A jump in skill for no reason

[TBman]

I'm trying to learn to use finger picks (and thumb too). I have to admit I'm practicing with them very infrequently because its busy season at work and I'm lucky if I pick up the guitar twice a week now. But the other day I said let's try the fingerpicks (1st time in like 2 weeks) and suddenly I'm hitting the right strings like 80 to 85% *** of the time, which is a minor miracle. Anyone else have one of these jumps in skill for no good reason?


*** which still means it sounds like c**p, but recognizable c**p.

[HHP]

Sometimes, when I take a two ot three day break from playing, it seems better upon return. Sometimes, it is worse so it evens out I guess.

[jcmccorm]

I call those "good guitar days". I'll sit down and play something that I may have been struggling with and amazingly pull it off or at least show unusual progress. Of course, I routinely have "bad guitar days" as well

Cary

[Jim1233988]

Breaks have always help me progress on any instrument I play. It lets the muscles heal from fatigue and at least for me seems to help my muscle memory "remember" more clearly. On a side note finger picks and I don't get along no matter how long or short between playing times.
Congrats
Jimmy

[gfsark]

Yes, and I think that what you report is pretty common. I think that the brain keeps processing your lessons when you're not playing. It takes a while for certain sounds/patterns/songs to take hold, and some of that occurs while on break. If the break becomes a vacation, however, you'll start going backwards.

[TBman]

Originally Posted by Jim1233988

...... On a side note finger picks and I don't get along no matter how long or short between playing times.
Congrats
Jimmy

When I first tried them it was just like the first time on ice skates and they weren't tied tight enough either. Its as though my fingers lost "sight" of where they were. It's not something learned over night.

[ljguitar]

Hi Barry...

I've never seen an improvement without work, even if the improvement is delayed. I'm guessing work/break/work/break may be the cause, but when it comes to musicality, things don't happen for no reason.

I've had plenty of times I've worked on something till I'm really convinced it might not soak in only to have things begin to fall together between my head and hands at a later date.

[GHS]

I find improvements in any tasks that require precise muscle movements really take place after a small break. I think the brain needs time to absorb all the info and sort it out. When learning to roll cast a fly line I worked for hours each day to get it right. Took a few days off and when I got back to it Joan Wulff would have proud at the precision and control I had. Just seems to work for me that way.

[Doug Young]

Howard Roberts used to write a lot of stuff about the process of learning in his Guitar Player column. One that made an impression on me was where he talked about progress and plateaus. He described how you would have periods where everything was a struggle, you couldn't play anything right, just banging your head against the wall, where you wanted to give up because you weren't getting anywhere. Then you hit stretches where suddenly everything is easy, you can play stuff you never played before, you pick up new songs and techniques effortlessly, and you feel like you're making great progress. He said we actually have those reversed. We were making progress when we were struggling, and reaping the benefits, and actually coasting along when it feels like we're playing well.

I see this effect quite often. I work on something over and over and can't get it. Go to sleep and wake up in the morning, and I can play it. It takes time for the patterns to form in our brains, I think.

[Bingoccc]

I'm one of those who benefits from occasional breaks. I'm not sure what's behind it, but it happens to me over and over.

[Pualee]

Originally Posted by Doug Young

He said we actually have those reversed. We were making progress when we were struggling, and reaping the benefits, and actually coasting along when it feels like we're playing well.

I've heard this paraphrased differently before, and so I've learned that if everything is easy, I'm not really practicing

As a result, I'm always working on something that is too hard (in between getting songs ready). I like to experience the difficulty of the new technique long before I ever need to play it! Due to my family (limited practice time), I've just accepted it takes me about 6 months to take a new idea and start using it fluidly. I can use it sooner, but it requires real effort.

[rick-slo]

Originally Posted by Pualee

I've heard this paraphrased differently before, and so I've learned that if everything is easy, I'm not really practicing

As a result, I'm always working on something that is too hard (in between getting songs ready). I like to experience the difficulty of the new technique long before I ever need to play it! Due to my family (limited practice time), I've just accepted it takes me about 6 months to take a new idea and start using it fluidly. I can use it sooner, but it requires real effort.

When the technical playing flows easier is when one has more of a chance to feel the actual music and play more expressively. That's when the music really begins. There is always something to be learned and worked on even on those easy pieces and easy days. It shows when people are satisfied with just getting through the technical aspects.

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by Doug Young

…I see this effect quite often. I work on something over and over and can't get it. Go to sleep and wake up in the morning, and I can play it. It takes time for the patterns to form in our brains, I think.

Hi Doug…

I'm never sure if it was taking a break for a day to let things settle in, or if it was good home roasted coffee that triggers my progress mini-leaps (because both are present).

I do know this, if I only work for a little while at something that doesn't seem to click and quit, it never works. If I'll apply myself and really put some time and effort into it, and then take a break, it normally does click. If I keep working on it, it yeilds the benefits to my playing.

It's that old persistence thing of continuing to work/play at new techniques when I'm not experiencing the 'payoff' quickly that makes them pay off for me. I think I learned those lessons early on (like 3rd grade with accordion lessons) and they have not changed some 58 years later).

I hear that persistence in what you were describing.

[DaveKell]

I had an incredible advance in my playing within days of getting Toby Walker's DVD called Take a Solo. To say it was an epiphany is a massive understatement. I began downloading full song blues backing tracks and in just two days found myself able to play lead line after line throughout them. I should add I sound awesome doing it, exactly where I had tried to be for decades.

[Pualee]

Originally Posted by DaveKell

I had an incredible advance in my playing within days of getting Toby Walker's DVD called Take a Solo. To say it was an epiphany is a massive understatement. I began downloading full song blues backing tracks and in just two days found myself able to play lead line after line throughout them. I should add I sound awesome doing it, exactly where I had tried to be for decades.

I felt that helped me a lot too. Honestly, I only watched it through once (straight through) and there is no way I absorbed the whole thing. But what Toby did (for me) is to say here is your system, here is how you target it.

I had already been trying to understand scales and how they fit in to the fretboard. I was struggling to apply CAGED, and when Toby stated talking about target notes and chords, it all magically linked together... the caged part and the 1st position playing.