Does not practicing make you better?

Megadebt

Experienced
Say you're working on a troublesome riff, and you're not progressing past a certain point. You leave it alone for a day or week. When you get back to the riff for some more practice, you realize that you are better at it. Is there some kind of neurological, muscular process that goes on while not practicing that may make you better?
 
Yes and no. The best way to learn new things on guitar is to learn a small amount at a time. Say three ideas - bouncing back and forth. The other thing is trying to take the idea and apply it to other things - if it can be....context is always key. You can do the 3 or 4 at a time idea and not take a week between practicing just one idea because each separate idea doesn't get overloaded when you stack them. The other thing is hearing is always the best way to play things. Learning something at uber slow speed works only on certain things. Some things need to be played closer to tempo for them to solidify in your mind and hands.
 
Say you're working on a troublesome riff, and you're not progressing past a certain point. You leave it alone for a day or week. When you get back to the riff for some more practice, you realize that you are better at it. Is there some kind of neurological, muscular process that goes on while not practicing that may make you better?
Yep, this is a well known learning technique called “incubation”. Give it a Google, lots of info to be found.
 
This.

I also find it useful when I have some problem to solve; when I'm at my wits end sometimes it's easier to just walk away for a while, and when I come back, a new idea / solution will present itself!

This is exactly how I write most of my music; I’ll sit in my studio and bang out everything in my head and when I get to a spot where it’s not coming to my head immediately, I’ll go watch TV, play a video game, do some laundry, whatever, for about 30 minutes and it usually presents itself in that time.

On a metaphysical/hippie level, if ya put the question out in the universe, it’ll answer you back.
 
This.

I also find it useful when I have some problem to solve; when I'm at my wits end sometimes it's easier to just walk away for a while, and when I come back, a new idea / solution will present itself!

I think we need to cuss and swear and maybe even break something in frustration before we walk away. That's the key!! :)
 
I find that the most important exercise is for my brain, not my fingers.

Case in point, I was working out a fast passage in a solo today. Watched two YouTube guys play it....completely different fingerings and approaches. One of them I couldn't manage with six months to woodshed. The other I whipped off in twenty minutes this morning. Both sound identical, but the one I can play is completely counterintuitive when starting from standard scales and sequences.

I have to reprogram my brain to find that stuff on my own.
 
Say you're working on a troublesome riff, and you're not progressing past a certain point. You leave it alone for a day or week. When you get back to the riff for some more practice, you realize that you are better at it. Is there some kind of neurological, muscular process that goes on while not practicing that may make you better?
It's called overtraining.
This is a critical concept to know about if you want to play very technical music.
You need to know when to stop playing and play as relaxed and efficient as possible.
 
Imo No - but I suspect, like mine, some people's practice is not practice after the first few minutes due to losing focus/attention on what is being practiced. I'm a bit attention deficited so really have to focus on my focus and know when maintaining focus is becoming a lost cause so stop and come back to it again later
 
In my instrumental band, due to schedule conflicts we often find ourselves going long periods between rehearsals. After an especially long break it always seems like those rehearsals are magical and way more inspired than if we were slogging it out weekly. We joke that the longer it is before we get together, the better the session ends up being.

By extension, if we never rehearse, we'll be the best band in the world :)
 
I agree that taking a break from a technique that has been worked on can yield better than expected results.

I had a great instructor for a short time and the biggest thing I took away from my time with him the practice regimen. I ended up with a list of about 25 exercises and his approach was to cycle through the list. On day one, begin with exercise #1 and get through #5, the next day begin with #6 and get as far as you can, then so on, going back to #1 after finishing #25. If there is something specific that needs to be addressed or that is to be focused on, that exercise will be added to the daily regimen for a week.

There are two reasons for this:
1. You continually hit the "basics" or fundamentals, the first exercises you learned are always in your regimen. It's amazing how easy it is to forget.
2. You can easily track your progress over time.
 
In my instrumental band, due to schedule conflicts we often find ourselves going long periods between rehearsals. After an especially long break it always seems like those rehearsals are magical and way more inspired than if we were slogging it out weekly. We joke that the longer it is before we get together, the better the session ends up being.

By extension, if we never rehearse, we'll be the best band in the world :)
Yea, a lot of times those rehearsals can be killer, and I also find that while I'll remember the songs and parts, even from years ago, the first thing that goes - and the thing I need to keep doing to stay on top of my game - are my improv chops. It's not a matter of learning some specific thing, it's staying nimble enough to be able to trust my fingers.
 
