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Topic: I swear I could do this...  (Read 9381 times)

Offline gregh

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I swear I could do this...
on: November 10, 2013, 01:55:46 AM
Sometimes I sit down and play something that I've practiced before, and it seems to go just fine. Then I run through it a second time, a third, a fourth, and keep making mistakes.

What the heck is that all about?

Online perfect_pitch

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Re: I swear I could do this...
Reply #1 on: November 10, 2013, 03:43:08 AM
Here's my opinion...

When we first sit at the piano, our focus is probably at it's peak. When we play something, our hands and our mentality have been quite rested up to that point and usually have no concerns. As we practice we are again wearing ourselves out mentally as we continue to think and focus, and the hands can become sweaty and a little tired.

Offline chessman

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Re: I swear I could do this...
Reply #2 on: November 10, 2013, 11:01:24 AM
Here's my opinion...

When we first sit at the piano, our focus is probably at it's peak. When we play something, our hands and our mentality have been quite rested up to that point and usually have no concerns. As we practice we are again wearing ourselves out mentally as we continue to think and focus, and the hands can become sweaty and a little tired.

Yep, I must agree with that. Also it's the matter of overall experience. Now I'm making less mistakes(no matter what piece I'm playing) than 1 or 2 years ago.

Offline muleski

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Re: I swear I could do this...
Reply #3 on: November 15, 2013, 04:24:35 PM
I am like this all the time.  How relaxed I am makes all the difference to my playing, but it's very frustrating when I really want to practise a lot, yet the more I play something, the worse it seems to sound (in a short space of time I mean).  Then strangely if I don't play that piece for a couple of days, I then seem to play it much better.  Obviously (well certainly for me), rest is a very important part of practise. 

Generally I play all of my pieces daily, but on the odd occasion eg long day at work/ visitors/ taxi-ing the kids etc I may go one or two days without playing at all (just because there's little or no opportunity).  I recently went away for a week too & found my playing was better after these short breaks.  I think mentally they can be taxing, not just in learning them, but the personal challenge & continued commitment they command (longer & more difficult pieces especially), all take their toll.

Offline faulty_damper

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Re: I swear I could do this...
Reply #4 on: November 15, 2013, 07:47:57 PM
Here's my opinion...

When we first sit at the piano, our focus is probably at it's peak. When we play something, our hands and our mentality have been quite rested up to that point and usually have no concerns. As we practice we are again wearing ourselves out mentally as we continue to think and focus, and the hands can become sweaty and a little tired.



I disagree with this since focus alone does not account for the wide variability of performance.  What's more likely going on is the neural pathways are not refined, and so the similarities of neural processes activate nearby processes, triggering a chain reaction what appear to be lots of mistakes.  It's like an obese person walking down a narrow isle knocking down jars along the way.  Now, if that obese person walks down that isle long enough, he'll be thinner and not knock down those jars.

In other words, you just aren't well-practiced enough.  Focus, btw, is suppression of neural activity.

Offline gregh

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Re: I swear I could do this...
Reply #5 on: November 15, 2013, 11:14:12 PM
What Muleski said has me recalling something I was told about learning to ride a unicycle-- you get better the day after you practice.

Offline Bob

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Re: I swear I could do this...
Reply #6 on: November 16, 2013, 01:33:21 AM
I've done that. 


Another possibility -- Your mind is concentrating on just playing through the piece, not so much on listening or critiquing.  The next times around, you're more aware of what's not quite right, the things you didn't hear the first time around.


That's possible, but I lean toward the mental 'Superman' effect.  If it's something you haven't done for a while, you're stronger at it the first time.  Practice scales a lot, then slack off... Come back another day and you're awesome at them.  And then it crashes.  That's the physical side.  I think the same thing can happen mentally. 

I was thinking sight-reading here, but I'd still think it's the same effect.
Favorite new teacher quote -- "You found the only possible wrong answer."
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