Going with the flow

One of the realities of being an adult learner is that sometimes life just gets in the way.  Whether it is work or family, friendships.  I don't want to use this as an excuse for not practising for trivial reasons but some times other things are just more important. 

I've had one of those weeks this week - a number of days I just had to let practice slide.

A couple of weeks ago it was quite the opposite.  I had the house to myself all weekend and managed to fit in at least 3 additional hours of practice in.

The odd thing is that, after my heavy practice week, I played absolutely terribly at my lesson and after a couple of days off this week I feel like I'm playing much better.   So it seems that less practice improves my playing more....very zen, but I don't think it is that simple, maybe worth reflecting on what's happening.

1. I think I am now reaping the benefits of my high practice week.  I think there is a little bit of a time lag between practice and full benefits seen.  IT takes time for things to be organised by the brain and for muscles to readapt to high use.

2. Rest between practices does seem to help consolidate things.  I think this is similar to the "keeping fit" model where you need to have days off rest between exercise sessions to get the full benefit.

3. Linked to number 2 really, but a high practice load is really tiring on the muscles and fatigue doesn't lead to good playing.

4. I have higher expectations of myself when I have practised more which makes me play badly.  I've been reading a book called "Effortless Mastery" which makes the point that the more we care about the outcome, the more we "try", the more tense we become and the worse we play.   I know this is true for me - tension and anxiety are more likely to sabotage my playing than anything else.  How to deal with this is probably another topic entirely.

So, in terms of going forward what can I learn:

 - it's important to have times of rest as well as times with lots of practice.
 - lots of practice will reap benefits long term even if it initially seems to get worse
  - just go with the flow and do what you can do without worrying too much or feeling guilty about not having enough time for practice. Just don't give up.