Ever have one of those days?

[B381]

Ever have one of those days where it just seems your fingers and your brain don't connect. Goodness, everything I play today is a mess.

But....it's been a good day. I sold one of my mandolins that I never play to a mother of a 7 year old boy the next town over. I also got to listen to this young man play his fiddle that he started learning at 4. I have no doubt that if he keeps it up, he'll be on a stage some day. There was no sadness in that sale as I know it's going to someone who will enjoy it.

Now if I could just get my playing right today....

[colorado_al]

Good on you for getting an instrument into the hands of a talented kid!

Whenever I have a day when things are just not working right musically, I slow everything down and work on scales and arpeggios, concentrating on my right hand technique. I think a lot of people spend way more time on the fretting hand and not enough on the picking hand. I find that if I'm out of sync or not getting things right, the problem is more often in my pick than at the frets.

[mandocrucian]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nw1643T0RD0

[Hypoxia]

This is one of those days.

Too many instruments to re-string.

Think I'll take a nap.

[MikeZito]

I have been having 'one of those days' since I picked up my first instrument in 1978 . . . .

[T.D.Nydn]

If I just suck that day,I just put it away...

[Roger Moss]

Unfortunately there's not much difference between a good day and a bad day for me. I sound like the same scalded cat either way.

[Bertram Henze]

On those days, I am grateful I am not a pro.

[Louise NM]

A "these aren't even my hands" day? Put it back in the case, and try again later, or tomorrow. Even an hour or two can make a difference.

[Br1ck]

On those days, I am grateful I am not a pro.

You should wish you were a pro, because my definition of a pro is someone who sounds jaw dropping good on their worst day.

[Bertram Henze]

You should wish you were a pro, because my definition of a pro is someone who sounds jaw dropping good on their worst day.

That defines a successful pro.
My more general definition of a pro is someone whose income depends on his playing.

In my day job, I had those days, too, and I was still good enough (ever tried to debug an automation system in India while your digestive system is running away on you?) but it's not exactly fun - and fun is what music is reserved for in my book.

[Ivan Kelsall]

Yes - Some days it's as though i've never even picked a mandolin up !!. On those days,i put it back in it's case & leave it for a day or so. Almost without fail,the next time i play it,i'm fine. I've often thought that maybe our brain gets tired of repetition. When i've come back from past holidays,i've played as well as i could ever do right from the off = my brain's had a break ??,
Ivan

[mee]

Yup

[Doc Ivory]

At my particular age, 65, those "Head and hands" days come for regularly.
Never fear, your brain and hands will reconnect, just give them a little time.

Heavens, even Itzhak Perlman has been quoted as saying "Some days I just can't play."

[yankees1]

Almost every day !

[MikeZito]

Heavens, even Itzhak Perlman has been quoted as saying "Some days I just can't play."

I can't say for sure, but I would almost be willing to bet a months salary that even on the days when Perlman says; 'I can't play' - it would still sound jaw-dropping to most of the rest of us.

[Paul Busman]

If I just suck that day,I just put it away...

I've done that many times, with many instruments. Otherwise, all I'm doing is practicing and ingraining my mistakes, not the good stuff.

[mreidsma]

I can't say for sure, but I would almost be willing to bet a months salary that even on the days when Perlman says; 'I can't play' - it would still sound jaw-dropping to most of the rest of us.

My violin teacher many decades ago told me (a paraphrase, I think, from Pagnini?) "An amateur plays a wrong note and everyone knows it. An expert plays a wrong note but corrects to the right note so that no one notices. And a virtuoso plays a wrong note but makes it sound like the right note."

[Rdeane]

Yep, I have them, too. As I practice, sometimes I recognize incremental improvements and congratulate myself and feel pretty good about it until I get to my mandolin lesson. Then instead of demonstrating the improvement to my instructor, I totally blow it. I experience that "how can my brain forget everything I know and how can my fingers be so unwilling?" moments. So frustrating.

[Roger Moss]

Yep, I have them, too. As I practice, sometimes I recognize incremental improvements and congratulate myself and feel pretty good about it until I get to my mandolin lesson. Then instead of demonstrating the improvement to my instructor, I totally blow it. I experience that "how can my brain forget everything I know and how can my fingers be so unwilling?" moments. So frustrating.

In my case, I can practice a piece until I have it down cold and can run it off in my sleep. Then, sure enough, when I try to play it for another human, my failure to come even close is so monumentally profound that my audience runs from the room, weeping in terror.