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Musicians of the LR - how quickly does the rust set in?
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Couple of questions for the regular (or former regular) performers...

How long would it take of you not playing until you noticed a decent drop off in skills? I've been flat out working for some months and haven't sat down at the piano for a bit; definitely notice the rust. But then I only picked it back up in recent years and haven't reached a stage where I'd call myself remotely skilled. Thus I wondered if this also affected proficient players to the same degree?

Also, I notice most highly skilled performers still play with sheet music in front of them. When pieces are technically challenging I doubt the notes are being read in time. So what's the purpose? Is it just a high level reminder of where you're at in a song?

PS I have a sneaking suspicion I've asked something like this some time ago but 1) I can't be bothered searching and 2) I'm giving you the opportunity to 'blow your own trumpet'!
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Re: Musicians of the LR - how quickly does the rust set in? [mv2005] [ In reply to ]
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30 year guitarist with the periodic stretches where I don't pick my axe up much...I've played in bands but not in a while and it's the lack of accountability of playing with other people and keeping time is where the rust came from(for me). I've probably got more of a 'style' than I had when I was around other players but so much less discipline it's not even funny. Songs I used to play note-note have morphed into stylistic interpretations; I really need to get my S together...

On further review, I don't think I answered your question at all..
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Re: Musicians of the LR - how quickly does the rust set in? [mv2005] [ In reply to ]
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“Miss one day of practice, I notice; miss two, the critics notice; miss three, the audience notices” -- Franz Liszt, 1894



"100% of the people who confuse correlation and causation end up dying."
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Re: Musicians of the LR - how quickly does the rust set in? [mv2005] [ In reply to ]
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It depends entirely on how much you normally practice and what you consider rust.

If, for example, you practice once a week, then you won't notice a drop in skill if you take a week off because you always take a week off. If you practice two hours a day, and take a week off, then you will notice a drop. However, that drop you notice will likely be on only the very top in of your skill.

As a drummer, I sometimes think of it in terms of a drill at a certain tempo. I might be able to do the drill at 180bpm with regular practice. Taking a week off might drop me to 175bpm. The audience wont notice provided that I am playing the same kinds of beats at lower tempos.



To the point about reading music, yes, the professional CAN read difficult music and play. At the very highest end (like the Philadelphia Orchestra) they will often play pieces together with minimal practice and rely largely on reading while they play. I played the trombone from 4th grade through college. I took piano lessons for two years. I more or less have to memorize piano music to be able to play it. As for the trombone, I recently picked one up without having barely touched one in 20 years (and hadn't read music trombone music at all in that time period). I more or less was able to sight read a piece of music. I was sloppy and didn't sound great, but it was as easy as reading a book. I saw the note and my hands just knew where to put the slide.

(full disclosure: my brother and best friend are both professional horn players)

-----------------------------Baron Von Speedypants
-----------------------------RunTraining articles here:
http://forum.slowtwitch.com/...runtraining;#1612485
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