Slop vs. Slow

[MTguitar]

So what is the quicker way to get better at lead playing?

Play it fast enough to push yourself into slightly sloppy playing and slowly clean it up as you get better OR

Play it slow enough so that you don't make any mistakes and gradually increase your speed?

[morroben]

I try to use a combination of both. I practice things slow enough to play them cleanly, but every once in a while I "let loose" to see if I can pull it off.

[JayFreddy]

Originally Posted by MTguitar

Play it slow enough so that you don't make any mistakes and gradually increase your speed?

We have a winner!

[DavyA]

I have known players who could make scales go fast like the wind but could not play them slowly and in time on a bet. I would suggest starting slowly using a metronome. Speed it up till you're comfortable and keep on going. I would also recomend not playing scales so much as simple melodies....for fear of sounding like all you play is scales...

Have fun!

[Joe-Bob]

It's actually harder to do it slow; slow down to speed up. Use a metronome (I prefer the ones that make a "click" noise instead of a pitched "beep".)

Speed comes as a byproduct of proper technique.

[Jim Flannery]

Any time I ever 'slopped through' a phrase or lick in a tune.......it seems I could never improve it until I slowed down and worked out something that I could play cleanly.
Some times, a slight change in playing technique helped me. If I'm trying to just 'alternate pick' something and it isn't working, I'll try devising licks with pick and fingers.......or use a few hammer-ons and pull-offs to make the line easier to play and smooth the flow of the line.
Often, in a solo, I'll play most of it without a lot of fast licks.....and only add a few well rehearsed 'flourishes' here and there.

[jazztele]

slow and correct is the way to practice to get faster.

[all_identaties_taken]

Learn to improvise.

[Hucklebilly]

If you are making mistakes in a fast passage, there is a problem that needs to be solved. It could be sympathetic tension, wasted motion, insufficient knowledge of the fingerings, etc.... You won't get faster by gradually speeding up the same mistakes over and over. You have to practice VERY slowly until you have isolated and solved the problem.

[WhippingPost]

As others have said, slow and steady is the key. I find - a lot of times - that if I'm having difficulty with a passage, then slowing it down considerably (sometimes to a crawl) and working/playing through it while keeping in time will solve it. You're building muscle memory, which is what the mechanics of playing guitar are built upon. Once I can play that lick/passage clean at low speed (which really is harder than playing it at normal speed), I can usually play it at normal speed, or just slightly slower.

Sometimes I can practice it slower one day, then come back a few days later and the lick has almost sorted itself out.