The Myth of Perfection was first published in February of 2014. I’ve decided to republish as part of this summer holiday series of posts from the past, in the hope that it will give a little perspective on the subject.
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Many of us are caught in the trap of perfectionism, and yet attaining flawlessness is so anti-human. Music played perfectly would actually be boring and predictable – what makes performance interesting is the human element, and what makes it electrifying is the element of risk when the performer is pushing the boundaries of what is possible or imaginable (and might even teeter over the edge here and there). Here’s what Beethoven had so say about this!
To play a wrong note is insignificant; to play without passion is inexcusable.
No live performance can ever truly be note-perfect, and no single interpretation can ever be the one true realisation of the musical possibilities of particular piece. It’s precisely this difference between the ideal and the reality where the humanity of musical performance lies, and the wrong notes in Alfred Cortot’s recordings matter not one iota to the communication of the music’s beauty. I would even go as far as to say it what makes me love his recordings all the more – they show greatness and fallibility at the same time. The problem is that audiences raised on a steady diet of today’s recordings (often a collection of the best takes spliced together) only recognise the perfection possible in that scenario, and are unprepared for live performances.
Perfectionism has been defined in psychology as:
A personality disposition characterized by an individual striving for flawlessness and setting excessively high performance standards, accompanied by overly critical self-evaluations and concerns regarding others’ evaluations. (Stoeber and Childs, 2010).
Healthy v. Neurotic Perfectionism
Wrong Notes and Other Errors
Practising a Performance
In the confines of our own practice room (perhaps occasionally with a microphone as listener), or in front of our teacher we begin at the beginning and we play right through to the end, come what may. It is important not to do this too soon, only when we have gone through the first stages of thorough learning, and to remember that the first time (or first few times) we do this we might be very disappointed with our results. All our hours of careful and painstaking efforts appear to come to naught as passages we thought we had mastered crumble beneath our fingers. Do not get dispirited! Clock your mistakes and make a plan to return to them afterwards. Once you are clear on the weak spots, do some practice on those areas and then move on. The next time you decide to play through (and remember, a playthrough must be a conscious choice and not an accident) those spots may have sorted themselves out – or not. If not, go through the practice routine again. The combination of playthroughs in alternation with spot practice is a terrific process for performance preparation, in fact I know of none better.
Practice like it means everything in the world to you. Perform like you don’t give a damn.
Resources
William Westney: The Perfect Wrong Note: Learning to Trust Your Musical Self
Eloise Ristad: A Soprano on Her Head: Right-side-up Reflections on Life and Other Performances
Barry Green/Timothy Gallwey: The Inner Game of Music
Cavaliers and Roundheads (my blog post on developing performance skills)
Practice v Performance (a previous post of mine on the subject)
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Hi,
excellant article, thank you, I am just wondering if there is any resource (book or website) that tells what the composer was trying to portray for a particular piece of music? i feel this would be of benefit to me when learning a piece.
thanks,
Noel
Thank you, Noel. I don’t know of such a resource, but I feel it should be our understanding of the poetic content or meaning of a particular piece as we see it that matters more. Debussy gave titles to his Preludes, but he put them at the end – in brackets – as though they were a suggestion only.
Another great post on a subject that really needs to be highlighted more often. I detest the use of the word perfection in relation to any art let alone music. I prefer to use the term excellence and that is what I have taught my students to strive for and what I also aim to achieve. IE To prepare and carry out the job to the best of our ability using the resources currently at our disposal. That is quite enough to ask of anyone and, in not wasting emotional energy aiming for perfection, should result in a more satisfying for performer and audience alike. I remember attending a masterclass with the great Australian teacher and guitarist Jason Waldron and his advising us to allow ourselves the liberty of a minimum of 6 errors in any piece performed. What an amazing difference starting a piece with that mindset can make to the resulting performance.
Thank you, Robin. I love the idea of permitting a certain number of errors – it’s being kind to yourself, and it’s being realistic. I remember a particular performance from my student days when all I remembered afterwards were the moments that hadn’t gone according to plan and I couldn’t bring myself to listen to the recording for some weeks. When I did eventually listen, I was surprised that what I thought were clangers at the time were either in my imagination or hardly noticeable at all!
It so reassuring to know even the greats make mistakes. As a singer and singing teacher, I know how easy it is for things not to go perfectly, and I’m fighting a constant battle with my students to help them become comfortable with imperfection.
I have heard many of the greats, and lots of clangers. So nice to have a singer comment on my blog, many thanks!
Thank you for this article. I remember reading in Madeline Bruser’s “The Art of Practicing” that one of the points of practicing is not so that we won’t make mistakes in performance, but that we’ll know what to do when we do make mistakes.
Thanks, Bob – I like that way of looking at it!
I remember hearing a girl playing a piece that she had composed, at an informal concert. A few bars in, she suddenly stopped, announced to the audience that she had made a mistake and would start from the beginning again. My thought was this: No one had ever heard this piece before – if she had said nothing we’d have been none the wiser, and would have thought the pause, or maybe a short silence was part of the piece. It seemed to me that nervousness played a big part in this and that was her first reaction. I have no recollection of the piece, but that event stayed in my memory as a lesson in what not to do in performance.
Thankyou for all your help Graham, I look forward to your pearls of wisdom every week!
Best wishes,
Jules
Thanks for the comment, Jules. Once the thread has broken in performance, it can be really hard to pick it up again. The situation you describe will be familiar to us all!
After years of performing I’m convinced that achieving “perfection” is about finding the beauty and honesty IN THE MOMENT (Mozart talked of this). There are no straight lines or perfect circles in nature. Humans are not infallible. It’s often in the cracks and imperfections where real beauty lies. An artist must be willing to show their true selves, the good and the bad. They must be aware of the space where they’re performing, the audience, the instrument, they’re own mood. Practice, prepare, trust yourself! Trust the audience, trust you instrument and most importantly -trust your INTUITION!
Beautiful words, George. Thanks for posting them.
Every student of whatever subject (not just wannabe pianists) should read this excellent advice and take it to heart.