I always make technical mistakes when I play, and they never seem go

[002517]

No matter how hard, thorough, or long I practice, I can never seem to polish a piece so that when I perform it, there are no technical mistakes. What I mean by this, is flubs - missed notes, wrong notes, etc. Musically, I seem to be doing fine. But not technically. And this is very frustrating.

I am 17 years old and I have been playing piano for 7 years with a teacher. My most recent exam is a 7th grade piano exam.

My teacher says that I should practice slowly - play at a speed with a metronome where I make no mistakes. But no matter how slowly I go, I make a mistake somewhere. My teacher then says that if a make a mistake at the slow tempo I started at, then I should reduce the metronome speed. But I reduce the speed, and then make a mistake. Reduce the speed again, and then make a mistake again... ad infinitum. I feel so hopeless and I don't think it's helping at all. And being at school, busy, I often struggle to find enough time to complete a slow practice session. They just take forever.

Worst of all, however, is that when I perform, I make mistakes that I've never made before. I also make mistakes in the easy parts of a piece, rather than the hard parts I've practiced.

Recently, I've been suspecting that maybe I'm not fully concentrating on my practice. Especially when I do slow practice, my mind tends to wander off, and I start daydreaming a little. Maybe this is why lose focus and concentration and am more prone to make mistakes. This sometimes happens when I perform at tempo as well, when my fingers and hands are flying, my eyes try to follow them and focus, I get dizzy and confused. If this may be the case, how can I fully focus and concentrate when I play?

This has been frustrating me for a long time... 

Thank you.

[carl_h]

Hello,

Reducing the chance of mistakes is probably the harderst part, and making 0 mistakes in a notable performance is as commom as unicorns are.
Your teacher is on to something when he says you have to practise slow, BUT slow practise is the most difficult practise. We want to practise slow enough so that muscle memory is out and you have to think about which notes go next, this requires a huge amount of determination and concentration.

Worst of all, however, is that when I perform, I make mistakes that I've never made before. I also make mistakes in the easy parts of a piece, rather than the hard parts I've practiced.

Recently, I've been suspecting that maybe I'm not fully concentrating on my practice. Especially when I do slow practice, my mind tends to wander off, and I start daydreaming a little. Maybe this is why lose focus and concentration and am more prone to make mistakes. This sometimes happens when I perform at tempo as well, when my fingers and hands are flying, my eyes try to follow them and focus, I get dizzy and confused. If this may be the case, how can I fully focus and concentrate when I play?

Ah, the mistakes you never made before... what is their problem?!?
The problem is that the section is 'easy' and so you haven't learned it with the concentration needed to really memorize it. You probably breeze over it thinking "I got this, no need to practise", well this happened to me before - I didn't got it

You basically did some self-analysis so you should trust on that. It is also a perfectly good explanation.

As for the biggest question: how can I fully focus and concentrate when I play?
- Please let me know when you find out!
I think this is a combination of a few things: Confidence in your playing, confidence that you know the piece inside-out (so you don't even care about mistakes because your are just that f'ing confident), _EXPERIENCE_ performing.

Grts,
 

[nyiregyhazi]

Practise passages slowly with one finger. Some people who think they "know" a piece can't even do this when following the score. You're probably running unreliable habits too much. You need to think what created the habits in the first place and get your conscious brain more involved.

Also, practise slowly and tap every key before you play it. The only mistake you can make here is a mental mistake- as if you're prepared this way and have truly verified that, you cannot really go wrong. Once you get used to perceiving the preparation, you'll become more accurate in general.

[002517]

Thank you carl_h, your explanation makes sense and you have great advise. 

Practise passages slowly with one finger. Some people who think they "know" a piece can't even do this when following the score.

nyiregyhazi, this sounds very interesting. Can you explain in more detail and clarify what you mean by practicing "with one finger"?

I'll also try your "tapping" technique. For you to do that, you would have to play very very slowly, right? For you to have enough time to tap the keys before you play it?

[nyiregyhazi]

Thank you carl_h, your explanation makes sense and you have great advise. 

nyiregyhazi, this sounds very interesting. Can you explain in more detail and clarify what you mean by practicing "with one finger"?

I'll also try your "tapping" technique. For you to do that, you would have to play very very slowly, right? For you to have enough time to tap the keys before you play it?

Yes, it's very slow. Don't even worry about rhythm, in this version. The priority is of always feeling the key before you play it- and of standing clearly on the previous key, so as to feel the interval clearly.


Playing with one finger just is what it is. Play all the notes with one finger. That's it. Especially for single lines, but in theory, you can even do it with whole chords, note by note.

[002517]

Playing with one finger just is what it is. Play all the notes with one finger. That's it. Especially for single lines, but in theory, you can even do it with whole chords, note by note.

But do you mean with the same finger? Or one note at a time, playing with the different fingers, as one would usually play the piece?

