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how long does it take to "forget" guitar?

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(@nineinchrails)
Eminent Member
Joined: 18 years ago
Posts: 13
Topic starter  

I've only been playing for a year, so I don't have any long-term experience with this. I was wondering, after you've been playing for awhile, say you decide to take a break for a week, a month, maybe longer. How much do you find that you're forgotten when you pick up the guitar again? Do you mainly lose your technique, or just draw a blank on some tunes you had memorized, or what? Or have you just picked up right where you left off? Let me know what your experience has been...


   
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(@chuckster)
Prominent Member
Joined: 18 years ago
Posts: 938
 

Been playing for about a year myself so I haven't got too much experience in this.

The longest I have gone without picking up the guitar was a week. It seemed like the longest week of my life. :lol:

I found that when I picked it up again though I actually played better than I thought I would. The time away didn't seem to have an adverse effect. Not sure what would happen if I left it for a longer period. I guess it's like anything, skill fade is inevitable.

I quite often find sometimes if I'm struggling with a particular technique or just generally having a bad time playing (it happens from time to time) a couple of days rest can work wonders. I come back refreshed and my playing seems to improve.

I guess it's like fitness training. You need to give the body rest every now and again to recover.

8)

I've had a lot of sobering thoughts in my time.
It was them that turned me to drink.


   
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 Glee
(@glee)
Estimable Member
Joined: 18 years ago
Posts: 109
 

I was playing for about 5 months then took 2 months off, and forgot a lot.
I remembered chords and notes, but forgot songs and note reading.

Tim


   
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(@rparker)
Illustrious Member
Joined: 20 years ago
Posts: 5480
 

I've done that twice in my first three years, I lost touch and some songs that I hadn't practiced that much before the breaks were gone.

Roy
"I wonder if a composer ever intentionally composed a piece that was physically impossible to play and stuck it away to be found years later after his death, knowing it would forever drive perfectionist musicians crazy." - George Carlin


   
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(@vccky)
Estimable Member
Joined: 18 years ago
Posts: 112
 

Well, last April, I went on a two week vacation to Italy but when I came back, I hadn't forgotten anything. Sure, your fingers need a little extra warm up but it should all come back pretty rapidly. You might actually be surprised, you know, cause you might actually play better after a vacation. You're just really eager to start playing again and stuff. That always helps. Also, if you stop playing guitar for a few weeks but still think about it at times...like maybe reciting the notes of a few scales, chords or whatever, it can help you get back on your feet (or hands?) quicker.

I haven't ever stopped playing for very long though, so I'm not totally experienced with it all.


   
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(@frank2121)
Reputable Member
Joined: 18 years ago
Posts: 268
 

Not at it that long but i dont think you forget how to play But you might forget which chords you should be playing in a song you knew


   
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(@twistedlefty)
Famed Member
Joined: 19 years ago
Posts: 4113
 

I think it has a lot to do with how long you play before you stop.
I played a lot with friends, and lessons, and practiced by myself for about 4 years before I put it down for more than a day or 2.
Then I put it down for over 3 years, never really playing except maybe to noodle a bit or go over something i could play in my sleep, so i was not pushing to learn anything new.

When i started "trying" to learn again, the stuff that I thought I had forgotten came back very quickly,
but maybe it's an individual thing.

#4491....


   
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 Nuno
(@nuno)
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Joined: 17 years ago
Posts: 3995
 

I was playing for a couple of years and I took a break of 25 years!

I forgot some parts of songs (mainly leadings, the rhythmic part used to follow basic I-IV-V patterns) but I remembered all the chords that I knew. Also I lost a lot of agility in the fingers (both hands).

Nuno


   
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(@dogbite)
Illustrious Member
Joined: 19 years ago
Posts: 6348
 

when first starting guitar the learning curve is pretty steep.
but after a break, even a long one (how about four years!)
the learning curve is much much less steep.
most things pop back quickly.

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandID=644552
http://www.soundclick.com/couleerockinvaders


   
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(@kingpatzer)
Noble Member
Joined: 19 years ago
Posts: 2171
 

I played for years before my accident. Took a "break" of 20 years.

I didn't start right where I left off, and of course due to my injury some things are now physically much more challenging, but my playing returned to an acceptable level in only a few months.

"The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side." -- HST


   
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(@anonymous)
Illustrious Member
Joined: 17 years ago
Posts: 8184
 

i think when you take a break, your ears kind of recover from your own habits, so when you play again, you think you're better than you were, just because it doesn't seem as routine. i've recorded myself times when i just bored myself to tears, just because i had been playing a lot of the same thing, and i sounded much better than a few times that i thought i sounded great but hadn't been playing much.


