I'm getting worse...need some advice

[madbass6]

at the very end of your posting you've found your solution!
take a break,chill,don't over think it just let the groove flow! it will come back!

 

[eukatheude]

I've always been generally a bit insecure to start with, so unfortunately it's easy to immediately start questioning my abilities, but I'm slowly but surely moving away from that kind of mindset. Thanks for the reply!

Yeah me too, but it seems I'm doing a bad job of it, compensating with bravado.

I keep this in my office.

View attachment 3294449

Mine's looking a bit like that:

 

[Nickweissmusic]

I don't know if it's just a rut, a few bad days, some sort of a burnout overpracticing or what but I'm getting frustrated with not being able to play certain stuff that I could play before (certain runs/fills and passages).

I'm always warming up and stretching my hands/fingers, always practicing with a metronome, changing it up etc. and I've actually felt some new improvements after quite some time of just playing for 2-3 hours couple times a week during band rehearsals as my practice.

I've been practicing 1.5 to 2.5 hours a day for the past month (not including breaks) which is awesome considering that I'm working two jobs, but things are kind of slow at one of them so I'm managing to pull it off.

Anyways, I'm having trouble with playing the stuff I could play before and I'm weirded out even more because I can feel that my fingers got stronger and more articulate, yet they suddenly stiffen up when I'm trying to pull off some fills and passages I had no trouble with before.

I even thought that I might have damaged a nerve in my hand or fingers because nothing else made sense.

Some advice or experience on this would REALLY help
I don't know what to do at this point other than taking a break till the end of the week.

Thank you!

I tend to “over play“ with both hands, that is, use too much pressure on the fretboard and with my right hand, unless I remind myself to relax. This isn’t a fleeting problem, I’ve struggled with this for 20+ years, but the more I remind myself, the better I get at relaxing. I’m not ashamed to admit that I have anxiety issues, and often need to take beta blockers before I perform, which help keep my hands from stiffening up. I can’t promise that you don’t have any physical issues, but I can definitely assure you that mental issues can manifest themselves physically. The more I remind myself to relax while practicing, the better I get at remembering to relax when I’m on stage.

I also have a significant nerve impingement in my left elbow, which I have sought medical advice for, and have maintained at a satisfactory level to avoid surgery. As for physical issues, using a mouse, typing, woodworking, long fishing sessions, all these things that require repetitive motions and strength can also cause cramping and stiffness. My California answer: yoga. Full body stretching and strengthening have allowed me to keep my career going, and I only need one class a week. If you’ve never tried it, I highly recommend it, it’s much more strenuous than one might imagine. It’s easier to take torture from a cute girl in spandex than any other workout regimen I’ve tried.

 

[two fingers]

Burnout.

I wouldn't practice 2 1/2 hours a day if I had the week off and my family was out if town. That's just way too much.

Go for a walk.

Then pick a genre of music you have never played before and dive right in. Wanna pop quiz your brain? Play some jazz even if you've only played rock. Play some country even if you hate it. Mix it up a little.


But just play LESS!!!! For crap sake, take somebody on a date. Go see a movie. Read a book.

Your finger are likely tensing up because your fingers and brain are like "Geeez. Not THIS crap AGAIN!!!!!"

 

[Bruiser Stone]

Whatever you do, don't lose your confidence in your ability. I almost did that, and wasted two years trying to play what others expected rather than refining my way to make it work better.

The above is one of the best bits of advice I’ve ever read on TB. Never surrender your individuality, creativity, and precious time to someone else’s mold.

One of my most frustrating moments is nailing hard stuff...I mean just hitting everything solid, and then two days later...nothing. Usually it just means I’m fatigued. Not just my fretting hand, but my mind. I eventually warm up, but sometimes not as much as before when I owned it.

In those moments, something lively and funky, with syncopation and groove, something I’m forced to feel rather than think about, is all I need to encourage me. Usually James Brown....

From someone who overdoes it, I think you may be overdoing it. I can’t tell you to reduce the duration of each practice, as I seldom put my Fender down until 2 hours have passed, but take a day or two off. Like others have said...think about it on the off days, but give your body and head a rest here and there.

 

[eukatheude]

Burnout.

I wouldn't practice 2 1/2 hours a day if I had the week off and my family was out if town. That's just way too much.

Go for a walk.

Then pick a genre of music you have never played before and dive right in. Wanna pop quiz your brain? Play some jazz even if you've only played rock. Play some country even if you hate it. Mix it up a little.


But just play LESS!!!! For crap sake, take somebody on a date. Go see a movie. Read a book.

