@Nancy R Each etude was progressively better. I'm glad you tried this at a faster tempo. Now it is just down to more repetitions and focus on any problem chord changes. You can definitely handle the tempo, your rhythms were good - you were just uncomfortable with some of the changes. Good work!

@Nancy R When I did these etudes I would use the Speed Training function in Soundslice - it is in the same tab where you change the tempo. Since you have limited practice time, you can set it to start at 70%, increment 10% and play each 1 time. You'll get 4 reps that gradually get faster. Move on after that. Just a thought!

@Nancy R Yes, one step at a time! It's a process!

@Nancy R Great Story! To Kyle's point, there is huge variance in the technique of various elite guitar players. So there is an approach that will definitely work for you. I always come back to minimizing tension in the body as showing the path.

@Casey Childers @Marc-André Labelle What is great is that it was clear that people took the comment the way it was intended - that part of the challenge is getting over the fear and just doing it - a lot! Just do it in a way where you don't get "mental overload". If you need practice over one chord, or repeating 8-12 bars - that's fine. You can practice without a tempo - just play the chord and make something up over it. If you are cursing at yourself than the tempo is too fast - and you need to slow down or simplify. To the rock guys "hitting the third" is a suggestion, to people who never improvised it is a rule. In either case, it is a great place to start and will help you play the changes but eventually you will follow your ear. Your ear will lead you to the thirds, particularly when it matters for the flow of the song but it can lead other places as well - and that's the fun of it. @Coach Marc-Andre Seguin called it "tinkering" in his comment on Saturday

@Marc-André Labelle I agree!

@Casey Childers @Miquel Bassols If you look at the attached pdf of this comping study, you will see that this is 90% Charleston's - just like in Shiny - Charleston's on the 1, Charleston's on the 3 with chord anticipations on the 4&, some combination Charleston's using the 1 & to land on the 3 for another Charleston , plus some chord anticipations on their own. I do use Charleston's on the 3 & to set up landing on the 1 when I want to accentuate the downbeat - which isn't in Shiny but is in later studies.

@Mentor Kyle Bradley You can see me do the percussive hits in this video. I am always in sync with the drum downbeat, so a lot of the time it isn't noticeable. It is interesting that I don't do it in the first section where I am only playing 2 note guide tones (although you can see my wrist moving between hits) - I start to do it when I am strumming full chords in the second half. I'm keeping time with my wrist (in addition to my foot). With the full band it isn't that bad - in fact it sounds like the snare hit that is happening at the same time. When I listen to the guitar alone, it is more annoying. Relating it to the rock thing - hitting chords with the snare was always a thing I tried to do but jazz is another story!

@James Keillor Pretty swinging! Good start on this tune! I have a general question that relates more to my own playing. Are you aware of your percussive swipes on your comping? Can or do your control how you use it? I'm curious because I do it too. There are times when I like adding the percussive quality and it is usually in sync with what a drummer would play - but I don't really control it - it's become a part of my playing. I think I began doing it to keep feel and time when I practice comping and it became a natural thing. Do you have an opinion on it? I find it is more noticeable when I record direct from the amp or guitar. As an aside, I've noticed @Coach Marc-Andre Seguin do something similar in keeping time BUT he doesn't hit the strings. It got me thinking that maybe I should try to be able to control it.

@Mentor Kyle Bradley It could be a carry over from playing in a loud band environment where it doesn't stand out. I started noticing it when recording for JGA and John Klukach mentioned it as a percussive hit. For me, it is a time keeping thing, usually when I am playing unaccompanied and comping on the offbeat - I'm creating the downbeat to play off of - so it is musical in nature but recently I started recording direct to my computer and it stood out a lot more. If I record with a mic it is less annoying. I use a pick so it is a sharper tone than James gets with his thumb - and we both mute the strings when we do it. I should check if Wes did it! I think I'd like to be able to control it, but is definitely like the way James describes it as "just coming out that way". I did notice Marc doing something similar in keeping time with his wrist, but he didn't hit the strings. I'm waiting for the situation where I am playing with others and they ask me "why am I doing this annoying thing?"