Things To Do When You’re in a Musical Rut
Ever been practicing a piece for hours, weeks, and not found yourself making any progress? Feel like you could use a break? Change of instrument? Pack up and go on pilgrimage?
Before I sound too much like a TV-Ad and scream “Call Now!”, let me tell you that most (even the greatest) musicians feel this way once in a while.
When we feel like we could throw the guitar out the window and set fire to our sheet music or chop of our fingers, that’s just perfectly normal. It’s a musical rut.
How to get out of it? Well there are a few things:
- Take a break: The most obvious and yet most effective remedy to a musical burn-out is to take a break for reflection. If you don’t feel good practicing, there’s no point in forcing yourself. Playing something old, or something else might help. Just play for the joy of playing. Remember: It’s all supposed to be enjoyment - don’t take it overly seriously.
- Review your practice technique: When you’re funmbling about while practicing, not making progress, step back and look if you’re practicing right. Consult your teacher with the problem, and identify it precisely: Is it a musical, technical or theoretical difficulty? Why am I failing?
- Do something else (but related): I usually jump to cleaning my guitar, filing my nails or changing the strings. Oboists can go adjust their reed, pianists could cut their nails short. These related but seemingly useless activities alsways help me focus and feel good about being a musician. It’s weird, but it works for me.
- No progress is progress, too: Always remember that when you’re stagnating, you’re still making progress. Success comes in plateaus, you suddenly jump to a higher level and remain there for a while. It’s more like a staircase than a straight upward line. So enjoy the “ruts”, keeping in mind that you’re brain and fingers are developing in the background.
Lastly, if you ever feel like you’re in a real rut, talk to someone about it. That could e your teacher, a musical friend, or the friendly aithor of TheGoodMusician.com ;-) .
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