Category: Guitarist Health

Been playing guitar for a while? It it time to take a break?

Nicole Neal1 Comment

As regular readers of this blog will know I’ve recently been away on my holidays, visiting good ol’ Blightly (my mother country). And this was a holiday away from the guitar as much as anything else too.

Yes, believe it or not, there are times when I’m not playing guitar. This particular time I did have access to a guitar (I choose not to fly with my guitar if I can at all help it), courtesy of my brother in the UK, however, I think it is extremely important – just once or twice a year – to step away from the guitar completely for one, two or even three weeks.

Why is this?

Well, if you’re practicing and playing (or even teaching) on a regular (i.e. daily or more or less daily basis) then some downtime gives you a physical break from the rigours of that daily playing. Downtime, especially after an exam or other big performance, allows the fingers, hands, arms, shoulders and so on an opportunity to rest and recuperate.

If you’re practicing and playing regularly, taking a break of week or two is really not going to impact on your development. In fact, it’s likely to have the opposite effect. Rather like a professional athlete, who cannot maintain the same level and intensity of physical training throughout the year – this would almost certainly lead to injury and fatigue. We guitarists also need to take some time out.

Stepping back from your guitar for a week or two can also provide a mental rest. We all know that when we’re learning something new, and even when we’re working on something tried and true, it takes a fair amount of concentration, mental effort and energy to learn, prepare and play a piece of music.

So putting the guitar down for a little while can help you to refresh and recharge the mental batteries, giving you renewed energy and vigour for playing and moving on with your playing. Stepping back from the guitar for a time can also help you to see the woods for the trees with regard to a piece or pieces you’re learning or have even been playing for a while. When we’re playing the same things day in, day out we can run the risk of becoming that bit too close, too immersed in something that we may miss something, be that voicings, fingerings, notes in a chord, musical direction or whatever. A little bit of distance from the music for a while can sometimes help see and hear things in a different light.

And you may also surprise yourself, as I certainly did yesterday. Picking up my guitar yesterday for the first time really in three weeks and set about playing a piece I’d started to learn a couple of weeks before I went on holidays – I was very pleasantly surprised to find the piece a whole lot easier to play than I’d previously felt it to be (or recalled it to feel like). So along with some physical and mental rest time, I’d allowed my brain to stew on the information I’d been feeding it in the preceeding weeks.

So, whilst your fingers may feel a little like you’ve had a couple of pints before sitting down to play in that couple of days after your holiday (that will soon disappear), I’d strongly recommend taking a look at your schedule and programming in some rest from the guitar – it will do your playing a world of good!

 

Mental Energy and Fuelling Yourself for Learning Guitar

Nicole Neal1 Comment
English: Pepitas - roasted and salted
Pumpkin seeds – one of my favourite brain foods! (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

 

 

I’ve been reading a book recently by the name of “Thinking, Fast and Slow” by Nobel Prize-winning author Daniel Kahneman (it’s a great read, you should check it out: http://www.amazon.com/Thinking-Fast-Slow-Daniel-Kahneman/dp/0374533555) . In this Kahneman discusses the idea that we have two “systems” operating in the brain:

 

  • System 1 – which is the “non-thinking” part of us, responsible for things that we do automatically, such as reflexes, reactions, habits and so on.

 

  • System 2 – which is the “thinking” part of us, responsible for us undertaking activities that require concentration, attention and mental effort.

 

This concept resonated with me in relation to learning the guitar, particularly so given that I’ve been learning a brand spanking new piece recently. It got me thinking that when we’re playing guitar, playing something we know absolutely inside out, backwards and upside down, something we’ve been playing for a long time, we’re really playing through our “System 1”. We’ve embedded something so much that it becomes a habit. And so it stands to reason, therefore, that when we’re learning something new, we’re utilising our “System 2” – concentrating and using real, discernable mental effort.

 

The new piece I’ve been learning recently is particularly involved, lengthy and intense – learning it has required some of the most intense mental effort and concentration I think I’ve ever exerted! After one particular lesson on this piece I felt like my brain had been pulled out backward through my head. I felt like I was like a zombie. I was also starving hungry! This is my “System 2” in full flight.

 

According to Kahneman:

 

“…the idea of mental energy is more than a mere metaphor. The nervous system consumes more glucose than most other parts of the body, and effortful mental activity appears to be especially expensive in the currency of glucose. When you are actively involved in difficult cognitive reasoning or engaged in a task that requires self-control, your blood glucose level drops. The effect is analogous to a sprinter who draws down glucose stored in her muscles during a sprint.”

 

Hmmm, very interesting. So when we’re learning a new piece on the guitar, really concentrating on reading each and every note, pitch, duration, rhythm, left hand fingering, right hand fingering, positioning on the fretboard and keeping it all together and all moving, we’re actually doing something akin to a mental sprint or some kind of mental “run” at least. You’re burning real energy, and burning it at a much greater rate than you probably would be when working on something you know inside out.

 

It’s probably a good idea, therefore, to think about fuelling yourself up sufficiently prior to a good solid practice session, particularly if you’re working on something brand spanking new! You don’t have to go crazy and use it as an excuse to pig out or to eat a lot of sugary or fatty foods. Just a little of something wholesome and nutritious before you sit down (and a glass of water so you’re well hydrated) is probably a good idea.

 

I’m no nutritionist, but something like a wee ham, cheese, salad sandwich on wholemeal, some Nutella or peanut butter on wholemeal, a handful of nuts and dried fruits or a banana prior to practice time sets me up well.

 

Here are some other ideas for you:

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2011/11/16/brain-boosting-foods-that-increase-concentration_n_1096824.html