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RE: how fast do skills deteriorate when one ceases to practice?
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estebanana
Posts: 9353
Joined: Oct. 16 2009
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 RE: how fast do skills deteriorate w... (in reply to Jurriaan)
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So the conclusion is:
Drink frozen drinks with prostitutes, and like Hemingway or Paco de Lucia, make sure you don't over compose. If you do compose while lacking inspiration, a good dose of heroin could put you back on track, but take enough with you to last the whole backpacking trip. Don't eat any lard on the Lord's day, which ever Lord is your Lord unless your Lord is the Lord of Lard. Picado can be greased into a lighting strike if lard is applied to the thumb rather than Vaseline, but vacillating at length on salon sculpted nails is bad for your fretting hand.
Big game fishing can be beneficial for the building of a strong back and good sitting posture, but have your fighting chair tuned up by a certified luthier before leaving port. Always do as Andrew Lloyd Webber, catch and release large sharks, never drink before noon. Remember only Commander Klink from Stalag 13 uses a Royal Coachman dry fly when a wet nymph would be more suitable in a chalk stream presentation situation. However, consultation of Lloyd Bridges' " Manual of Sabicas Style and Rules for Sea Hunt Scale playing" should only be whilst riding atop a carosel horse playing your number four iron Reyes guitar.
And since we have touched on golf, Jack Nicolas used to say: "I always have the deck hand pullout my Gerundino putter on the 18th fret, but make sure you use a full grown Atlantic Sailfish with an extra long bill for bait when you want to catch a bowl of guacamole and chips."
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https://www.stephenfaulkguitars.com
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Date Jun. 16 2013 4:04:21
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Erik van Goch
Posts: 1787
Joined: Jul. 17 2012
From: Netherlands
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RE: how fast do skills deteriorate w... (in reply to Miguel de Maria)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Miguel de Maria
I don't like this talk of inspiration. We have to work. Rest makes rust. If I miss a day or two, it's no big deal, but it adds up over weeks and months. The months I am playing a lot, I am a lot better than if it's been busy and I've been missing a lot of time. Of course, you don't want to pick it up like it's a shovel or something. If you have to talk about inspiration, talk about how to find that inspiration, not as an excuse for not putting in the necessary time on the instrument. Most of us need a lot of consistent time to play at any kind of level.
Don't you think there is a difference between studying "to please your teacher or the clock" or studying "because you love the learning process and feel hugely inspired to get the very best out of yourself and your instrument on a daily base"? In my opinion "blood, sweat and tears" and "inspiration" are opposite sites of the same medal, like Yin and Yang. I've done my hours of study and i noticed that studying without the inner wish to benefit from it does not work for me at all.
When i entered University school of music i had to do a lot of exercises, very good exercises that really offered me a chance to develop myself as a player. But despite our weekly group trainings and several hours of study a day at home i only developed very slowly. Sure, in the beginning it helped me to become better and better, but once i reached a new roof of my abilities those daily struggles would only maintain that level without spectacular improving it. The problem was my fingers moved, but i was not in the right state of mind to benefit from those exercises the best possible way. So i stopped serious studying and began to spent most on my time behind the chessboard.
Unfortunately we had to do exams every year to pass and i had to equal fallow students who indeed did the expected 4-8 hours of study a day. My talent helped me to survive the first 3 years with 1-2 hours of "study" a week, but at the end of year 3 i was in serious danger of being expelled from the institute, so i decided to interrupt my 12 hours a day chess studies for some serious guitar training. I managed to sneak in 4 hours of study a day, without getting any result. The problem was that (once again) my fingers moved, but i was not in the right state of mind to benefit from those exercises the best possible way (i only did it to please my teacher and the clock).
4 weeks before the exam i experienced something i never experienced before...i began to love the art of studying. I totally changed my approach of study, hardly played pieces or music at all but in stead concentrated on getting to know every cell in my body and every cell of my guitar. Half of the time was spend in meditation (to get a clear and open min) on studying extremely small moves and on visualizing them "in my mind only" as soon as i understand them. I paired incredible focus to incredible passion... this time i didn't study to please my teacher or the clock but to please myself and to get the very best out myself.
At first i was able to keep that incredible focus for only a couple of minutes in a row... 5 minutes became 10, 10 became 20 and so on. The amount of focus and energy exchange was so extreme that after 1 hour of training i was totally exhausted and needed 8-12 hours of sleep to recover. The first week i did only 1 hour of full focus training a day, the second week i did 2 hours a day and the 3th week i did 3 hours a day......i went to hell and back but at the end of week 3 i had reached more then other students had accomplished in 3 years of uninterrupted study ("studying" 4-8 hours a day). The fallowing years i repeated this approach with similar results. Every time i had to face my "40 hour power study" my main worry was not "will it work again" but "can i re-find the incredible motivation that is needed to face that hell again"... i like to believe motivation and inspiration are one and the same in this situation.
The last time i had the inspiration to face that hell again was 20 years ago. I haven't studied ever since. I have had numerous moments that i hardly played at all for weeks/mounts, picked up my guitar again and (after a couple of minutes) played better as ever... because i was inspired. It's true that studying a piece every day for weeks raises/maintains my level, but only the bottom level (which happens to be your basic level of playing). But to challence the top of your level (and go far beyond) you need inspiration. Without inspiration you can't play music and you can't raise your level dramatically (no matter how much you study).
I stopped visiting Paco de Lucia shortly after Camaron died, simply because he did not touched my heart and soul anymore. The notes and technique were still there but his playing lacked inspiration. His concerts only made me feel sad that such a great spirit was lost. At the time nobody could understand my sudden aversion, but many years later Paco himself revealed in an interview that the past years had been a personal struggle because he lacked inspiration.
During a life concert of Astor Piazzolla i once suffered an emotional shock because it was just to much for a human being to cope with... i could't breath for minutes and actually could have died (not the worst way to die, an overdose of beauty). When the matching record "zero hours" was released it was again way better then anything i had ever heart before. I gave the record to a dear friend (one of my musical heros) who replied "he's 1 level further again".... 1 level further AFTER a lifetime of playing music on what seems "the highest level". Astor himself stated "this is the absolutely the greatest record i've made in my entire life. We gave our souls to this record".
But i must admit it paired inspiration to extremely hard work.... in the studio some parts were played/recorded numerous times before the Meastro gave it his blessing. So, to shine we need both (years of) study/discipline AND inspiration.... but i consider the last as the most important ingredient because it also makes you want to improve/study.
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Date Jun. 16 2013 11:32:03
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