Irminsul wrote:When it comes to the harp, oddly enough going without practicing for a bit seems to improve my playing. I am more supple, pliable with my wrist and hand positions.
I have no idea why this is, but it is.
I have seen this same thing in my Aikido students. And, yes, it's the same thing.
It's difficult to articulate (as you've discovered), but you can see it with a little thought and - ironically - practice.
Sometimes when you practice heavily something you are already fairly good at you will start to get tense and stiff for no good reason. Go away for a while, when you come back you'll tend to
play instead of
practice. And you'll be more relaxed and your innate skills will hold force.
That's still a wholly inadequate description, but it's headed in the right direction.
It completely ignores another aspect of the phenomenon where lack of practice actually
can improve your skill level.
It also ignores some basic assumptions about your relative skill level and what you do when you actually practice.
But, it does point to another way to accomplish this: sometimes, just play. Don't do scales and finger exercises. Just play for the joy of playing. Practice sometimes as well. Then just play.