I do some visualizing and "virtual" practice. Sometimes while driving, but also when just working out the nuances of a difficult passage. I really don't need my instrument to learn material at this point, as I can do that as a mental exercise. But I do love to work with the metronome to ensure that my mechanics are solid.
 
For regular examination of this kind of topic, I recommend Noa Kageyama's work over at The Bulletproof Musician.
I just went over and quickly read through this page: https://bulletproofmusician.com/how-many-hours-a-day-should-you-practice/
Generally speaking I agree with what he says. This idea that you should practice all day to get good is mostly nonsense.
I know from experience that its how you practice that’s is critical. Long practice sessions that aren’t done the EXACT right way are going to limit how far you get with challenging material. Playing 20-30 min/ day PROPERLY will get you much further ahead.
I’m not saying that you should only practice 20min/day. Rather I’m saying that quality practice is much more important. But if you are only practicing 20 min/day if you do it perfectly right you can get quite good. My chops are better than ever at 55yrs and I average less practice time than I used to.
You have to have your focus in the right place and DO NOT FORCE your playing AT ALL -EVER.
One mistake I realized I was doing was focusing on a difficult sequence before I arrived at it. Now I focus on the notes in the moment and patiently stay focused on the notes in sequence as they come. The second mistake I was making was playing tense during challenging sequences. You may think your playing relaxed and you may be to some degree. But you need to “chase down” every tiny spot where your not fully relaxed. Once these things become habit/ automatic then your chops will increase and get more consistent. Playing fast isn’t about moving your fingers fast. Rather its about efficiency. Meaning your whole body is completely relaxed all the time and your moving your digits only as much as physically necessary. This method also lets you play longer as your muscles aren’t working as hard.
Playing fast difficult material is mostly mental. If it was so physical how could these tiny women be able to play Paganini so well? Subtle changes here can yield breakthroughs in technique where before endless practice doesn’t yield much improvement.
But you do have to learn when to stop playing and learn the subtle signs of overtraining your self.
Overtraining occurs before you get sore. So most don’t recognize it. If you have played to the point where your are sore the best solution is to not play the next day or hold off even longer in extreme cases. Typically for me I will just play less the next day because I never go that far. Experience will tell you what to do.
For example: last night my chops were probably better than ever. I was playing along with the album recording of Malmsteens Trilogy suite main theme along with some other equally difficult material. Since I was playing better than ever I played longer than usual because it was fun. But today I know my chops will be down because of that. So I’m already planing to cut my practice short tonight to compensate. Then tomorrow I know (from experience) that my chops to be as good or possibly better than last night because I let them recover properly.
The biggest widespread failure in teaching an instrument is all the missing details about how to practice properly.
 
There are many layers to learning and many modalities. We know them without thinking about them. Some things are better learned audibly vs. visually. Some are hand/eye coordination centric. Few things are inexorably completely multomdal. Musical learning and practice involved every part of the brain and all the senses (or as many senses as you may be lucky enough to have), and so this is why it can be exhausting in a way that is unlike few other things in life.

Yes, there is diminishing returns in any practice. I have found this to be true for all skill pursuits, but my purposes here I'll directly compare guitar practice and flying. Both contain stupendous amounts of sensory input, musculoskeletal coordination, intellect and emotional content.

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When I was working on my private pilot license, after I had been signed off to solo, I would go out and do touch and go, stop and go, full stop/taxi back/takeoffs and so on for a full hour. It was easy to see when I had unlocked some part of the process in my head and improved some part of the (again total brain involving) procedure. Refining technique, building muscle memory, all that good stuff. About 35-45 minutes into it I could definitely see where I peaked and the landings started to get crappy again. I'd force myself to do the full hour until I figured out that I was just burning money (flight time is expensive af). Diminishing returns on time investment, baby! (Dick Vitale voice)

You have to find the point at which you peak and stop there, before the frustration and scraping and scrimping to find the improvement. It's not there, and any time spent after that is a waste.

There is a study technique called the Pomodoro technique. This refers the the tomato (pomodoro) shaped 30 minute kitchen timers. Set a timer for 30 minutes on your phone or your watch, then start your practice. If you get through a whole 30 minutes with enjoyment and fulfillment and no distractions, great. Take a 10-15 minute break, minimum to put the guitar down, stretch your legs (your lymphatic system requires muscle movement to move fluids through the body), take a piss (a full bladder is a creeping distraction - don't wait until you're uncomfortable), drink water (8oz). Then set the Pomodoro for another 30 minutes and practice. Repeat until the first moment you feel frustrated or unenthusiastic or distracted by your phone. That's the stopping point for the day.
 
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