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The trick is: stop anticipating the worst and have fun playing 
"It can sing like a bird, it can cry like a human being, it can be very angry, it can be all that humans are" Maxim Vengerov
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I gotta add to this, as a semi-professional bass guitarist (I get paid to play in a band) I have high expectations as to how well I perform onstage, so I rehearse a few hours every other day. I play the violin about every day, however, for an hour and no more. And if I don't then I definitely know it.
But with the bass, because of the amount of rehearsal and technique-building I have created in my life, the muscle memory is such that some time off really doesn't effect me negatively. I still work on technique, though, as part of my regular rehearsal on bass.
The fact is, what you are doing right now, is building that muscle memory and "feel." Had we done this 15 years ago, we'd be able to pick up the instrument after time off and not really feel much of an effect.
So don't be hard on yourself. Just concentrate on trying to play as correctly as you possibly can, and have patience, it will come.
One wonders if the damage would have been as severe had the chicken not been tied to the barrel.
I am intrigued by the notion that learning one of the most difficult instruments is supposed to be fun (?)
If I picked up my violin after two weeks and started to play something in the key of "C", I would be OK. If I tried "Ab", I would have more trouble. My memory remembered "C" because I knew it better. My "Ab" was weaker because I was not as fluent in the first place.
Different result, same memory.
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It is supposed to be fun. It's learning, and achieving. And that is fun. No one said fun was easy, however.
With the bass, I always tell anyone I am teaching to know their fretboard. Find an A on every string, in other words. Beyond that, knowing simple basic theory can help you find all the right notes in the key signature you're playing in.
That's what I had to go back and re-learn on bass, because once my orchestra classes went from technique and education oriented classes to a simple performance-based class, none of that was taught. And while it always seems daunting to look at a book full of modes, scales and patterns, you eventually start seeing a re-occuring theme in them, and discover it's not as hard as we made it out to be in the first place.
One wonders if the damage would have been as severe had the chicken not been tied to the barrel.
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I agree, learning any instrument at first can seem overwhelming and hard. There's so much to learn and you have to keep the basics and necessities separated from wants and desires. We want to play well in the beginning, but we must know the basics first. If we keep those "desires" at the forefront of our minds, we become frustrated much quicker. Once you find that point in the basics where things start to reoccur, most realize that learning is much simpler than they originally thought!
Astroland, it's funny you should mention bass guitar! I was a session bass player for over 15 years and moved to violin! It's been an interesting experience! .....especially jumping back and forth between the two! I think I finally started fixing my issue of "over-jumping" and playing sharp on violin! .......darn hands still want to reach for the furthest fret on bass!! LOL
“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.” ~Benjamin Franklin
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I think the violin is really hard. I played the Sax for a while and it was easy compared to the violin.
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I have a teno Sax, Think you can talk me out of it?
A tenor sax deteriorates rapidly if it is not played. Are you doing right by your sax or spending all your time messing around with some wimp violin ?
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^^^ FTW!
One wonders if the damage would have been as severe had the chicken not been tied to the barrel.
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Too bad It'll just have to deteriorate. I'm playing Violin.
Good thinking !! Clear the deck !
Get that sax out of your house ! It's a bad influence. I'm sure you could easily find a buyer at the right price (for a deteriorating saxophone).
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I'm going to hang it on the wall as decoration. Along with the wife's trumpet.
I can definitely tell a difference when I don't practice for a while however, sometimes if it is just a couple of days that I don't touch the fiddle, I almost feel like I play and sound better, looser. I have gone a couple of weeks or more at times and seem to be able to pick back up where I left off it may just take a couple of sessions.
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