Hitting the wall

[JCBone]

I'm surw that there have been many threads about this before but I feel like I have hit the wall. I have heard that hitting the wall is a sign of graduating to a new level. I improved my playing by a mile in the past year but I have suddenly been feeling very frusturated. Normally I would take a break but I have a lot of stuff coming up and I just don't know what to do.

[Vegasbound]

Have a lesson

[JCBone]

Have a lesson

I have weekly lessons. I can assure you that that is not the issue

[FOSSIL]

No, not about lessons.... you have to keep at it...don't try any gimmicks, keep faith in what you are doing and the next breakthrough will come...sooner or later. Those that lose faith lose the race.

Chris

[Burgerbob]

No, not about lessons.... you have to keep at it...don't try any gimmicks, keep faith in what you are doing and the next breakthrough will come...sooner or later. Those that lose faith lose the race.

Chris

[Arrowhead]

Maybe re-evaluate what your goals really are. If you feel like you're hitting a wall, continue to monitor
"why am I doing this?"
"what are my goals with playing trombone?"
"what do i really want to do?"
"what do I really value?"

Even if you're not really sure what your goals are, it's important to contemplate these questions every now and again.

For those folks who just say "take a lesson"- I would question, is the teacher themselves continuing to learn or just sitting on what they've already learned to carry them through?
Is the teacher themselves someone who matches your own goals? Make sure you're studying with the kind of player that matches your goals.

[Bach5G]

Have you talked about this with your teacher?

[Vegasbound]

We now know the op is taking weekly lessons, maybe I needed a question mark following my take a lesson comment

The next is bach5g asked have you talked to your teacher? So have you? He/she will know your playing and if as you say you have made a huge improvement have you not just reached a plateau? As opposed to hitting a wall then that would be expected and yes as Chris Stearn said keep at it you have selected your teacher and studying with him/her has made those improvements so trust In What you are doing, what your teacher has given you to work on but do always re-evaluate your goals and ambitions but also celebrate the big steps you say you have made this year.... Enjoy your Christmas and then go again

[hyperbolica]

When I hit the wall in the past, I would just try something out of the ordinary. You could try a lesson with a different teacher, play duets for a week. Try to play rochut without using 1st or 2nd position. Read all bass clef in tenor, tenor in alto, alto in treble, etc. Work on something you don't normally do like double/triple tongue, or lip slur everything. Don't get discouraged, try something different and keep it interesting. Hitting the wall can turn into burnout, and you have to avoid that at all cost. Mixing it up and working the same thing from different angles used to get me back on track.

[baileyman]

Being a slow learner I get frustrated with things not coming together. But I have found if I keep doing a thing that frustrates me, day after day, sometimes the same, sometimes with variations, maybe for weeks, often a surprising advance happens. And then there are those things that just will not improve, which I shall not mention...

[harrisonreed]

Play melodies. Not boring stuff, like bordogni. What's your favorite song you like to listen to that you can hear on the radio? Can you play a convincing melody like the singer conveys it?

If not, you you've only just found the wall.

[Geordie]

Keep going - play, listen and adapt. OP said they had a lot on. I found this thread helpful in a similar situation
https://trombonechat.com/viewtopic.php? ... ed#p120813

[PMPugs20]

One thing that I find helpful (keep in mind I'm no expert, just throwing in my two cents) is what Harrison said -- playing stuff that's fun and not necessarily the repertoire that I'm practicing with my teacher or the exercises that I typically use. Not that I abandon those, but focusing more on what I find fun to play can really help me learn new things and stay motivated.

[johntarr]

Good advice has already been given above. I would just add that learning is not a linear or consistent process. I can remember when I could go for three months and feel like I wasn’t even progressing and then after a break, I heard/felt the progress. I still have plateaus but because I’ve become better at practicing and knowing myself, they are shorter now. Heck, try taking a week off.

Best of luck,

John

[Wilktone]

I'm surw that there have been many threads about this before but I feel like I have hit the wall. I have heard that hitting the wall is a sign of graduating to a new level. I improved my playing by a mile in the past year but I have suddenly been feeling very frusturated. Normally I would take a break but I have a lot of stuff coming up and I just don't know what to do.

