In class the other day we started practicing a routine using finger cymbals. I don't think I've picked up my zills more than once or twice since the last time we worked on them in class, more than a year ago. I always thought I was pretty good with the zills, at least for a student-hobbyist, and I had incorporated them into a few student hafla routines back in the day. But I haven't been using them for awhile, mainly because most of my performance opportunities over the last few years have been to live music, and I've never been confident in my zill-playing to the point where I'd try it with a band.
And, boy, did my rustiness show in class. I knew it had been awhile since I'd practiced when I first put them on and realized I was wearing one on my index finger instead of my middle one (ooops!). Things didn't go too much better when I tried to dance and play at the same time - I felt like a first-year student.
So I got the message: "Use it or lose it." At least I had specific practice goals after that class - work on those zills! Hopefully by next class I'll be closer to getting my groove back - sure don't want to let one of my few (relative) strengths go by the wayside.
