

So I tried today with my Martin Acoustic and... it worked. Not only did my picking speed improve, he also helped me get a better grip on the pick so I can use Pinch Harmonics mire easily too. I wonder if that'll also improve my fretting hand's speed :) This guy spent maybe an hour and a half talking to me and some other guitarists, and in that time, he took me further than my private teacher has managed to do in the last 8 months! Was it scary soloing over a professional guitarist's playing? Heck yeah. Did I learn from it? HECK. YEAH! Isn't it funny how something that simple can make such a huge difference?

Compart1:I remember parts of a few of the song titles. That might be enough to help me find the album I'm talking about. Much of it sounds more Bluesy than many other Aerosmith albums, but it's just so well-made that it keeps provoking that "This is what I want to do!"-feeling, if you know what I mean :)