[Teddy Madison]

Anyone else experience this?:
I will practice something and make fair progress over the days but then if I stop for a few days, I mean playing all together, not just the one piece, when I come back I can play better than when I stopped. This used to happen when I played piano also.

I have been working on the intro to Roundabout by Yes and have been struggling with the fast part but getting OK at it. We went away to a bird show in Virginia beach (the wife shows Cockatiels) and didn't have room for the guitar (boo hiss). Came back and started playing today and I am much better at that intro!

Is there a name for this?

Wayne

P.S. - Shame on you for not having Cockatiel in the spell check dictionary

[knight46]

Teddy,
A lot of times I find that is I am working very hard at something (kind of like remembering a name or date) and I walk away from it for a while that I can come up with an answer to whatever it is I am thinking about. I think that sometimes as we work on things (hard to explain) we sometimes lose sight of what we are looking for be it an answer or how to do something. And when we come back to it we come back with an uncluttered mind and it is a lot easier.
Kind of rambling but I guess that is a sign of a very cluttered mind.

[eddiez152]

Sometimes we get stuck in a groove driven by a single part of a song which keeps us from moving on. We stop and ge away from it all together. After a while we come back to it sparked by something from another piece which allows us to add or subtract
from what we started.

[Ben_Sir_Amos]

Originally Posted by Teddy Madison

Anyone else experience this?:
I will practice something and make fair progress over the days ... then ... I stop for a few days, I mean playing all together, not just the one piece, when I come back I can play better than when I stopped.

That kinda describes my usual training schedule. Except these days, I can't stay away from guitars for that long so I ain't getting any better.

[redkirk]

Originally Posted by Teddy Madison

Anyone else experience this?:
I will practice something and make fair progress over the days but then if I stop for a few days, I mean playing all together, not just the one piece, when I come back I can play better than when I stopped. This used to happen when I played piano also.

That's just your subconscious working things through while you take a break. It's just like when you go to bed with a problem and have the solution available when you wake. You worked at it so long in the waking realm that your subconscious didn't have time to process anything until you quit for a while.

[wjp01908]

Happens to me all the time - a good nights sleep seems to be required to get the tricky bits from the mind into the fingers.

I`ll make use of it quite deliberately - often practising new stuff in the evening and not being too hard on myself. In the morning it`s mysteriously easier........

Will

[Hitam]

I was learning a tune - St James Infirmary Blues - and practicing a lot, then went on holiday for two weeks, minus guitar. When I got home three days ago, the tune just flowed. I reckon its because the fingers relax and strengthen while they're not being used. I find the same effect on my typing too.

[Dewy]

Not sure what everyone else calls that effect... I call it "Letting it work its way from my fingers to my brain". In my Philosophy my fingers and left brain have to know the song... so my right brain can stand and breath while I play...

The act of learning a song is more complex than just teaching your fingers to do the physical fingering and picking. Often for me it involves repeated listening of the song, as well as attempting various positions to play the parts. Left brain is all Artsy Fartsy and can't be rushed to learn something... and no amount of "Cramming" helps that. As to the "Walk away" improvement, its all just the left brain having digested the information you presented while the right brain had your attention.

So, your not defective... unless we all are.

[Teddy Madison]

So it appears to be a very common ocurrence, as I expected it would be. I wonder if there are instructors that use this in teaching? I have always been told to practice every night but it seem taking a day or so off at least once a week would be better.

Wayne

[Dewy]

As Art should reflect life... you should certainly LIVE... not just spend all of your time practicing guitar. Camping makes me a better guitarist... not that I'm not practicing... but that I am relaxed, full of new experiences and strumming my acoustic in a different environment. Same with playing live. I do not associate performance with practice, yet performing really sharpens my playing.

When I play live, I generally have a couple of days down where I don't touch my electric, no practice "routine"... but acoustics sitting around for my leisure use. Ultimately everyone must find what works best for them... and kudo's to you for noticing something that works.

[Teddy Madison]

Well said Dewy.

Wayne