Today, I am grateful to finally be over a terrible flu, an illness I battled over the past couple of weeks. During that time, I somehow managed to keep up with my cello playing for an important assignment coming up, but did not have enough strength left for the viola da gamba. So I did not practice the viol for about a week. And tonight, I picked up my bass viol and hoped for the best. The fact that I had kept up with my cello playing paid off, and it felt like I had never really stopped playing the viol either.
I cannot say the same for my piano playing: before entering the University, I played the piano long after I stopped taking lessons at the age of nine. During my college years, however, I had no time to practice the piano as my schedule was full from morning till late evenings. As a result, nowadays, when I try to play the piano, my fingers do not cooperate.
How do you get back to playing your instrument to your satisfaction if you have not played for a long time? For whatever reason, musicians sometimes need short or long breaks, and getting back to playing an instrument can be arduous.
Returning to one’s instrument for cello players is quite challenging as the muscles do not work correctly; the fingertips hurt, and the sound quality drops. And getting back to playing as you had played before might seem hopeless. It is both frustrating and daunting. I have been there myself, and I had to exercise a great deal of patience to play to my set standard. Indeed, this situation is unpleasant as the player will have all the knowledge and understanding but will be unable to produce the quality they desire. And their muscles and bodies will not respond as they used to. How can a musician deal with similar situations so that, in the long run, they get back to their playing at a level they are happy with?
I have stressed the importance of perseverance, patience, and consistency in practicing habits and in dealing with performance issues. All these attributes have to be in place to get back to playing, and in a way, more so than any other time. Because musicians at this critical point in time know much about the sound quality they should be producing, but their hands do not obey, and the desired result is not forthcoming.
In this scenario, one must then continue playing no matter what. And remind oneself to be relaxed. The body might tense up to compensate for the strength that is no longer there. This is crucial as the body’s response might be otherwise when things don’t sound as they used to. One must also believe that the appropriate practice hours will pay off at a certain point. Everything will come back in good time, but one has to persist, no matter what. And being patient is crucial at this point.
In addition, lowering expectations regarding the number of hours one practices is of utmost importance. It would help to start practicing for short periods at first and gradually add more as one progresses. It is not wise to suddenly resume practicing for the number of hours one is used to, as the body will not handle it, and the player might end up hurting their muscles and hands. Consequently, they might have to stop playing altogether for a few days to several weeks until the pain has disappeared. Thus, slowly easing back into the practicing routine is advisable.
It takes courage to carry on should you ever be in this situation, but take heart at every step, because if you persevere, you will eventually see the light at the end of the tunnel.
Have you ever faced a similar situation where you had to return to playing your instrument? How did you get through that difficult phase? Please share with us in the comments below.
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