Getting back to it

Hey gang, I have been away from GT and guitar practice for about 3 months due to some health issues -- not COVID -- but I am getting back to it gradually. Starting to pick up my guitar for very short sessions a couple of times a day to build the strength and stamina back.[br][br]

My muscles still remember the chords pretty well, so that's good. I definitely lost ground with changing chords smoothly, but I know that should come back to the level I was before pretty quickly as I start to play more again.

The part that has seriously regressed the most is rhythm and strumming. I guess that makes sense because it has been the most difficult thing for me from the beginning.

I am certainly frustrated about the setback, but I decided not to be in that oft mentioned 90% of beginners who quit in the first year. I am looking forward to enjoying and learning from you guys again - have missed the comraderie and positive spirit here.

Regards,

Dave...

Originally Posted by: DavesGuitarJourney

Hey gang, I have been away from GT and guitar practice for about 3 months due to some health issues -- not COVID -- but I am getting back to it gradually. Starting to pick up my guitar for very short sessions a couple of times a day to build the strength and stamina back.[br][br]

My muscles still remember the chords pretty well, so that's good. I definitely lost ground with changing chords smoothly, but I know that should come back to the level I was before pretty quickly as I start to play more again.

The part that has seriously regressed the most is rhythm and strumming. I guess that makes sense because it has been the most difficult thing for me from the beginning.

I am certainly frustrated about the setback, but I decided not to be in that oft mentioned 90% of beginners who quit in the first year. I am looking forward to enjoying and learning from you guys again - have missed the comraderie and positive spirit here.

Regards,

Dave...

Great to hear from you again Dave ! Best wishes for a speedy recovery.

Good on you Dave, gee I only have to miss a couple of days and it takes me a while to get back into it. Hope your health is back to normal, if not get well soon.

Hi Dave

Nice to see you back.

Hi Dave Welcome back. Wondered where you'd been.

Just part 'n parcel of aging unfortunately. Been there involuntarily myself a couple of years back. Be reassured, anything you're rusty at after such a relatively short layoff will come back rapidly as your health returns/improves.

Originally Posted by: DavesGuitarJourneyI am certainly frustrated about the setback, but I decided not to be in that oft mentioned 90% of beginners who quit in the first year.

[br]Subject to health permitting, as long as you keep enjoying it there's no risk of that happening as long as you hold that perspective.

Cheers mate. All the best,

manXcat

Welcome back Dave. Glad to see ya back at it.[br][br]

Moe

Originally Posted by: DavesGuitarJourney

Hey gang, I have been away from GT and guitar practice for about 3 months due to some health issues -- not COVID -- but I am getting back to it gradually. Starting to pick up my guitar for very short sessions a couple of times a day to build the strength and stamina back.[br][br]

My muscles still remember the chords pretty well, so that's good. I definitely lost ground with changing chords smoothly, but I know that should come back to the level I was before pretty quickly as I start to play more again.

The part that has seriously regressed the most is rhythm and strumming. I guess that makes sense because it has been the most difficult thing for me from the beginning.

I am certainly frustrated about the setback, but I decided not to be in that oft mentioned 90% of beginners who quit in the first year. I am looking forward to enjoying and learning from you guys again - have missed the comraderie and positive spirit here.

Regards,

Dave...

No matter your skill level, any time taken away from playing will result in a little regression. I had a few years off when I started a business and sold all my gear. For a good while, the business worked out (long story). Nontheless, I decided to play again after those few years away.

Though degradation of skill is reletave to the skill level you had when you quit, I can tell you that when I picked it up again, I was shocked at how much I lost. I could go to a guitar store and play and people passing by would at least figure that I know how to play.

Someone I knew (that didn't know I played and he was a great player) was at the local store when I picked up my guitar from a setup saw me playing and we chatted. I was noodling and apoligized that I was so terrible now. He laughed and said, 'Well, you just played a run that had some Aeolian and Dorian stuff. Pretty sure you're not a beginner.'

However, when I quit, I was pretty good at fast shreddy type of stuff. When I picked the guitar back up, wow did I not have that same skill. Not even close.

It's part of the deal; the sloppiness of the return. It happens to everyone.

Honestly, even today, I really just don't have the physical dextarity I used to have but I also have not committed the time to get it back either. It's not how I want to play, really. Rick Beato had a video about this a month or two back about how he was getting back in to skill practicing.

No matter how good, it happens to us all. You are in very good company. Keep at it and you'll do great!

The telling part of practice was summed up by a violinist, that I heard on the radio, who stated... "If I don't practice for one day.... I can tell the diffrence. If I miss 2 days... My accompanist can tell the diffrence. If I miss 3 days... the audience can tell."

Granted this was somebody at the top of their game, but none the less it is an insightful discription of how important practice is. The good news is that it will come back if you can once again devote the time to practice.

Dave,

good to have you back here. I hope your health issues are behind you.

Please keep us posted on how you are doing.

Originally Posted by: moosehockey18

Great to hear from you again Dave ! Best wishes for a speedy recovery.

Thanks for the kind words and thoughts!

Originally Posted by: JohnGC

Good on you Dave, gee I only have to miss a couple of days and it takes me a while to get back into it. Hope your health is back to normal, if not get well soon.

Thanks John. I've regressed from "not very good yet" to "a little less good than before" but I know it will come back. If anything, I think I will appreciate the small victories more than I did before.

Originally Posted by: William MG

Hi Dave

Nice to see you back.

