Hi,

Since almost a week, I suddenly have an extreme problem playing the stick. I can't play more than like 10 seconds without making a critical fault (wrong string, wrong fret and total mental blanks).
It's like my hands and brain are no longer connected anymore and it's getting worse with every minute I practice....
Has anyone experienced something similar and maybe have some tips on how to break through this ?

Cheers,
Bas.

How about a skype lessson?

Bas. There are no critical mistakes unless you're an airplane pilot. Relax and enjoy what you hear. Sometimes a mistake can bring you inspiration. You're fingers go where you didn't plan and voila, a new riff or chord. There are days when the focus and the coordination just doesn't work. If the fingers are rebelling, you can always work on ear training, timing, theory application etc. Practice takes many forms and paths. Until the road of choice gets paved, take the alternate route.

Guy Dinglite

Hmmmmmm....yes I've been there.

There could be a lot of reasons why this seems to be happening lately.

technique, mental, emotional, musical, fatigue. etc.

If you can take Greg up on the Skype lesson he may be able to pick up on something that could help you. It's just so hard to tell.

What are you working on? which hand is giving you problems? is it something that may be to hard for you at this moment?

If you don't take greg up on the lesson, then I would agree with Steve, I would change up what you're working on.

don't get frustrated it will come with persistence, Good luck.

Brett

Try playing along with some CDs or even the radio.

greg i want a skype lesson

pm sent

Hi,

@Steve, I agree but playing a Cmaj in the left and Cmin in the right close harmony doesn't sound good. So yes, mistakes can bring new ideas. Even tweaking an amp can bring new songs (tweaking while doing something random on the instrument just to have an input signal)

@Brett, it happens in both hands in different parts (appears to be totally random). My hands feel fine (no fatique), they feel limber and agile. It happens basically with everthing I play, so also the stuff that has been 'in the hands' already for quite some time

Could it be the case that i'm playing the same stuff for too long now ??...i've been working hard on playing with feel and expression (last couple of weeks) so that i don't sound like someone only hitting the right notes, but tell a story instead, which, in fact, was working pretty well. I managed to (pleasantly) surprised myself a couple of times (like.."it this me playing??")
Also lately, I try to mentally prepare myself to perform in front of an audience (which I haven't done yet with the stick) by closing the eyes and imagining it. And yes, I can play most of my stuff with my eyes closed, or occasionally checking with a quick look)

@Greg, I wanna take skype lessons some time in the future, but I wanna do that when I feel i've hit a ceiling (either physical, musical) and would need help in order to get to the next level.

Cheers,
Bas.

Humans are a bunch of intricate mammals, so your situation could be the cause of multiple combinations of reasons... To me, it sounds that you need to take a break and miss playing the instrument for a week or so, so once you come back you get that "refreshing" feeling, charged with more energy to keep going. I've done this in the past, and made the trick, so I hope it helps you too. I've read somewhere that guys like Steve Vai stop playing and eating (this may explain why he keeps in shape) for a while whenever they get stuck in the mud.

Regarding inspiration, training, reading and playing other people's music always help, as it was suggested above.

Regards,

You're definately not alone in experiencing this. It's amazing how some days music flows from your hands as if some higher power is using you as a conduit. Other times well........that happend to me this week, I had a fantastic practice session, I played for hours and didn't want to stop the flow. The very next day it seemed I couldn't hit a right note for the life of me. It's partiulaly frustrating when you're learning a new instrument, when it's bad, it's really bad In the past playing piano, my primary instrument, when inspiration was on vacation, motor memory took over. I might hit the right notes, but the playing would be well.....uninspiring-almost as bad. I do what others recommended here, I practice sight reading, technical stuff-like scales and various exercises. One thing that helps get the creative juices flowing is to change your environment. Try changing the lighting, burn a candle, burn some incense, take your instrument outside , hang a disco ball you get the idea. As wildest mentioned ..play with some recorded music. In time your mojo will be back. Good luck.