Re: practice advice: speed vs repetoire
I see speed as a result of proficiency; it's something that isn't so much learned as it is acquired. I'd continue to learn new material, focusing on playing cleanly and practicing good technique. The ability to play faster will come. I like to play scales and multiple course runs, starting slowly and building tempo as I go. When I start to lose clarity, that's the time to back off the tempo a hair, really focus on what's happening and spend some quality time working it out. Sometimes its transitioning from one course to another, or shifting position up/down the neck. Work it slowly until its smooth and perfect.
It sounds like you've done well for 7 months of playing. I spent my first few years just exploring rhythm and chords.
“Like winds and sunsets, wild things were taken for granted until progress began to do away with them. Now we face the question whether a still higher ‘standard of living’ is worth its cost in things natural, wild and free.” -- Aldo Leopold
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