Improvising Tip: Staying in Time (Speed)

When improvising to a fast tempo song (or jam track), it can be difficult to stay in time. When this happens, play sparse, leaving more space between your licks (Jimmy Reed is a great example of a sparse player). The more actively you play, the more the probability of you moving out of time. Long holds are also helpful (it doesn’t take any mental power to hold a note—you can use this time to listen more closely to the band).