Practiced yesterday (Sunday) terrible - could get anything right, not even a simple piece of music - yet Saturday, great! eh, what's going on!!!!!!

Does anyone have this problem - needless to say, when I could'nt get anything right - I decided to call it a day and try again today (Monday) - hope things improve - has/does anyone have this problem - or is it just a matter of practice

Paul

I get bad days (normally the days of my lessons as well ) I don't know why. My fingers won't go down in the right places and everything just feels wrong!

Yes, sometimes I have horrible days followed by amazing days, and then it returns to being ok. But I think this happens to everybody really.
Leaving it until well it would be today now, is a good idea, usually you are better when you've had a break from practice.
Hope the practice went well today

I've had a lot of good days, bad days and "why do i even bother" days...but that's with any creative thing...you gotta be in da mood...

Just had my teacher come over - 1st piece went really well - 2nd piece awful, then a mixed bag of good and bad can't win! but will keep on trying
- Violin, very much a love hate relationship - is'nt it!

Cheers, Paul

I get days like that when nothing seems to go right. Fortunately at the weekend i had a really good practise, everything seemed to be coming together. My teacher also lent me the Kreutzer 42 Studies, it's really good. It's the book she had when she was learning and she had a Russian teacher so it's got real Russian writting in it! - sorry i'm quite excited about this!!

Just a brill day's playing - everything I did worked! could'nt believe it - my teacher just kept smiling (does he know somehing I don't) - anyway thanks for all the feedback.

Glad you like the Kreuzter 42 studies

Cheers Paul

Happens to everyone it seems! I had a bad day last week. Was just complaining about it and then a couple of people replied saying that the weather is bad, and even the experts avoid holding concerts at this time of year when it's hot and humid. See Disastrous Practice Session for more info.

I love this group and the support from you guys!

Thanks for that, thought it was just me! -

thank you for your support as well

Cheers, Paul

You're welcome! Btw, I didn't know you started learning on the day my piano students took their exams. And don't worry, it's better learning now than never.

Ok everybody passed, so I'm happy although no one got distinctions

Thats soooo weird - I was literally coming on to post a new thread about this.
I'm very frustrated today. I can't play in tune, I sound scratchy and i keep hitting the body of the violin when playing on the e string. Ive thought about it, and there is only one piece in my violin case that I can actually play - First mvt from Vivaldi concerto in A minor. And there's A LOT of music in my case!!! I have no piece if music other than that, which I can pick up and just play. Everything is hard work, I have nothing I can really enjoy. Some passages of some pieces are fab and sound great, but you can't really credit that until you can play the whole piece!
I love my teacher to bits, and some of yu may now be thinking CHANGE YOUR TEACHER but he is brilliant, we get on really well and my playing has improved loads, but whenever I'm at my lesson I can never play my best.

I may be Grade 7... but I still have a long way to go!
It's so unfair, and yes I do play other instruments, but undoubtedly violin and the string family have to be the most difficult. I mean, imagine a flautist and a violinist of grade 8 standard are given a run of the mill semiquaver passage. They would both play it... but much of the time the violinist would be out of tune. 1/2 a millimetre is all it takes and you are out of tune. The flautist just has to put down the correct combination of fingers... as we do!

Sorry, I'm very frustrated today!

Violin, very much a love hate relationship - is'nt it! - LIVERSIDGE

I couldnt agree more!

Believe me, to play really in tune on a flute requires a good deal of control of breathing etc as well as "just putting the right fingers down"! I personally find flute easier overall, I'm much more of a natural at wind instruments, but as a flautist and violinist I can assure you that there are plenty of things which are WAY harder to get right on the flute than on the violin!

I had my Grd 5 cello yesterday, and that was a bad day -I wasn't outrageously nervous, but I made obscene mistakes I'd never made before - IT'S SO FRUSTRATING AGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!

Anyway................................

Sounds familiar! I think it's just necessary to be aware that most of the time in exams we don't perform our absolutel fabulous bests... so try not to worry about it, and be assured the examiners can usually pick out what is due to nervousness and do, to some extent, make allowances for that, though they can only mark what they hear on the day.

Wow, so many people with bad practice/exam sessions. MUST be the weather! And I never knew this thread of mine would get so many responses. Yes, I think I can't play as well as I do normally. It's like one good day, then a bad day, then maybe 2 good days, then one terrible day. And my exam is 27 days away....
Good luck everyone with your practices!

Well - bad playing I think is down to me - had a terrible day yesterday (thursday) - my third & forth fingers do not want to play! - too many years doing martial arts I think, battering various things like bricks etc !

Main problem is my third finger keeps playing sharps! & my bow keeps catching other strings - if I'm playing on the A string keep hitting the E string etc - problem is I'm trying to read the music and play - I realise that I'm a beginner that its going to take a lot of patience and practice - but it can be frustrating.

Ah well, the force be with everyone

Cheers Paul