Thank ya, thank ya very much. It's good to be back.

Originally Posted by: manXcat

Just part 'n parcel of aging unfortunately. [/quote][p]

Ain't it the damned truth.

Originally Posted by: manXcat

Been there involuntarily myself a couple of years back. Be reassured, anything you're rusty at after such a relatively short layoff will come back rapidly as your health returns/improves.

[/quote]

Not too concerned about getting the skills back to where they were. For one thing, my skill level was quite modest to begin with, so not all that much ground to recover.

[quote=manXcat]

Subject to health permitting, as long as you keep enjoying it there's no risk of that happening as long as you hold that perspective.

[p]This. Absolutely.

[quote=manXcat]

Cheers mate. All the best,

Thanks buddy, I do appreciate it.

Originally Posted by: mjgodin

Welcome back Dave. Glad to see ya back at it.[br][br]

Moe

Glad to get back at it. Just easing back into it gradually, and making it a priority to enjoy it. Feels good to get the fingers back on the steel.

Originally Posted by: JeffS65

No matter your skill level, any time taken away from playing will result in a little regression. I had a few years off when I started a business and sold all my gear. For a good while, the business worked out (long story). Nontheless, I decided to play again after those few years away. [/quote][p]Becomes a part of your DNA at some point, doesn't it?[br]

Originally Posted by: JeffS65

Though degradation of skill is reletave to the skill level you had when you quit, I can tell you that when I picked it up again, I was shocked at how much I lost. I could go to a guitar store and play and people passing by would at least figure that I know how to play.

Someone I knew (that didn't know I played and he was a great player) was at the local store when I picked up my guitar from a setup saw me playing and we chatted. I was noodling and apoligized that I was so terrible now. He laughed and said, 'Well, you just played a run that had some Aeolian and Dorian stuff. Pretty sure you're not a beginner.'

However, when I quit, I was pretty good at fast shreddy type of stuff. When I picked the guitar back up, wow did I not have that same skill. Not even close.

It's part of the deal; the sloppiness of the return. It happens to everyone.

[/quote]

That's a cool story, mate. I'm sure it felt good when your friend said that to you in the store. Probably took some brass to pick up the guitar and play in the store knowing that it was not going to be what you were used to being able to do before, and you were rewarded for it right away.

[quote=JeffS65]

Honestly, even today, I really just don't have the physical dextarity I used to have but I also have not committed the time to get it back either. It's not how I want to play, really. Rick Beato had a video about this a month or two back about how he was getting back in to skill practicing.

Beato has so many good vids. I have to be careful or I'll go down a Beato trail and never come back out of it. The first time I saw one of his videos I was kind of blown away. So much common sense and such a gift for teaching.

My dexterity wasn't great in the first place, but was improving. I expect that to happen again as I get back into routine practice. My ceiling for dexterity is probably not particularly high as a 55 year old man with slight resting tremors anyway, but I figure guitar is probably very good PT and can only help.

[quote=JeffS65]

No matter how good, it happens to us all. You are in very good company. Keep at it and you'll do great!

The community here is absolutely fantastic company. Always feels like everyone is pulling for each other and the desire to see each person succeed is sincere.

Originally Posted by: snojones

The telling part of practice was summed up by a violinist, that I heard on the radio, who stated... "If I don't practice for one day.... I can tell the diffrence. If I miss 2 days... My accompanist can tell the diffrence. If I miss 3 days... the audience can tell."

Granted this was somebody at the top of their game, but none the less it is an insightful discription of how important practice is. The good news is that it will come back if you can once again devote the time to practice.

I've heard this story and it's a good one. Even though I am decidedly NOT at that elite level, I have a feeling that someone like my wife, who can't always avoid hearing me practice, would not hear how much I have regressed as much as I hear and feel it. So I was about 1 year into the journey and got sidetracked for 3 months. That is a pretty minor detour in the scheme of things. It will come back. Even with the layoff I can certainly do a lot of things that I could not do when I started, so I'm not starting over from scratch.

Originally Posted by: matonanjin2

Dave,

good to have you back here. I hope your health issues are behind you.

Please keep us posted on how you are doing.

Thanks, definitely good to be back here.

Health issues may be a long term, chronic kind of deal. Not sure exactly what's going on, but may be some sort of auto-immune thing and/or vestibular system issue. Weakness, fatigue, balance issues and dizziness. No clear diagnosis. I'm feeling better than I was for awhile, and I think just learning to compensate and manage things for now while I work with various doctors and get different tests and scans done. The good news is MRI and CT scans aren't showing anything particularly noteworthy. I guess that's good news, anyway.

So for now, I'll pick up my guitar and play - just like yesterday.

Originally Posted by: DavesGuitarJourney

Becomes a part of your DNA at some point, doesn't it?[br]

It does, to an extent. The longer you go, the more you 'lose' but you never really lose it all. I found that I could play songs I'd played before and a lot of licks I knew as well. Just not as cleanly as I was used to. I wasn't actually surprised. In a way, it was funny. I mean, when I could 'shred', I was practicing a lot (a lot!) so just grabbing a guitar after years of not playing, I wasn't all that shocked in literal terms but more shocked in a funny way. Like my hands forgot what my head remembered. Still, it was a matter of just playing regularly to get myself to a respectable place, if not as physically dexterous as I once was.

It was more like falling back in to a groove. With a little regular playing, the groove came back just fine.