is it possible to lose your skill in an instrument?

[wing]

i've been playing drums just about my whole life. it's always been a fun journey where i'd only get better and better with practice (of course).

however, it feels like within the past 2-3 months i have really gone downhill. my beats don't feel confident, i mess up a lot, and i am unable to land things successfully that i feel like i used to be able to do well. i don't know... i'll do a fill and just get off like i never used to.

bear in mind that i still can play well, i can still play a lot of what i always did. and no one really notices. i don't think the messing up is something people can really hear... it's really all a feeling only i can perceive. i feel less confident in my beats, i struggle more with things i didn't before. i feel like it's become physically awkward and different.

i practice about 30 minutes to 1 hour a day, have not changed my technique-- i've been doing things the same as ever. in fact i've been working on improving and working on figuring out beats that i find difficult. you would think i should still be getting better and better. but i don't feel like i am anymore.

i just used to be realllllly tight and in control. now i don't feel in control so much at all, and i definitely feel very sloppy. this is mostly when it comes to playing fills and things other than straightforward beats... i don't feel like i have too much trouble there.

but why should i be feeling less in control and sloppier than before, if i'm practicing and doing the same things i've always done?

i have good technique with my stick and hand, and my drums are set up great. and if anyone should ask: no, i do not drink or do drugs or anything that would harm or affect my focus and control and motor skills.

what is happening to me???? it's been pretty depressing...

[sonikbliss]

Music's all about the attitude. Know what you can do and just bang it out. Play it like you mean it! Good luck

[Dave Nutz]

ive only been playing drums for about 7 years, but this happened to me about this time last year...then i went away for about a month and a half, and i didnt have the time to practice at all....to my surprise, i came back after a month and a half playing better than when i had left, and more confidently.

My advice is to take a break for a week or two, and see how you feel, just dont think about drums for a little while...come back feeling refreshed.

[Dot]

Feeling like you're going downhill usually preceeds a breakthrough in your technique and playing ability. While it seems like you're getting worse, you're actually on the road to getting better.

[sonikbliss]

confidence. master the mind and you master the drums young grasshoper.

p.s. DOT your avatar rocks \m/ \m/

[JohnDavisNYC]

it's definately true that it usually comes right before a breakthrough. i'll feel like my bass playing is tatally slipping, and then a few weeks down the line i'll notice i'm playing stuff i couldn't play before or in a way i couldn't play them before. just don't worry about it. i find practicing other instruments helps too. i practice more drums and piano than bass for the last year or so. nothing has helped my bass playing more.

cheers,
john

[auralman]

I totally agree with the toaster - play some other instruments or just change your listening habits (meaning what you're listening to, not how) to gain some perspective. I've had rough spots in a jazz band, listened to some punk music, and found myself. Trouble in rock music, played some classical piano, and found it again. Music is such a broad connection to the universe, it's common to have some plugs loosen once in awhile that need re-tightening in unconvential methods.

[Electricide]

Feeling like you're going downhill usually preceeds a breakthrough in your technique and playing ability. While it seems like you're getting worse, you're actually on the road to getting better.

yeah, after playing guitar with poor technique forever (the all-index finger picking) I took some lessons, and learning proper technique destroyed my ability for a while. UNlearning the wrong way is hard...starting from scratch.

It doesn't sound that severe in your case, but it could be part of it.

[dstroud]

Whenever I hit that plateau and it just loses the fun, I learn a new instrument for a while. I know this is the wrong method if you're training to be a professional musician, but I have no problem with this. There is nothing as fun as picking up an instrument you don't really know anything about and just whacking away until you start making it work.

Checking out a different genre is also a huge refresher for me. Maybe pick up some CDs and just take a few weeks off to listen to new stuff and take it all in. By the end, you'll be going though drum withdrawal.

Whatever you do, remember to have a good time doing it. That's what music is here for in the first place.

But you knew that,

-Dan

[spokes]

Another possibility is that recording may be changing the way you listen to yourself play.
As I've gotten more serious about recording I've started listening to my own instrument playing (and songwriting, and singing, and etc etc) much more critically. I don't think I've actually gotten worse at playing, but I just pick up on more mistakes and crappy tones now that I'm paying such close attention. I think this can actually be quite a confidence killer. I know that as I moved away from 4-track recording towards slightly higher fidelity stuff, I started comparing my own songs/playing/production to "professional" albums for the first time, and I really sounded shitty in comparison, frankly. On the other hand, this kind of scrutiny helped me make an album much better than my previous efforts (whether it holds its own next to those "pro" albums may be another story).
The critical listening can get pretty ridiculous though - I find myself moving my chair around in the room looking for a sweet spot just to fiddle around on my acoustic guitar for a few minutes.

[tiger vomitt]

im trying to say this clearly, but it's not coming out right.

you're probably just getting better, and hearing what was shitty about your "old" technique. you couldnt hear it before because your ears are better now.

[Monkeyfist]

I'm going to have to say your about to come through with something, I am ina rut right now as well, where I feel my playing is degrading a bit. But I watched footage of myself from a show we played last Saturday and I was surprised. It's pretty coomon to get like this, because you are so used to how you sound and what you know. You probably have thrown something into your plaing that your not quite used to yet and it is making everthing else sound off just a little. Don't sweat it, just plunge in forward and ride it out, you'll appreciate it when your through it.

[A.David.MacKinnon]

Maybe you're trying to play beyond your skill level. If you're trying to break in to the next level and fucking up it's OK. If you're playing at the same level as always and fucking up it's not so OK.

[swingdoc]

Agree with tiger and Dot above. imo, this means you're improving. You might be trying new things, expanding, getting a better ear etc. Its a common feeling, dont sweat it.
I disagree with those above that say to put it down for a while. I'd only do that if you were hating playing it or started to have pain somewhere (tendonitis etc). Rather, if you're getting miffed about how you're playing, go at it with more intensity. Focus on a single concept that your noticing your problems, and grind /work through it. Tempo? grind it out. Snare hits?...grind it out. Stay focused and goal oriented in your practice and you'll be a much better player for it. Being great does not happen by osmosis, it only comes by staying the course and working harder than the next person.

[bobbydj]

Maybe it's just an echo of how you're feeling about things in other, more general parts of your life.