What could be more embarrassing than stumbling over something you have practiced a thousand times in front of an audience. ? More so, what is worse than the debilitating anxiety that creeps up your back when you fear an entire crowd heard your mistake? Oh, and worrying about it in the moment continues the stumble. What a train-wreck this can be. The tendency is to apologize to the crowd or say something about it, when most often they had no idea in the first place. They were engulfed in music and the moment. Practice makes perfect, but can the pros really just avoid mistakes?
The answer is yes. They avoid the idea of mistake.
Practice is imperative. When an artist doesn't practice, they lose the precision they had honed when they played most often. But, most people will never lose the basic skill of their craft. (You can always jump back on a bike, but you may no longer be able to do any tricks.) Keeping your art practiced and disciplined is the number one way to stand out amongst musicians and to captivate an audience. That being said, you can't play perfectly every time. You have to compromise with your self-expectations because things just don't go how we expect. Of course you want it to be exactly as you know it in your head, but be reasonable. It feels weird to play it any other way, but *I cannot stress this enough* audiences want to hear songs played intimately for them. If you show signs of being human they will connect with you. These signs of being human lead people to share stories that they love about the shows that they attended. "That time Steve Vai played 3 more minutes of guitar solo with a broken string!"
As with all things there is a "flow," especially to music. Within this flow is a sense of effortlessness that seems to birth all sorts of creative activity. This "flow" is a space of emptiness, where you aren't over thinking what you are doing, but you are still applying your effort to the task. Amazing things happen when the mind is here. There is no mistake or perfection here, just an enormous plethora of possibility.
One of my favorite songwriters, John Martyn, has at least five versions of his song, "Rather Be The Devil." Some in different keys, some in different tunings, some with different picking patterns. He certainly didn't consider any a mistake.
What is the point? What does this have to do with mistakes?
We tend to consider things mistakes if they "miss the mark" of what we had in mind but a certain level there is just the cost of being human. Even the most practiced artist can stumble by simply letting their mind slip away from the moment. We do this when we try too hard, think too much and resist this flow. Keep practicing, but keep on your toes, human.
No one knows when the string is about to pop, but no one wants you to stop playing.
Roll with it.
Comments