Mickey and Andy -- Mid-Tempo Jams are Where It's At

Andy talks with Mickey Abraham about why mid-tempo is the right tempo in flatpicking guitar.
Also, we can't play that fast.
lessons at lessonswithmarcel.com or andyslessons.com

[@keithchilvers7434]

I am totally with you on this, I am very melody oriented and therefore to me mid-tempo is the best to hear the melody. I get quite upset when people rattle through beautiful tunes like Blackberry Blossom and totally lose the melody. But maybe we're just being grumpy old men - back in 1940 Eck Robertson accused Bill Monroe of playing too fast. Also there is a physical reason, to do with our heart rate for why we tend to revert to 130 BPM.

[@jaysmoreymusic]

As someone newer to bluegrass (and loving your channel!), Sutton's tone did it for me. It's like he has little 1176s in his fingers. So smooth and even at all tempos, and shows incredible control with tunes like Overton Waltz.

[@jimmccarley9609]

You guys really get out of each others way backing up, with interesting rhythms. How cool Andy, for Mickey to drive up for a spell. Thanks for posting this.

[@kyd2868]

Mid-tempo is fast enough to keep it interesting while still being able to differentiate what's going on in the song. Great video!

[@gam1471]

For me, the late and sadly missed former (1970s) national flatpicking champion Orrin Star was the master of putting pulse and swing into a fiddle tune - never too fast, but packed with musical taste,

[@mandohat]

@@gam1471 One of the greats!

[@derekfulmer]

The best mid tempo barn burner of a tune if I ever saw one. Most excellent!

[@ejanairo]

This is now my favorite KZbin video! I’ve been playing bluegrass for two months and Mickey (via one of his videos) was my first teacher! Mickey’s brilliant so when he speaks (and plays) I listen. And Andy is of course one of my all time favorite teachers and players- every video is a genius master class in the comfort of a Peoria living room! Thank you both and thanks for this lesson on the importance of mid-tempo!

[@stephenk419]

Gorgeous playing and great lesson for all of us.

[@enosgenaro2546]

I love this. Great advice for those of us that have a tendency to get hung up on speed. Well done!

[@Music.Notes145]

Too fast when it's bluegrass for me is not real bluegrass and I'm from Bristol In VA

[@clstrat837]

Big sciota is one of my fav jams. Great opener

[@fsusubdad]

Great! Two of my favorite guitar pickers and instructors! Thanks.

[@user-dv7jc9jh3y]

Great video thanks very much Andy

[@J-Lo7218]

That was fun. Enjoyed being a fly on the wall for the discussion - and agree 100% on the tempo. I love the guys I pick with on Sundays but they like to play fast so I pass on breaks a lot.

[@chrischarles1468]

Love it Andy and Mickey! Y’all sound great together.

[@kevinallen6509]

It's very comforting to hear the merits of mid-tempo (on the day that I failed to record Big Sciota at 110 for the Bluegrass Coalition) ;)

[@mandohat]

@@kevinallen6509 irony

[@carlmally6292]

Jim Hurst is my favorite when it comes to great tone.

[@mandohat]

@@carlmally6292 oh Jim is tops

[@holzhausholz8215]

This makes sense to me- thanks guys!

[@EastboundStudios]

good video, thank you.

[@markbyrum4743]

Thanks for relieving the pressure! It's like taking a few turns off the tourniquet and letting the blood (music) flow again! Great vid. Keep at it!

[@dolo6926]

Great video, keep these collaborations coming! One hack I like to use for too-fast jams is to play in quarter notes instead of eighth notes. Bit of cop-out, but a clean, musical half-time solo tends to go over better than flubbing it at tempo.

[@mandohat]

@@dolo6926 that's me too

[@dkolars]

As one ages, one really starts to appreciate the "mid-tempo". TTT? Nope, FFF: Fast, frenetic, furious!! 🙂

[@fuzzywarblz]

Why can't all my jam buddies play at this tempo?!?! 130bpm seems to have a strong center of gravity. All jams eventually end up there lol

[@alexhage4935]

Tony Rice hops (swings) with a consistent speed but not obnoxiously fast. Tony and Earl Scruggs is how I discovered bluegrass and the whole history

[@noahvjackson]

In mentioning tone you can’t leave out Nick Drake; he was able to create an incredible sound out of dead strings and a no name guitar. He showed that you can create tone, in contrast to buying it.

[@tupperlake100]

Each different type of tune "calls for" different speeds. Better slower expressive "clean' playing than playing everything too fast. I think this is more common with new and younger players. As players improve originality becomes more importrant. I hear laments being playing at breakdown speeds.

[@petefeltman]

sooooooooooooo goooooodddd!!

[@MickeyAbraham2022]

Feltman!!!

[@Jack22VV]

I didn't know Mickey was based in Florida, does he do in person lessons ?

[@toushouchou]

the favorite tone guy's name please?gave vella？failed get result in searching.

[@MickeyAbraham2022]

Gabriel (Gabe) Valla. Not many recordings of him on YT!

[@michaelwebster8389]

Really enjoyed that tempo for Big Sciota. Still not 100% sure what is meant by tone. What I notice is if you play relaxed and flowing, the tone sounds good. I assume it's just about playing with good technique both for picking and fingering. When I'm speeding up, it's only when I start feeling myself relaxing that it starts to seem like it's sounding good, and it feels good too. I also find sometimes playing quieter can help the tone sound better. Trying to play too fast is horrible. There's a whole hell of a lot of people on youtube playing at lightning speeds and sounding horrible.

[@michaelwebster8389]

Also think the creativity you both showed in those leads is very hard to find in faster players while improvising. Obviously there are some who can do it. I think I prefer listening at this tempo too...and you don't get as much muscle pain.

[@mandohat]

@@michaelwebster8389 I actually do think the Allison krauss albums set the standard for my generation. Very few fast songs, but all exquisitely played with a focus on good tone. The next generation was Kentucky Thunder with Bryan Sutton, who broke the speed barrier. Tony Rice never played that fast, though he could get it when he was young.

[@michaelwebster8389]

@@mandohat I love Bryan Sutton's Big Sciota. He's really cracking on that one, but I think I timed it, and it's only 120bpm which is probably why it's got so much feel and grunt. It's like listening to some great rock and roll. Get the same feeling with some Tony Rice, like his cattle in the cane.

[@waistslide]

For me good tone is playing cleanly without any flubs. The flubs take away from the beauty of the music as I unconsciously tense my body when I hear a flub. Beautiful music can be really relaxing I find.

[@larrysanders1749]

Add Kenny Smith and Russ Barenburg to your tonemasters list! Players extraordinaire that know how to pull tone out of an instrument vs concerned with speed!

[@mandohat]

definitely both monsters. Russ could blaze back in the day. listen to Granny White Special by Mark O'Conner. Woah!!!

[@michaeladams2644]

We had a young billy strings wannabe at our jam last night he kept nodding at people to take a break but they all declined they couldn't play at his speed so basically he wrecked the jam when he played????

[@mandohat]

@@michaeladams2644 time to kick off a waltz with 8 chords in it. Good luck kid.

[@p_lawls]

A trusty 6251 in the TN Waltz will get him every time.

[@mandohat]

@@p_lawls I can see you've done this before

[@mikewillifordjr]

Banjo and fiddle pickers scrolling😂