The Horror of Errors
In this article I answer a question on quora about errors. Errors are a difficult topic for me personally because I have a history of being extremely hard on myself if things are not “perfect”. So much so that my self judgment at times completely paralyzed me and sure took the fun out of performing at times. It took me a long time and a lot of encouragement from my teachers and band mates to get better at handling mistakes. I also consciously worked on myself to be able to support myself and deal with nerves, judgment and perfectionism.
One of the most helpful tactics was that I started to record my gigs. That botched fill I played that ruined the whole evening for me? In the recording it is but a blip.
This going for an elusive perfection can take the feel, groove and connection with the audience out of it; and, it can stop any kind of risk taking in its tracks. Yet, risk taking spices up the experience, makes interaction possible on a much higher level and is such a great challenge and experience! When it “works” it was so worth taking that risk! If it didn’t, there was something to be learned for next time.
Most importantly, I had to learn to find a different relationship to my own playing and the pernicious judge living inside of me. This is a journey and I feel good to be on it. In my experience, the effort paid off greatly.
I hope you find my answer useful. (If you cannot see the text box below, click here)
Here is an article on how to give constructive feedback. Small tweaks have a big effect….