Your finger are likely tensing up because your fingers and brain are like "Geeez. Not THIS crap AGAIN!!!!!"

This is all good advice I would give too, except I keep failing to heed said advice. A great psychologist, Abraham Maslow, theorized an "hierarchy of needs":

If you aren't providing yourself everything on the lower levels, you won't be able to achieve much on the higher levels.
And that's why I'm personally achieving much less than I know I can do, or at least that's what I keep telling myself.

 

[JW56789]

I spent probably several years in aggregate back in my piano student days with scales, arpeggios, all those exercises under the tyranny of the metronome, that as I look back actually didn't have a damn thing to do with playing music, enjoying playing, realizing the buzz I got when playing. Just like any athlete (because of lot of it is muscle memory), you have to strike a careful balance between practicing all the esoterica and playing real music. You can easily practice yourself into a box and actually regress somewhat, as you've hit a wall. And of course, the reverse happens as well. Confoundingly though, I made the most progress when I was playing weeks and weeks of 4 or 5 hour sets a night, six and seven-nights a week; somehow, having to deliver under the gun tightened me up faster than anything.

If you want my advice (and it's only One Man's Opinion), play along with Exile on Main Street or Sticky Fingers. Revel in just how loose, sloppy, out of tune, and wobbly it all is, and delight in just how much fun that can be. This will 'break the mirror', and I promise you, after several days or a week, when you go back to the stuff you suddenly can't play properly right now, you'll fly through it without even thinking about it, BANG !

(WARNING: The above listed recordings are not pitch-corrected, time-corrected, or click-tracked: You're on your own.)

 

[jnuts1]

this kinda happened to me when I took a break from a serious hand injury. when I was healed enough to play my mind wanted to do all sorts of things my hands weren't interested in. it took some time but I calmed myself and worked on that coordination

 

[murphy]

Take a break from playing...in a few days you will be back in top form

 

[Sean Parsons]

Take a break from playing...in a few days you will be back in top form

Make it a week. Fresh fingers and fresh head!

 

[eukatheude]

Make it a week. Fresh fingers and fresh head!

After a week your fingers will be stiff and dull and you'll be even more frustrated.

 

[Sean Parsons]

In that case you need two weeks.

Seriously, it’s like any physical exercise, you need to schedule in recovery or else you just max out!

 

[zofhbass]

Wow.
I'm blown away and TRULY grateful for the support and the amount of experience and advice from all of you, I can't even catch up with all the replies!
And I must admit, some of you are really funny too!
Thank you!!!

 

[murphy]

After a week your fingers will be stiff and dull and you'll be even more frustrated.

I completely disagree....a rest can be the best medicine...for your body...and mind

 

[bassliner50]

Drink more water.

 

[Davey28]

Struggle and failure are necessary and underrated. In 20 years of teaching math I had exactly one parent ask if their kid was learning, the rest were only concerned with grades. Do you want the title or the ability? Calling oneself a musician is easy, being one takes work.

This is, IMO, one of the best things I have read here! Holy cow. This sums it up! Thanks for writing this, the words are inspiring!

 

[sawzalot]

This sounds like you're just growing. Progress has its peaks and valleys. Train your mind; in a quiet place, pay attention to your thoughts and learn to let them go. Then practice doing the same thing while you are playing, slowly at first and then do the same on harder parts. The key is to keep the analytical part of your mind from becoming a critic while you're playing. The great part about this is you can train that part of your mind any time you want; you don't need to have a bass in your hands to work on that. Take some time away from the instrument and focus on other things; when you come back your hands might need some reconditioning but your energy will be refreshed.

Sometimes a frontal assault is not the way to win the battle.

 

[Cowboy in Latvia]

As silly as it may sound, look up the book "The Inner Game of Tennis" and give it a read. Don't bother with the music version, the original is the best one. It has been really helpful to both myself and my students when it comes to dealing with the mental aspect of performance and practice. It really helped me when I was working to become a pro musician (I ended up not going through with it for other reasons but that's not important).

 

[Spent]

This is, IMO, one of the best things I have read here! Holy cow. This sums it up! Thanks for writing this, the words are inspiring!

Appreciate it. I usually just get blank stares from the kids (it’s middle school) when I talk about this stuff. My hope is that they remember this when they most need it.

 

[Davey28]

Appreciate it. I usually just get blank stares from the kids (it’s middle school) when I talk about this stuff. My hope is that they remember this when they most need it.

Well, I am 54-years-old and I am taking it as words of wisdom. I will use those words going forward. I really like the part about anyone can call themselves a musician, but becoming one takes hard work.