Mistake(n) Opportunity
“We’re here to make mistakes.”
This is what I find myself repeating to beginning students more than anything else. Why is that?
Many of us are scared to make mistakes.
Your greatest blunder may be your artistic breakthrough.
Instead of fearing a mistake, I encourage my students to embrace “mistakes” as moments of spontaneity and context for future improvement. We’ve all heard stories of great innovation (anyone like potato chips?) blossoming out of epic mistakes, and if there is any place to embrace an epic flop, it’s in the arts.
Mistakes provide clarity by showing us how and where to improve.
If I always mess up the words on page two of my song, that’s the section to practice. On the other hand, if all of my low notes are perfect, maybe it’s not where I need to direct my focus (it’s okay - we know it’s fun to practice what we do well, too!).
When we fear mistakes, we will our mistakes into existence.
The more you think about not forgetting those tricky words, the more likely you are to slip. (Trust us on this one - we’ve fallen into this hole far too many times.) Instead, if you focus on what you can actively do, like finessing your interpretation, you’ll find the most success.
So, the next time you’re practicing, taking a lesson, or performing, embrace mistakes as the valuable opportunities that they are!
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