Trying to work my way out of a slump. Practice last week was
a lost cause or it seemed that way to me - and today's lesson,
well sometimes I started out ok and at times it seemed as if I'd never seen the music and these are pieces that I've been working on.

My teacher will be away for a few weeks so I'm thinking of taking two or three days off. She did say that sometimes these things happen but that you come back better or something like that.

Guess everyone goes through these things at one time or another. Thanks for reading this long post.

I'm no expert but I give you an empathetic smile. When I get like this in my music I take a day and play whatever I feel like for me for the love of music and then get back to the task at hand the next day. Again I'm a novice but this works for me (although sometimes it takes more than a day!)

Sometimes when that happens, I find something completely different (I don't just mean a different piece, just something different, like working on scales you're not used to working on), and go hard at that for a few days. It seems to rejuvenate what I was working on originally.

I have not been in a real slump yet (still a very beginner), and I really don't look forward to it. Just be patient, it happens to everyone apprently. You could maybe join the forum recitals? That would give you something to help you compare your playing and see that you are improving over time even if it feels tough sometimes. It's also a fun event, and something to look forward to. (Sorry if you already participate, and sorry for not participating myself yet.)

We all have slumps. I've been playing piano for 32 years, and I still get them. Usually, it's because I've hit a brick wall in my pieces that I need to work through. Sometimes taking a break from those pieces really helps, because my brain is still processing things even when my fingers are not. I heard a statistic somewhere that the greatest ideas happen on the toilet. Our minds often need to relax and be away from a problem for a bit to work it out, even if it is only subconscious.

All of the advice given so far is great. Play stuff you enjoy, do something else. Sometimes being away from the piano entirely is in order. Maybe take a few days off, but commit to when you will start up again, and make sure you do. You don't want to form a habit of not practicing. When you return, play whatever you feel like. Perhaps avoid those pieces you've been working on for a time, so that when you return to them you will fall in love with them again.

Thanks everyone for your good support and Morodiene for your words of wisdom.

I think I'll take two or three days off and slowly work my way back - sort of like getting on a horse after falling off.

I think sometimes we just have to accept a slump for what it is and just ride it out. At least that is what I am discovering. If we fight it too much it only makes it worse. As long as we don't allow the slump to go on for too long

Sometimes we need to stop and let the things we are doing and learning sink in.
So I would see it all as part of the learning process.

I think that slumps are natural. I also like to take time once in a while to play whatever pieces I feel like playing. This could be older pieces from the last method book I worked through or other pieces that I have enjoyed over my last year or so of lessons. It's fun to play simply for the enjoyment of the music on occasion and to not have to worry about practicing. When I practice, I like to warm up with some of the earlier pieces I've learned and then move on to the newer pieces that I'm currently working on. If I need a pick me up during my practice sessions, I'll pull out some of my favorite earlier pieces and play them. Sometimes it can be discouraging to always be working hard on practicing so it's nice to take a break and play for fun. If I get hung up on a particular piece I'm learning, we often put it on "vacation" and move on to a different piece. My teacher can usually tell when I'm just not progressing well on a piece, for whatever reason and will suggest that we put it on vacation.

I take weekly lessons but sometimes I do go a week or two between lessons due to holidays and vacation. During these longer periods between lessons, I definitely take a day or two and just play repertoire, practice sight reading, and work on theory.

I've had hundreds, if not
thousands, of these, which
resulted in me quitting playing
hundreds if not thousands of
times, ranging in
duration from 20 yrs. to 1 day.
This is the most common thing in
piano, and the only cure in my view
is to stop playing until you want
to come back. Each period of
quitting I found to beneficial
in some way, and today I'm playing
better than I ever have.

3 or 4 days off might do it, but
maybe not, and 3 months or even
3 yrs. might be what it takes to
get you out of the slump.

If not for slumps there would be no peaks...

Try enjoying everything you can play, rather than being down about what you can't.


Mel

When I have a slump, I always say to my wife .... 'I have crooked pianofingers today' ....
Her comments: 'I did hear it'...

But after a valley there will be some kind of a top....

JB

I wrote an article a while back on this very subject. Here it is...

When I first began playing the piano and improvising, there were times when the music just wouldn't flow. No matter what I did, I couldn't make it go any further. Blocked and frustrated, I wondered why this happened. One minute I would be in flow and enjoying the process of playing the piano. The next, I would find myself trying to come up with material.



I soon realized that the more I tried to "come up" with something, the more blocked I became. The solution to this particular problem is simple, yet many find it to be frustrating in itself.

The answer is simply to walk away. That's right! If you're playing the piano and it just won't come anymore, I suggest getting up and finding something else to do. Why? Because you can not force play! It's that simple. And that difficult because we want to get back into the "groove." But getting back to this place requires you to ease up a bit.

You see, the creative process is somewhat similar to meditation. Meditation can't be forced or willed into working. It must be allowed to work. So too the creative process. There are times when I won't touch the piano for weeks on end. This used to bother me until I saw that I needed time away - a regenerative period so to speak.

Natalie Goldberg of "Writing Down the Bones" fame describes this lackluster period as composting. Don't worry about losing your creative ability. You never lost it. Just give it time to compost and when you return to the music, you will hear something new and wonderful!

Thanks eweiss and Johann I love "crooked fingers", I'm going to tell that to my teacher the next time my fingers refuse to co-operate.

My crooked fingers did what they wanted at my lesson yesterday.

Dannylux easier said than done, but you make a good point, I'll keep it in mind my next practice session.

Thanks everyone.

Well said Mark. Gaby Tu