What Happens When You Don’t Practice?

Do your playing skills have a shelf life?
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YES!

I took the last two weeks away from the viola and it almost killed me. My wife and I traveled first to Hawaii for ten days and then to Illinois for five days to visit our kids and their families. It was an amazing vacation, and my wife insisted that we NOT take our instruments.

As you know, I am a practicer—I find NOT practicing very difficult! I don't ever take much time off from practice, and I don't remember EVER leaving my instrument behind for two weeks.

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When we came back to work at Disney Hall last Wednesday, I came to some conclusions.
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String-playing skills are perishable, and I suspect this is a bigger deal for violists than for violinists (feel free to disagree!). In other words, if these skills aren’t maintained, they go away. But…we can recapture them.
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For me, the skill that is most vulnerable is spiccato. How about you? What goes away FIRST when you take time off? Email me at mick@theviolapro.com and let me know!