So today I was really looking forward to spending some time trying to clean-up some songs I have been learning and can play, But I just could not hit the right strings my timing was out and the more I tried to concentrate the worse it got. It was like my fingers would not go to the right strings and I just missed the strings or hit the one below or above .
Do others have days like this or is this just me if so what do you do give it a break and comeback later? thoughts ?
A
happens to me tooājust come back tomorrow --some days it just doesn`t gel. No point getting frustrated ( he says bashing his guitar against the wall)
Yes and yes. Often you can come back to the same thing a couple of days later and nail it first try.
As the others have said, perfectly normal and coming back another day is a good strategy.
I do however sometimes take another approach and do some āmindfulā practice with the piece instead. I slow it right down, well below performance speed and concentrate on how everything feels. I think about keeping my fretting as light as possible, keeping my picking relaxed, relaxing my body, pick angle - all the things that I canāt (or donāt) concentrate on when Iām playing at regular speed. Personally it helps as I can still get something tangible out of a practice session when Iām having a bad guitar day.
For sure Amanda.
I have them days too. And yep, I just come back later and like Ian says,
Thatās exactly true.
Some days, I just play better than others. Iāve no idea as to the reason why.
This happens to me also some days i can play really good another day its a waste of time so pack it in for a few days and go back later seems i hit a wall every now and then, at the moment i am learning californication not too bad at it but last night couldnāt play a note right.
Happened to me too. Thought: yeah Iām gonna have some fun. However after 20min of playing, knew that i could better stop cause it wasnāt a good day to playing guitar sometimes itās better (at least for me) to stop and donāt get frustrated then trying to push and ending with a bad feeling (could by tiredness, stress, just a bad day). Rest a day and try again the day after
Thanks all , glad I am not going nuts. I did just decide to go do something else although I liked this below.
I have been doing this on some bits already but good idea thanks.
A
This is a usual state of affairs for me, I think. I relish the days where it seems to go better.
Truth be told, my current secret mission on the guitar is to improve my accuracy, and gain at least a little more talent placing fingers without looking. A mission born of a particularly frustrating day, just as you describe.
Yep happens to me from time to time. Itās like Iāve suddenly regressed 5 years or so in my playing. Thankfully itās only ever short term. Have tried to figure if thereās any pattern, havenāt been able to find one.
100% agree. I think most, if not all, of these ābadā days are tension. I believe these are the actually the ābestā days to work on playing in a more relaxed manner, as the evidence is very pronounced. Nothing wrong with walking away too though. Iāve done it plenty of times.
Cheers, Shane
Ah yes.
Do something else.
Complete.
Get some air and do something physical.
For me, singing a fun song helps a lot.
like @sclay just wrote, it might have to do with tension.
You might want to break out a rush of frustration and stress but first you need to be at a neutral point before oyu can go to a āhappyā place ^^
some physical acttion, whether it is sport or some cleaningā¦ it might do a lot
Maybe that was the problem I spent the morning cleaning and tidying up and needed to relax a bit prior from going to do my practise.
I have noticed in the past if I relax more then suddenly as like magic I seem to have so much more time to play the right stuff .
Do any of you notice that like time seems to stand still and its almost like slow motion your so much at the right point ahead only had it like twice but its something I would like to get back to for everything is that being very relaxed do you think opposite to today maybe ?
sure your get there just time and practise
Sadly, yes, as you can see by other posts itās quite common.
Itās really up to you on how you handle this, sometime I just jump back to doing some OMCās or some other simple task. IF ! I really feel that itās not working that day, just take a day off and go chill with something else you really enjoy.
R
Progress with pretty much anything is like thisā¦
I have these all the time although I donāt fret about it too much.
The variation of this which has the Valley Of Despair brings a smile to my face (invariably whilst getting my ass/confidence whipped ;0) Hoping to one day arrive at the Mountain Of A Little Less Stupid with guitar but itās not visible on the horizon yet.
I totally relate to this as it happens a lot, often when Iām over thinking things or distracted. Sometimes coming back later works, if not just try to be kind to myself and keep an eye on the big picture.
happens to me when I try to practice after working all day. My coordination doesnāt work when Iām tired so I will focus my practice on strumming patterns only, chord changes or picking. Something easy but still a good practice. It keeps me in the habit but doesnāt cause major break in learning.