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Hi Don,
Sounds frustrating indeed. I like Mery’s suggestions and will be curious to hear how that works for you too.
A couple more ideas:
1. Have you experimented with subdividing? Not in a metronomic way, but like how Julie Landsman describes it – where everything you play has this internal rhythm underneath it – in the same way that shooting a basketball or swinging a golf club has a natural rhythm when it’s done right. She talks about it a little here: https://bulletproofmusician.com/julie-landsman-on-getting-into-the-zone-and-developing-trust-in-your-playing/2. Do you remember what it was like to learn how to ride a bike? Where you just kind of figured it out, as opposed to thinking too much about what you were doing? I wonder if it might help to spend a little time isolating tricky spots that you’re overthinking, and allowing yourself a certain number of repetitions with metronome – even just of a few notes so it doesn’t get too complicated – to see if you can feel your way or intuit your way to the sound you’re trying to get? It’s a form of “implicit learning” and not quite the same as mindless repetition since you’re still going to be mindful and aware through the process. Does that make sense?
Noa
