I’m surprised nobody mentioned caffeine yet.
Thanks to all who responded.
OutOfBreath - thanks for the suggestion, but my hands are probably the only joints where I DON’T have appreciable arthritis. Besides, as far as I can tell, I’m one of the ones glucosamine/chondroitin doesn’t help.
If pressed, and I have thought more on this, the problem seems to be literally what I suggested earlier - a disconnect of some sort between my brain and hands. I know what I want to do; I know the tune; I can visualize it with ease - but when I go to play it, my hands don’t go where my brain wants them to go. A perfect example is one that’s simple for most folks - Garryowen. I’ve been over the d*****d thing a thousand times - more likely lots more. At slow speed, no problemo. But when I try to crank it up to speed - boom! missed notes and squawks caused by mis-hit holes everywhere.
FWIW, after twenty-five years of making a living with a computer, I still can’t type worth a dang either.
If I can make any sense at all of it, Tyghress’ advice seems to fit my problem more than anything else. Since the book seems to be hard to find, I’ll have to get to work on looking for it.
Thanks again to everyone.
Visualizing the tune may be a problem more than a help. You want to be able to hear it in your head. And the inability to speed up without the tune falling apart (I’ve been there, believe me) sounds like a problem with rhythm. Unless your rhythm is solid and steady at slow speed, you can’t increase the speed. That means your fingers have to move right on time. Try a metronome at slow speed (might be an awful experience at first): so slow that it’s comfortable and you don’t get any feeling of being rushed. If that’s slower than a snail’s pace in slo-mo, that’s all right. And remember if you hesitate at the same spot every time, but you think fast enough the get the note in at slow speed, you are not there yet. And what’s worse if you practice the tune with that kind of hesitation or kink in it over and over and over again, you are just gaining the ability to put in the kink at faster speed. As Bill Ochs once told me: practice makes permanent; not perfect.
Can you get someone to coach on the rhythm thing? That helped me amazingly to have some sitting across from me, frowning. 
Do you play with others, Chuck? At sessions where the pace heats up, such times are a good opportunity to push your level. Ornamentation will likely have to take a back seat until certain tunes fall into place at an increased speed, and your embellishments should become more sure at lesser speeds for it. You have to be willing to undergo a bit of trainwreck to get there. This, at least, is my experience, and I’m no youngster any more.
My most memorable moment for a dexterity epiphany was when I was invited to sit on stage with someone -it was my first time- who launched with his fiddle into a set of tunes I knew but had never played at the pace he set. It was literally sink or swim, and I just decided to let go, focus, relax, and let fly. Surprising to me was that a fair amount of ornamentation made its way through even though I wasn’t planning on it. I didn’t know I had it in me; evidently the fiddler believed that I did. I was hanging onto the saddle for dear life! But it was fun, and an eye-opener.
I think between Mamakash and Tony, you’ve got a solid approach here - relax, play as slowly as you need to to keep the feel of the music, and don’t take on too much at each session. I, for example, have a particular problem with flicking my R3 finger down for crisp ornaments and really have to slow up and concentrate on that. Which brings up a curious problem - as mamakash and others have told me, it’s best to keep the fingers pretty close to the holes, but I find it difficult at times especially when trying to get those crisp R3 pops.
Regards,
PhilO
That’s because trembling fingers are moving too fast, and half-hole whenever they want to.
I still have to remember not to drink coffee 12-24 hours before situations where I have to play in front of others, and might be scared a bit, and it really helps. There’s nothing worse than watching your fingers tremble, and wondering how something moving that fast could ever be used to play that instrument that you oh so foolishly brought with you…
Sonja
tygh knows how to find the book.
I call that “words” - tunes have words in them and other tunes have the same words plus different words. Some tunes are really easy because you already know most of the words and you add a bit here and there, but your fingers know how to do the sections already. So you kind of put them together into sentences.
ok I get it. Yes that’s the way I learn a tune when I am being given it, when I don’t know all the “words” to it yet. Thanks for clarifying.
Chuck, I think for speed you just have to practice slow with good timing, but especially the tricky bits. You might have a better speed than you think except 4 the tricky bits that slow you down. Cheers, Lesl
I cannot seem to find this book. I have music stores looking but no luck yet. any links or anything?
drop tyghress a pm.
I got my copy from www.fifeanddrum.com (look under “Music”). $10
thanks for the link, I just ordered the book myself.
You know what else is good for finger dexterity. Doing tabletop fingers.
Raising one at a time. And also, touching each finger to its thumb. Frank
Claudy told me these (though worded much more sensibly than that!).
Cheers, Lesl
Willie Clancy says: “Take it slow and break the lumps.” http://www.uilleannobsession.com/audio/112400-latesession.ram
I’d avoid metronomes with Irish music, as it’s not usually played in a strictly regular rhythm, but with a bit of a “swing.”
I learned to play fast by playing along with recordings of fast players. At first you won’t be able to play all the notes, but the more you practice, the more you will get, until, finally, there you are keeping up with Paddy Keenan.
My view is, you will never learn to play fast if you are just playing by yourself. It helps to have other, faster players to play with and give you a bit of a push.
One must keep an absolutely steady tempo in jigs and reels, and that’s why some people practice with a metronome. A steady beat is a completely separate issue from “swing.”