Bad days X'(

Hi! I've been playing now for about a month and a half and I have made a tremendous amount of progress. Though, one thing that I seem to be running into is off days. Just a few days ago I was doing an amazing job, but within the past couple of days I have not been playing as well. Has anyone else experienced this? I'm just looking for reciprocity.

Happens all the time. You seem to be making good progress then suddenly you hit a "wall" and you feel like you are going backwards.

Two things you can do and both are worth doing.
1) Keep plugging away, you will, in time start to progress again.
2) Have a rest for a day or two (not too long). It will give your brain time to process all those new skills and when you come back, you will find you are starting to progress again.

These plateaus when you seem to be getting nowhere are a normal part of learning a new skill. Your brain needs time to absorb the new knowledge and skills, so it calls a brief halt while that is happening. At least that's how I understand it.

It's good to know that this isn't a permanent thing. Thanks for the feedback.

That's happened to me with the guitar. One day my fingers are lightning quick, my voice is on pitch, and everything feels right. The next day, it's like I'm two weeks into learning it all over. Super frustrating, but it's temporary.

Happens to everyone, and you just need a way to break through barriers.

I blogged about this a while back - http://www.gotaukulele.com/2011/09/ukulele-ramblings-break-through-your.html

For the longest time, I couldn't do an upstrum- I could only downstrum. I visited my cousin in the UK without the uke (Ryan Air... grrrrrr...) and when I came back, I could miraculously do an up and down strum. Sometimes you just need to relax and walk away for a bit.

But yeah, I sometimes have days where I can't get a good E7 chord no matter what. Even now, after months, I can't nail down that Bb chord. But I know I will at some point.

Patience and Practice.
Practice and Patience.

Tootler said:

Happens all the time. You seem to be making good progress then suddenly you hit a "wall" and you feel like you are going backwards.

Two things you can do and both are worth doing.
1) Keep plugging away, you will, in time start to progress again.
2) Have a rest for a day or two (not too long). It will give your brain time to process all those new skills and when you come back, you will find you are starting to progress again.

These plateaus when you seem to be getting nowhere are a normal part of learning a new skill. Your brain needs time to absorb the new knowledge and skills, so it calls a brief halt while that is happening. At least that's how I understand it.

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This is right on the money!!!!!

All good advice here so far. Like everyone said, don't stress out because this happens to everyone, and it won't be the only time it happens, either.

One thing I do when I hit these walls is switch up what I'm doing. If I'm learning chord transitions then reach the plateau, I stop and start working on finger picking. If that stalls, I move over to strumming patterns and techniques (chunking, fan strums). When that gets old, I try doing things like practicing moving up and down the fretboard with tablatures.

Shifting from one technique to another not only allows you to process what you just learned, but also ends up incorporating it into new skills without you realizing it. You may think you're not using chord transitions when practicing strumming, but you are.

Not only does this take away any of the dull repetition, it really does wonders to enhance your whole playing ability.

And, as always, remember that this is supposed to be fun. So enjoy the process!

Yes, everyone here knows what you are going through!! All tips are excellent. Mix it up, take a bit of a break (2 days should help) and most importantly......have fun!!!!