Beyond just this thoughts about progression and sticking with it, you need to be more specific in your situation. What specific areas do you feel as if you're not improving? Is it your range, your tone, your flexibility, your improvement on literature, etc.?

I've also felt this way many times, I think it's fairly common. My undergraduate mentor, Dr. Tom Streeter, used to tell me that we tend to improve in peaks and plateaus. You can feel like you're stalling out for a while, but then suddenly something will click for you and you jump forward. Things don't always feel that way, but perhaps it's happening to you right now.

It's also worth keeping in mind that you hear yourself every time you play, so any small improvements that build up over time are going to be less noticeable than your teacher, for example, who would hear you once a week. Someone who hasn't heard you play in months will notice improvement that you might have missed.

I have a different viewpoint on the lessons being a part of it. I had regular lessons with great teachers and had hit the brick walls too. In more than one case getting a lesson with someone different for a new look on things or just some inspiration help enormously. Particularly if your struggles are related to something that a different teacher can provide it might be worth catching a lesson or three from a new teacher.

Dave

[Kelly858]

I've been dealing with this too, thanks for opening up this thread!

[Kbiggs]

“...you need to be more specific in your situation.”

What do you mean by “hitting the wall”? Are there particular areas of technique that you feel are not improving? Identify them and, FOSSIL stated, persist.

Perhaps your cognitive approach—your thoughts and beliefs about your technique and how well you’re actually playing—could be re-evaluated.

[mbtrombone]

I think we need to dig into your title of this post: Hitting the wall. Do you mean that you have stopped improving at the same rate? If so that is quite normal, you have rapid change when you learn something new, but it levels off as you get closer to mastery (and you never truly master anything, you just get really close).

Next, you mention that you are feeling really frustrated. Are the things you were doing no longer providing you the improvement you are wanting? If so, you might want to take a step back and see if there are similar or new ways to approach what you are working on. Also, try to remember that no matter what some days, weeks, months, years are just not going to be as productive as some. It will also be better than some!

You also mention that you would like a break, but have a lot coming up. I don't know your age, so if you are in high school is it honor groups? College auditions? If you are in College are you getting ready for school auditions? Graduate auditions? A cap stone project or recital? If you are out of college, are you getting ready for a professional audition? Do you have other projects musically you are preparing? If you are just doing this for fun outside of work, are you getting ready for a project with a group?

Again for any of these taking a break might be what you need, but we still have to keep going at times because of our commitments. This might be a learning point of what you can handle and time management. When things are not balanced in life we tend to feel frustration and burn out.

I know personally I have felt quite burned out for a few years, but it mainly was because of things I was trying to do all at once. I had very little balance in my life, and was honestly just working really hard. A lot of times we fool ourselves into thinking that busy = working hard. Most times I feel we end up looking back and realizing busy = distracted.

In our profession/hobby saying no can be quite difficult, as we feel a 'no' will result in a loss of opportunity. I know in my undergrad I felt that way, I was a yes man of the studio. I played in two trombone quartets, 1 brass quintet, 3 jazz bands, orchestra/wind ensemble, and composition forum. To say the least I wasn't really able to feel any balance for the first three years of my degree. I rolled back to 1 quartet, 1 quintet, and orchestra/wind ensemble for my senior year. Balance was nice that year. Bonus for that year was the quartet won a competition, the quintet got a few paid gigs, and I had time to work up a nice senior recital.

In the end your teacher will be an invaluable first resource for dealing with all of these things, not just your playing. Every teacher I know has been through quite a lot as far as education, playing, practicing, etc. and balancing those things within their lives.

[Savio]

Sometimes it is like one step back and then suddenly two steps forward. Patient! To be better is more about enjoying every moment we play.

Leif

[Basbasun]

Sometimes it is like one step back and then suddenly two steps forward. Patient! To be better is more about enjoying every moment we play.

Leif

Yes!

It is a natural and common thing in the road.
Do not worry, most of us have gone through that wall several times. Kepp doing your thing.