[nyiregyhazi]

But do you mean with the same finger? Or one note at a time, playing with the different fingers, as one would usually play the piece?

The same finger. It's a mental exercise, not a physical one.

[outin]

Worst of all, however, is that when I perform, I make mistakes that I've never made before.

Happens to me too. Either because my concentration is very easily lost or because the piece isn't learned well enough yet. Or both

I also make mistakes in the easy parts of a piece, rather than the hard parts I've practiced.

That's usually because the easier parts usually are practiced less or at least with lesser focus.

I find it helps me enourmously to practice the piece hands separate after it is initially "learned". Especially playing the left hand alone usually requires going back to the score even in memorized pieces and forces me to think about everything again. It reveals if I don't really KNOW consciously everything that I am playing.

Another thing that helps me is to learn to start the piece at any measure, that forces me to really counsciously think about the fingerings.

And then of course slow practice to help being counscious about what I am doing and also to help make technically difficult parts more secure.

[timothy42b]

I suspect that your technical mistakes are a symptom of some kind of technical flaw that you have yet to overcome.

That means they are a very good tool for you to improve. 

But it may not be easy to identify the common flaw that presents itself in a variety of seemingly unrelated mistakes.  You need to videorecord your playing and analyze it.  Where do you make these mistakes?  At transitions?  At hand position changes?  At rotations?  At specific rhythms?  It may not be easy but you may be able to find and fix some problems.

Also you should know that your brain has a structure called the DMN, the default maintenance network.  When things are going well and you relax, your brain can activate this and essentially put you on autopilot.  Mistakes are almost inevitable at this point. 

My personal theory, most mistakes happen because of 1 of 3 things:  DMN activation if easy, overload if difficult beyond your ability, or the dreaded choke (which is just an extreme form of selfconsciousness). 

[slobone]

When you get to the point in your practicing of a piece where you can actually count the mistakes (instead of making one on every note), then you have to switch to a different method. Pick one of the problem areas and focus on it obsessively until it starts sounding better.

Keep the area you're working on as small as possible while still covering the mistake. You probably want to include the surrounding notes, but not too many. A measure or two might be the right amount to work on.

First, make absolutely sure you know what the correct notes are. Pitch, rhythm, and articulation (staccato or legato). You should basically resolve to get those three things right every time you play the problem spot. And don't forget the rests.

Then, make sure you're doing the best fingering FOR YOU. Try the fingering marked in your edition, but if it doesn't fit your fingers very well, come up with your own fingering. Remember you can't decide on the best fingering unless you're doing the right articulation and phrasing, and some approximation to the right tempo.

Next take it apart into smaller pieces, vertically and horizontally. Play one hand at a time, or even one part at a time, if it's contrapuntal music. Practice each hand until you can do it perfectly several times in a row. Only then put hands together.

These tips won't guarantee you won't make mistakes, but they should cut down on the frequency. And remember, it's always a good idea to have a definite goal when you practice, instead of only playing it through. "Today I'm going to work on the octaves on page 2", that kind of thing. Of course you also need to play the piece through as well.

If you find that you don't have time to correct the trouble spots, you may be working on music that's too hard for you. Talk to your teacher.

[002517]

Happens to me too. Either because my concentration is very easily lost or because the piece isn't learned well enough yet. Or both

This seems to be a recurring problem in piano practice: concentration. According to carl_h, there seems to be no answer to this problem. It's tempting to think otherwise.

Also you should know that your brain has a structure called the DMN, the default maintenance network.  When things are going well and you relax, your brain can activate this and essentially put you on autopilot.  Mistakes are almost inevitable at this point. 

My personal theory, most mistakes happen because of 1 of 3 things:  DMN activation if easy, overload if difficult beyond your ability, or the dreaded choke (which is just an extreme form of selfconsciousness). 

Very interesting. I usually try to avoid "questioning" my auto-pilot, because if I do, I start thinking about my playing critically and from there, I often begin making mistakes and sometimes, I blank out.

Thank you all for your advise so far. 

[outin]

This seems to be a recurring problem in piano practice: concentration. According to carl_h, there seems to be no answer to this problem. It's tempting to think otherwise.

Don't know if it's as common, but for me concentration is not really a problem when I PRACTICE, but rather when I am supposed to "just play". While practicing I have specific "problems" that I am solving and when I do I tend to focus quite intensely until I am satisfied with the solution. But when I am supposed to play through something, on lessons or performing, I quickly lose my concentration. Especially if I am supposed to repeat something.

I have tried to practice playing through a piece continuously countless of times, trying to ignore any mistakes and my urge to start practicing something that didn't sound quite perfect. My concentration level just fluctuates. I get memory blanks here and there on random places when doing the repeats and sometimes they are bad enough so that I simply cannot remember how to continue or where I was, but I just go back or forward to something I can remember or even the beginning and keep going. Not sure how much this actually helps though...