Resuming Practice after an Illness
Sickness is unfortunately something we will all have to deal with throughout our lives, and it definitely has an effect on our abilities as musicians and those learning music. I want to talk about recovery from average health issues and how they affect us as musicians.
The time it takes to go back to “normal,” will of course depend on how severe the illness was. But whether it is a common cold, or the flu, or laryngitis, these things are going to have a strong effect on us as music makers. Really listening to your body and paying attention to when something doesn’t feel good is very important, especially when your body is still recovering. I find with a cold and taking cold medicine, even playing piano becomes harder to focus on. Singing is a bit of an extra story because the instrument itself is being directly affected by the illness, so I’ll talk about that separately.
When planning out a practice schedule, try to imagine that your body is running on a lower percentage capacity, then apply that to your practice time. If you are feeling only at 70 percent, don’t push yourself to the same limits you would at 100 percent. Make your practice sessions shorter, your goals slightly smaller, take more breaks, and most of all listen to your body. The tricky 3 bar passage can wait another 30 minutes if you are having a really hard time focusing. Just because you are not running around and physically exerting yourself, does not mean that your brain and your focus will not also tire you out.
If the act of playing or singing is too much, try just reading over the sheet music. Look for things like marked phrases, analyze the chord harmony, mark out breaths or dynamics. If even that feels like too much, find different recordings and listen. Utilizing our vast access to media, to instantly hear 4 different interpretations of the piece you are practicing is invaluable. This can give us so many creative ideas and inspirations of things to try when we’re back to 100 percent. In short, find different and less taxing ways to continue your learning, while still taking care of yourself!
DISCLAIMER
I am not a medical doctor. These posts are all anecdotal, based on experiences through my own learning, understanding and teaching. My musical knowledge is based primarily in the Western classical tradition, which by no means defines the only perspective to learn and understand music.
