#259: When Right Is Wrong: The Ultimate Musical Dilemma

Playing music is hard. Trying to evaluate how well you are playing it is even harder, much harder. 

If this were a sport, a game like baseball, our efforts in relation to those of the opposing team would be reflected in the score. In an individual sport like golf, your score is a marker of your performance against the challenge of the course, the weather and any number of other factors. In an artistic endeavor, such as art or music or dance, there isn’t an objective numerical scale to score the outcome. I think that’s why I am always ambivalent about Olympic figure skating judging. I understand that they have tried hard to find objective measurements for all the aspects of a skating performance, but there is still room for debate. There isn’t always a clear right or wrong.

When we practice, we aim for “right;” we want to get the notes right, our technique right, the fingering right, the pedals right, the dynamics right. And as my friend MJ says, we get all wrapped up in right. When we get wrapped up in right, we lose our perspective on the music. It’s not seeing the forest for the trees. I’m sure you get that. Yet somehow we still focus on being correct. In fact, I believe we actually overvalue being correct.

That’s why, on today’s show, I’d like to explore the actual damage that overfocusing on right can do, how it can sabotage the music you’re trying to create. Never fear -  I promise I won’t tell you to play wrong notes,  and I won’t leave you without some ideas for refocusing. We’ll get you back on the right side of right.

Links to things I think you might be interested in that were mentioned in the podcast episode: 

• For another look at this topic, check out this article: Perfection or Performance? It's Your Choice
• Experience the freedom of faster learning, more expressive playing, and the confidence to play like the harpist you know you can be with a My Harp Mastery membership.
• Harpmastery.com

Get involved in the show! Send your questions and suggestions for future podcast episodes to me at [email protected]

Looking for a transcript for this episode? Did you know that if you subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts you will have access to their transcripts of each episode?