Originally Posted by wandoqebu
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So, I ask you, how did you work up to playing fast? What practice techniques or other work can you recommend that will help me keep my head on faster tunes?

Thanks for any help...

As I tell my students "if you can't play it slow you can't play it fast so always start with a slow tempo, practice until you get it, then increase the tempo". As you are an accomplished player and reader pick something that is difficult to play and use said techniques.

For my students I use the identical technique that Matt suggested using Band-in-a-Box. I record backing tracks for each song at various tempos and give the student an MP3 recording to practice with. It does work wonders with backing tracks. YMMV

Whenever I get something stuck in the back of my throat, I dislodge it by drinking a beer.
It's called the Heineken Maneuver.

64 bit Win 10 Pro, the latest BiaB/RB, Roland Octa-Capture audio interface, a ton of software/hardware