For some reason I have suddenly experienced almost over night, a very noticable increase in my breath control, tone, and ornamentation ability–it’s really freaking me out. For the last five months I’ve been practicing most every day (though I have been playing for a couple years), and all of a sudden it’s like I’ve had a break through. Has anyone else had one of these? I’m asking I guess because I’m afraid it’ll go away. Perhaps this is just the natural result of much practice, but the immediacy with which this spurt happened is strange.
Matt
Oh, btw, I just checked the online credit card statement, and it looks like Terry has removed the balance for the flute–that either means it’s ready, or he’s putting a down payment on a boat.
Congrats on the ability and on the upcoming flute!
That’s how it’s always worked with me; instead of slow, steady progress, more a movement from plateau to plateau.
I think some folks progress more one way and some more the other. The advantage of being able to make a “leap to the next level” is the immense satisfaction of having several things all click into place at once.
The disadvantage is, of course, the long frustrating months you can spend working on even a simple problem before it finally “clicks.” It can feel like you are sitting still forever, and can’t go forward anymore.
–James
Don’t attach to it, is my advice. I get those too but
for me they don’t last.
I think that the plateau effect is the mental part. The muscles will slowly develop but the mind tends to leap. (for me anyhow)
If you quit playing for a few days you could loose it, but it will come back rather quickly. (again, for me anyhow)
Congratulations on both!
Good timing,
Denny
I’ve had the same thing happen to me, but with piping. Spending months practising rolls - stop practising for a week - pick up pipes and hey-presto, suddenly I’m rolling over tall buildings in a single bound. It a sort of trickle-to-a-flood. It’s a great feeling and usually encourages me to start trying to master something else. Keep it up.
Yeah, that’s the same feeling for me, it makes me want to pick up something else–in this case, the pipes. I’m afraid however, of losing my fluting abilities.
Thanks for the feedback, it’s quite encouraging.
I tend to progress in fits and starts, but it’s usually only one aspect at a time – I suddenly got rolls, but that didn’t come at the same time as anything else.
I wonder how much of it is perception – that one doesn’t notice all the baby steps, but all of a sudden notices that there’s been a whole bunch of progress made since the last time one really took stock.
I think it’s real. It happens when learning any kind of physical skill. Athletes recognize it, dancers recognize it . . .
For myself, I can practice every day, no matter what it is, and not quite get it. Then, if I take a few day’s break, it’ll be there when I get back.
Definitely, though, with flute things go in fits and spurts. I’ll go along with nothing, and then even get worse, but the overall progress is upward.
I was thinking the same thing just today. I suddenly notice things I can do on a level I couldn’t do befor. Doesn’t seems steady, the aquisition of ability. Seems to come in dribs and drabs. Gobs at a time.
I completely agree. Especially with what peeplj said about having to trudge through the times when NOTHING is working no matter how HARD you practice. I guess this is just part of life–enjoy the good while it comes. Lately, even the old tunes are coming out strong and FUN–it’s just great.
Peggy nailed it. It is the case that you can backpedal sometimes–especially where breathing and embouchre are concerned. The trick is to be relaxed at all times, whether things are working for you or not.
I’ve been playing for about 8 years now. I had some fantastic breakthroughs my very first year and I still have disappointing moments now. It never ends, but consistent practice and patience can minimize occurences of “bad flute days.”
I guess the times when I’ve felt the biggest sort of “breakthroughs” have been the occasions when I was playing with somebody who really, really knew what they were doing. In those sort of situations, you either have to bail out and sit and listen politely or find it within yourself to do whatever it is that they’re doing.
I recently had that kind of breakthrough with my embouchure, and it came while I was working on a slow air. I finally figured out how to make the flute “sing”, and that realization has carried through to playing dance tunes as well. Coming from the fife, I’ve maintained a very tight embouchure, and now playing the flute, I have to learn to adjust all over the place, mostly low to high adjustments. I find myself almost humming into the flute to get nice reedy low notes, and I’m enchanting even myself!
Got a nasty case of la grippe right now, so I’m not playing much, but that’s a story for another thread…
Ditto.
And then there’s the sudden DECLINE in ability. :roll:
(But actually, it’s often just 'cos we’re raising the bar, like VB says … or maybe nervous in a new situation … or maybe it’s just 'cos we’re a wee bitsh pickleshd 
)
This usually happens to me after not playing for a while.
For me it usually happens where I will play for a while, set the thing down for a coupla days, and pick it up and I blow myself away.
However, in support of the practice makes perfect theory, this happend:
Last summer I studied under Kevin Crawford and Niall Keegan in Ennis for a week and at the end of the week, by the day of the concert we were to have (www.tradweek.com) my playing had risen to a level never seen before or after that week. My flute stayed tight on the joints from playing so much. My mouth was strong, the flute even stronger.
So, my bit’s worth is this: It CAN work in both ways. Practice a lot, see little or a lot of improvment. Set the thing down, it most likely will still be there in a day or so.
Just dont let it mess with yer mind like surfing does. Anyone here who has ever surfed knows this: You go to the beach one day and the surf is awesome, the best day in a year. You go back the next day and it’s just as good. The third day, all of a sudden the surf is gone. You scratch yer head and think, “man…was it just me, or was it really happening yesterday?” Some days it will just slip away and you will wonder if you were slipped some crack in your drink and just thought that you could play the darn thing! Dont worry, happens to many o’ us.
Eric
For several years in my life, when I was younger, I used to play the classical guitar three hours + every day. I had dreams of being a concert guitarist. Occasionally, I would slip into “the zone” where I was able to play virtuoso pieces without error. However, when I picked up the guitar again the next day, I was right back where I had been previously.
I have also had this experience many times when I was hiking in the desert mountains of Arizona. Starting the climb, it felt like hard work. But after hours on the trail, I would slip into “the zone” where the climb was effortless and exhilerating.
I wish I knew how to stay in this awareness throughout all the activites in my life.
Don’t we all!
It is grand when it is working though!
I’ve noticed this same feeling too, usually whilst lost in art or music, and I believe the point of meditation (Zen meditation at least, which is all I have experience with) is to cultivate exactly this sense. It would be wonderful to be able to extend that to one’s entire life, I agree.
Sorry to be picking up on this thread so late. I’ve heard our Mr. Baggins
here play, and he’s sounding real good!
I’ve progressed with the leaping-plateau spurts and also the other kinds of
slow or vanishing/reappearing steps mentioned in this thread. Aren’t the
leaping ones the bees knees! I’ve been re-reading the Inner Game of
Music lately and been reminded there that it’s all a matter of how much
we let interference get in the way of learning and making music, or doing
anything really. For staying in the awareness/asethetics band, an anti-
interference switch would sure be a nice thing.
Lesl
congratulations – that’s what happens when you practice every day!
You will also have times where you feel like you’re getting worse, but the idea is to follow the long term trend. Because of that, it’s good to keep a music journal. (This is something I learned from my major professor in math, but it works in everything that we want to really master, I am finding.) Every so often, look back to where you were and what you were doing a year ago, two years ago, five years ago. Even if you are playing worse than you were a month ago, the journal will show you that you have an overall upward trend.