Do you ever write a piece of music that you struggle to play?

[DaveMcK]

This is really my "practice". I basically learn stuff as I need it for the sound I want to hear/record.

I don't have any time limit, like Nik says, I just enjoy the process and the result.

[mellowsun]

I'm okay with stuff that I'm writing now but listening back to some pieces I've recorded in the past and I'm truly puzzled at what I was playing and how the hell I was playing it.

I find this too - it's one reason why I put stuff on YouTube as it helps me to remember how to play stuff! Also to remind myself what the tuning was, as I use some pretty weird ones

[saturnfive]

All the time! I still have a single note riff that's not that fast and sounds quite easy but I cannot play it up to speed whatever I do!

I think this is good though: You're progressing your technique through and into your own music rather than through a bunch of exercises.

I find the following helps:

1) You must allow time for your "fingers" to know it...it's no good if you have to consciously think about all the finger movements. No good at all.

2) As already said, practice it slowly. A metronome or drum machine will expose the ragged parts of it. Without something to force you to stay in time you can kind of fool yourself that you can play it in time when perhaps you can't.

3) Break it into small sections and get those down, then join them up BUT also practice *across* the sections so you are practicing the "joins".