In this installment, we’ll talk about mistakes, more specifically, our reactions to them. Over the years I’ve seen musicians’ reactions to their mistakes run the gamut from a complete “who cares?” on up to catastrophic emotional meltdowns. But most musicians do over-react to their minor slip-ups ... and even announce and cringe over them before they occur. Read on for my take on this subject.
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- Excerpted from "GETTING GOOD, GETTING GREAT: What the Best Players Know" (c 2012 by Oaklight Publishing - LEARN MORE
I once taught piano to a woman who was, in many ways, an outstanding student: talented, intelligent, hard-working. At first, she impressed me as someone who had everything going for her. Then, as the pieces got harder (when mistakes become inevitable) a very different person would emerge.
It would typically go something like this: She would start to play the piece I had assigned her and everything would be fine. But the instant she struck one wrong note she would let out a gasp that sounded as though someone had just landed a serious punch to her midsection.
"What's wrong?" I asked her the first time it happened, thinking I should call 911.
"Didn't you hear? I made a mistake!"
Then she would continue on, so distressed that her rendition was now "flawed" that the one mistake would snowball into ten more. Nothing I told her about mistakes being a necessary part of learning ever seemed to help. In time, I came to realize that, despite all her musical gifts, this woman never, ever seemed to enjoy her music. She was too busy being fearful for mistakes to come, bitter over those that already had.
True, most musicians do not begrudge their every wrong note to quite this extent. But many do focus too much of their attention on mistakes and attach too much importance to them.
Our over-concern robs us of enjoying ourselves when we play, distracts us from appreciating that which we really did play well, and distracts us from playing the rest of the piece as well as we could.
Try this: The next time you play something wrong, just say "oops" and get on with it. Don't curse, don't hit yourself or chastise yourself. Don't blame yourself or the poor lighting or some mechanical problem with your instrument. J ust say "oops," forgive yourself, fix the problem, and forget about it.
Some may respond, "What? Forget about my mistakes? That sounds like a cop out to me. How will I ever improve?"
Actually, saying "oops" is the best thing you can do if you want to improve. For one thing, I did not say we shouldn't address our mistakes. By all means fix them. But don't punish yourself for making them. Furthermore, the more you continue to focus on your human imperfections the more distracted you will become by them, and the more mistakes you will make.
Instead, just fix and forget.
Playing music is a complex process that calls upon our skill, experience, coordination, knowledge, timing, reading, creativity, and more. It interconnects our eyes, ears, muscles, breath, brain, and soul. Distraction, apprehension, regret, and lowered self-confidence over a few mistakes, or even more than a few, are the last things we need. If you learn to belittle your mistakes to the point of feeling nonchalant about them, you will make far fewer of them - and you will enjoy yourself a whole lot more.
“Without music, life would be a mistake.”
Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche
Until next time...
Stay tuned and play great.
Your Whiz-guru
Stan Munslow
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