When you are out of the loop for a while, how do you get back into it?

In January I had to go into the hospital for yet more heart issues. And without going into details, the waiting period before, the anxiety leading up to a date, the actual procedure,  and then the recovery just put me out of the loop.

Now by out of the loop I mean, not much contact with my network or very little playing of the Stick. I did some lyric writing, a jam session in Lachute with some unknown musicians and some work programming my pedal board but that was about it.

Now when it comes to getting back into it, the first thing I found was how stiff and awkward sounding my Stick playing was. Man it was discouraging!

So how to get back to it?

• Play through the rough parts
• Play what was an easy piece and get back to basics.
• Looked at some new material and attempt it (at least there is no previous reference so a little less frustrating.
• Listened to some older recorded things I did, just to prove to myself that I was capable.

And what i learned was:

• Practice everyday is crucial to get back into it
• Focus on a bit at a time
• Be easy on myself, things get better when you do the above.

Now what happens next?

Here’s one of the first things I ever recorded on the Stick.