Piano Video Lesson: Just because you played it right…

So, you're practicing this difficult passage. You spent time figuring out what the problems are and discovered ways to fix them. So, after all this, you play the passage and all that work pays off as you play it perfectly.

So it's time to move on, right? But wait a minute.

Just because you got it right once, does that mean it's locked in? I mean, will you be able to do it right again and again and again? All right. But what could happen if you can't? What could happen then? I mean, when you're under the pressure of performing in front of an audience, you only get one chance. So will having done it once mean that you'll automatically be able to play it right in front of the audience? Well, it's with this thought in the background that you're totally stressed out because you can't be sure about what will happen when you walk out onto that stage.

Well, it's at this moment that doubt creeps in. You know, the doubt that comes into your mind whispering, maybe you can, but maybe you can't. So, in order to be able to function at your highest level in the performance, you need to find a way to erase that doubt.

And this is where repetition can become so useful, practicing it over and over again until that doubt goes away.

To do this, what if you aim for something wild like playing it perfectly 12 times out of 10? Yeah, I know that's impossible, but stick with me.

What this shows is that we need a system to measure where we are compared to where we want to be. So, why not start by playing it 10 times and seeing how often you can get it right? But wait a minute. Doing this raises the question, just how many times do you need to play something correctly before you can perform it under pressure without any doubt? Hmm, let's try something.

Record yourself playing the passage 10 times, then listen back and mark on a piece of paper or some device each take is either right or wrong.

With this information, you can come up with a percentage.

Taking the time to do this will help you form a clear visual snapshot of what just happened. You'll be able to think about what went wrong and what went right and use that information to direct your practicing.

Here's another approach.

Why not turn it into a game? Let's say you need to get to five. You play it right, you score a point. You play it wrong, you lose a point. So, if you play it once right and miss the next two, you're at minus one.

You keep going like this till you get to plus five and you can't stop until you've gotten there. Perhaps you think that was too easy. Well, then what if for every mistake you lost two points instead of one? That certainly makes it more challenging, right? And what if instead of aiming to get to five, you aim for 10? Well, certainly this can be a great way to build perseverance, but here's the thing. Doing it over and over might not always fix the problem. In fact, it could become a problem by reinforcing mistakes.

So, you probably need to go back and look at the passage from another angle.

Find other ways to figure out what's going wrong and discover new ways to fix it before you dig yourself too deep a hole, you know, the kind of hole that it's hard to get out of.

So, you go back to the drawing board and look for new ways to practice the passage.

Having worked on it with new eyes, you feel ready to see if it works better. See if you can get a better percentage.

So, what about trying this? Imagine you set up three chairs in a room and in those chairs sit your favorite artists. How many times can you play the passage correctly now with them sitting there staring at you, silently judging every note that you play? Or what about this one? Close your eyes and imagine that you're on stage at Carnegie Hall in New York or Disney Hall in LA.

The house is packed. The lights are bright and the audience is eagerly waiting for you to start your performance. You're nervous, of course. I mean, who wouldn't be? So, you center yourself, find what you need to focus on, and begin playing.

All right, then.

Now that you've immersed yourself in these emotions, record yourself playing the passage ten times. When you finished, play back the recording and find out what happened.

Well, you got it right eight out of ten times.

That's not bad at all, but is that the percentage you were aiming for? Were you secretly hoping for ten out of ten? Well, by not accepting anything less than ten out of ten, it's very easy to get stuck.

And getting stuck like that can lead you into a kind of never -ending story.

But that said, your eight out of ten numbers look good. But what happens if, during a performance, despite all the work you put in, you miss? You fall into that 20 % zone.

Don't you think it would be a good idea to prepare yourself for this possibility? I mean, nobody's perfect.

So, what can you do to prepare for this? Well, one way would be to not stop when you're doing your performance practicing. This way, you can learn what you need to do to keep going.

Knowing this could become very useful if the problem should occur in your performance.

Think about it. By preparing yourself for mistakes, you've essentially pushed your percentages up to ten and beyond.

Where's that doubt now? So, next time you practice, remember, repetition isn't just about doing something over and over again. It's about finding ways to erase that doubt.

But here's something to consider. Is it possible that your doubt was actually a catalyst for good things? Could it be that your doubting pushed you to look even harder for ways to develop your practice strategies even more? Wow.

There's that rainbow that comes after the storm.

Well, if you have any thoughts or questions about what I've talked about in this video, please write them in the comments below.

And don't forget to like, subscribe, and hit that notification bell to be sure you were informed about future video releases in this series.

Thanks for watching.

Automatic video-to-text transcription by DaDaScribe.com

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