Why is impossible to play a piece perfect every single time?

[rovis77]

No matter how much you practice

Why is impossible to play a piece perfect every single time?

[kevin69]

No matter how much you practice

Why is impossible to play a piece perfect every single time?

I don't think you can ever play anything perfectly, so sometimes you play better than other times.
Practicing may make you more consistent, but not perfect.

[vansh]

Humans as biological systems change from one moment to the next. Your physical condition -- hands, head, etc. -- are somewhat different at the biochemical level (how tired you are, how much concentration you're putting into it, etc.) each time you play. Thus, how you play the piece will be slightly different each time. As mentioned above, practicing makes things consistent -- for example, so that the neurons controlling the hands are firing in more or less the same sequence each time -- but even so, it only serves to reduce the difference, not eliminate it.

[iansinclair]

And thank goodness for the variation.  Any fool can program a computer to play a piece perfectly, every time -- but it is the variation from performance to performance which makes live music worthwhile.  And -- every once in a while you will have a truly inspired moment (you won't even know until you start playing!) and produce a performance which is truly transcendent!

[j_menz]

For any piece worth playing, there is no one perfect - so if you limit yourself to one way, you're missing the point.

Playing a piece "perfectly" every single time implies safety, and safety and greatness do not mix. Safely is boring. Safely is not a living performance, it's a recording.

I don't mean that you shouldn't get it so the notes are reasonably safe, but if all you are playing is the notes, you probably shouldn't bother.

[quantum]

Any fool can program a computer to play a piece perfectly, every time

I think electronic music deserves more respect that you are giving.  It does indeed take a significant amount of skill to craft good electronic music.  Although it can take on the form of verbatim iterations from performance to performance, that is by no means an exclusive limitation of the genre.

***

Back to the topic, IMO it would be quite boring to play the same piece exactly the same every time.  It is those unexpected occurrences that can lead a performer towards an artistic handling of the situation, and thus new and alternative forms of expression which the performer may not have previously considered.  Music can be rendered differently each time, and that is part of the beauty and mystery of the experience: both for performer and listener.