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JeffS65
Registered User
Joined: 10/07/08
Posts: 1,602
JeffS65
Registered User
Joined: 10/07/08
Posts: 1,602
02/01/2021 9:23 pm
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!