When I was a student at Juilliard, it was assumed you didn't walk on stage unless you were prepared to perform perfectly. A piano professor gossiped about a performance he heard filled with wrong notes. From the way he spoke, you would have thought murder was committed.
When entering international competitions, I listened to an interview with one of the judges. Asked how he chose the winners, he said, “First, and most important, the pianist plays all the correct notes. That's just a given.”
If you've been attending my weekly Saturday night Facebook Lives, you've heard my theme…
Just make music!
I created that motto early on in my right hand recovery from seven fractures. I knew if I waited until I could play perfectly, I'd be playing one handed for the rest of my life.
Accepting playing imperfectly has not only helped my right hand recover and perform again, but I'm hearing from music colleagues, thanking me for doing this publicly. It's given them permission to do the same and make music for the sake of enjoying music.
Helping others make music and practice for progress has become such an important mission, that I just started a private Facebook group for recovering classical music perfectionists. It's called, you guessed it…Screw perfect. Just make music!
After 50 years playing piano, I can finally say,
If you want to cultivate these 10 characteristics of an imperfect musician, you're invited to join our group and post all your music imperfections. And, feel free to forward to a friend who would benefit from joining the free group.
10 Characteristics of an Imperfect Musician
- You're comfortable performing with the music score.
- You focus on the right notes, and ignore the wrong ones.
- You're comfortable performing sections of a piece of music.
- You program music that your heart calls you to play.
- You are comfortable playing a program that doesn't include anything flashy.
- You focus on three things that went well after every performance.
- You know that music isn't a race.
- You don't wait until your music is perfect to play it in public.
- You know making music in your living room is equally important as performing in a large concert venue.
- You play on, no matter what!
I've changed the famous saying, “Practice Makes Perfect” to “Practice Makes Progress.” Works for me. How about you? Thanks for posting a comment below and sharing where in your life letting go of imperfection has helped you make progress. Feel free to add something outside of the music world too.