   
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(@racetruck1)
Honorable Member
Joined: 18 years ago
Posts: 518
 

I have two experiences with taking a break,

When I was divorced this last time, (about 9 yrs. ago) I had to sell all my guitars and move to a new area. I didn't have anything to play for about three years, I didn't really lose anything mental-wise. (I still knew my chords, songs I had memorized, scales,etc...) But, I did get really rusty with technique.

Having said that, I got back into it and it really didn't take long for it to come back to me. About two weeks for the fingers to quit hurting and to be able to play with comfort. I also noticed that I got better than I was before the "Sabbatical", maybe its because when I started again, I really applied myself more than before.

The last time happened recently, about three weeks ago my middle finger interceded in a fight with a "dead blow" hammer and a piece of sheet metal, it lost and I couldn't even look at it let alone fret anything with it! Nothing like what Vic's going through, but it forced me to stop for a while. About a week ago I started to play again and also found out that I was able to look at my playing a little differently, approach it from a slightly different angle or view, again, I noticed I SLIGHTLY improved in other aspects of my playing. (timing, being able to relax more)

I think that taking a short break every once in a while is good, I think it gives me a chance to recenter myself and recharge the grey matter batteries. I'd rather find better ways to do it :roll: , but in the long run it has actually helped. JMHO

Oh, by the way, hope you're doing better Vic! Don't worry, it will come back better than ever! Been There,Done That,Got the T-Shirt! :wink:

When I die, I want to go peacefully in my sleep like my grandfather, not screaming......
like the passengers in his car.


   
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(@misanthrope)
Noble Member
Joined: 18 years ago
Posts: 2261
 

I don't know about stopping completely, but I went for a couple of years with no regular playing. I'd maybe just noodle with things I knew really well for an hour or two, once or twice a month. I did forget a lot of stuff, and my technique was pretty rusty, but it all came back fairly quickly. I enjoyed it more the second time around too, because it felt more like learning quickly than remembering :)

ChordsAndScales.co.uk - Guitar Chord/Scale Finder/Viewer


   
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(@vic-lewis-vl)
Illustrious Member
Joined: 20 years ago
Posts: 10264
 

I recently had an enforced break - a severed tendon in my fretting hand just above the knuckle....

Frantic to play as soon as possible - already had another enforced break earlier this year when I broke my arm - I played with a slide on my thumb for a couple of weeks while the hand was in plaster, then with a slide on my ring finger for a couple of weeks till I could actually bend the affected finger.....

As soon as I could play open chords again, I was off - I've just about got to the stage where i can play barre chords again without too much discomfort....

How has the break affected me?

Well - as far as lead playing goes, lost a fair bit of fluidity and speed, but that's OK - I never was much of a lead player anyway....

Rhythm playing is almost back to normal, it's been hard work but it's worth it - I used to play for hours every day, at the moment I can't manage more than about 1/2 an hour before my hand starts cramping up.....

But the "muscle memory" is still there, I haven't forgotten anything, and I'm better now at changing from an open chord to a barre - or at least a half-barre, using my thumb for bottom two strings.....

The only thing that is proving difficult to get back is the 5-fret span I had, used to be able to play a blues shuffle no trouble, say A5/A6/A7/A6.....but that's probably the severed tendon rather than lack of playing, believe me I've worked hard to get back....

Broken arm, severed tendon - boy I'll be glad to see the back of 2006!

Oh yeah - if anyone wants to see a pic of said hand, it's in the news forum under "A bit of good news for a change" - that was taken about 2 weeks after the accident, just after the plaster came off.....

One thing I'll never do again is take anything for granted - I came so close to never being able to play guitar again, now every time I pick a guitar up I am so grateful that I actually can pick it up and play it....

So play that guitar while you can - you'll miss it if you can't!!!!!

:D :D :D

Vic

"Sometimes the beauty of music can help us all find strength to deal with all the curves life can throw us." (D. Hodge.)


   
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(@steve-saunders)
Active Member
Joined: 18 years ago
Posts: 6
 

Talking about this sort of thing......

I saw a great documentry about Cat Stevens the other day. (I love his stuff) He had not played his guitar for years and had turned his back on his music as he studied Islam, but now he felt his believe had come full circle and he could once more embrace the gift God had given him.....

So to cut a long story short - the cameras were there when he picked up his guitar and started strumming all his oldies - and he was fantastic!

I believe John Lennon also turned his back on his guitar for a number of years - me, I cant go a few hours without playing something!


   
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