How to stop making stupid mistakes?

ShiroKuro · 2025-04-22T10:54:46+00:00

Well, my recital, which I thought was still several weeks away, is now only a few days away. How did that happen? Anyway, I’m playing two pieces, the fi...

twocats

ShiroKuro Yes, I definitely need to do this. I think my practice of this piece has maybe been too casual up to now.

I have been through this exact problem before (actually the process of attempting to memorize and focusing very hard has resolved these places for me!), and it's exactly this. It's easy, so you have been neglecting it and working on other stuff instead.

Maybe these places should be bites of vegetable for you! 🙂

BartK

ShiroKuro So for this recital piece too, I really want to just play through...

What helps a lot it to record yourself and then play along your own recording. You have to get a perfect take first so if that's a problem or you have hesitations try playing with the metronome first.

keystring

ShiroKuro OMG yes, I'm sure this is part of it! The dang piece is so easy to read/sightread.... After all, the whole reason I chose it was because it's super easy and I wanted an easy piece as my first piece of two for the recital.

I've got the t-shirt which is why I thought of it. 🙂

ShiroKuro lso, I noticed this morning that one of my mistakes (going to the F instead of the G) is probably happening because there's another section where it does go to the F.

You may do this already but didn't because it was an easy piece: when I first study a score, I look especially for passages that are almost similar but deviate. If it's m. 4-5, and m. 24-25, I might practise these separately back and forth, because this is where I'm likely to mess up.

The good thing is that you've caught these things, you've probably devised some strategies by now, and on the day of the recital you'll be all set and ready! 🙂

Stub

Throwing this out as purely something different to try as you practice: When you get to the G, say "G" out loud; when you get to the A and B, say "nat A, nat B". Perhaps this will get you to think explicitly about these notes as you are about to play them.

twocats

Has anyone suggested writing the letter name next to the notes? Sometimes I get "stuck" and that helps!

I realized I kept playing the wrong notes for B-sharp and D-double sharp so I just wrote C and E next to them. Haven't hit it wrong since!

pseudonym58

Here's one more suggestion:
Start at random places before the error-prone spot. Really random; the more awkward the better. That way you approach the difficulty from all different angles, so to speak. Make sure you always use a consistent fingering, even if it doesn't really make sense from the point at which you start.

ShiroKuro

pseudonym58 Start at random places before the error-prone spot. Really random; the more awkward the better.

This is a good idea, thanks! I generally always start at a logical (musical) point, like the start of a phrase or theme. So for example, I could try starting on the second note of a random measure....

ShiroKuro

In other news, yesterday I incorporated a lot of the suggestions in this thread. It's too soon to say whether (or how much) it's helping.

And I also decided that I'll practice for 10 minutes every morning until the recital. What I'm doing is zeroing in on the sloppy spots for a few reps and then zooming out and playing the whole piece once through. (This is in addition to my regular evening practice session). And then I am running out the door to go to work.

I did that yesterday and today. We'll see how it goes, whether it helps.

Oh, and I have my first lesson with my new teacher today.

I have to say, I'm kinda cranky about being made to change teachers literally one lesson before the recital. -_-

I like my previous teacher a lot but I can't help but wonder whether this was a problem with him or a problem with the school... Because quitting in the middle of the month is kinda odd... Anyway, I didn't ask about it at our last lesson, so I'll never know why. But from the standpoint of the student, well, let's just say it's not great...

Player1

Many times "stupid mistakes" are the result of not knowing the piece well enough. Because the one piece is so "easy" you're not concentrating on it enough to focus where you need to be concentrating.

You can do 2 things in this case. You can practice like a crazy man for the time you have left and hope it's enough to force you to remember the correct notes; or, you can embrace the mistakes when they happen.

ShiroKuro

Player1 You can practice like a crazy man for the time you have left and hope it's enough to force you to remember the correct notes; or, you can embrace the mistakes when they happen.

I think my goal right now is both of these. 😃

Actually, one of my goals when performing is always to embrace the mistakes, play through them, play with them (when I can), and prevent them from becoming a derailment.

But back to this specific piece: I have four practice days left, so I definitely want to use that time to sort of "drill" the right notes into my brain and into my fingers.

And then enjoy the performance, regardless of the presence or absence of wrong notes.

twocats

thepianoplayer416 Before I can point out your problems and make suggestions on how to fix them

Hey, um, SK has been playing piano for like, 25 years, and is a far more advanced pianist than you. Repeatedly giving advice to people who have a lot more experience than you and talking to them as if they were beginners is... odd... to say the least.

keystring

thepianoplayer416 The first spot you with the red "G": after repeating the line many times, didn't land on F once. Part of the reason is because I have small hands.

To help someone with a problem, it's good to first find the nature of the problem (and then whether you can, in fact help). The reason for the F instead of the G is because there is another passage previously which is extremely similar but has an F. So the problem is not one of large and small hands, or how many times to repeat it. The problem is related to passages that are similar, creating a kind of automatism. SK explained that somewhere in this thread.

ShiroKuro

I think I have mostly now ironed out the stupid mistakes.

Now I have to go back to New Day (piece number two) and make sure it's ready to go. Only two more prep days!

thepianoplayer416

Good luck, hope for the best… 😀

ShiroKuro

thepianoplayer416 thank you!

Seeker

If I haven't already done so, may I suggest that calling your mistakes "stupid" is not serving you well. You are certainly not "stupid". Being judgmental of yourself in that way is self-defeating. AMHIK😄

Regarding things you can do to master measures 21-32, I have found, in my own learning of difficult passages as well as with my students, that a thorough understanding of the harmonic structure is helpful. I'm not a theorist, rather, a pragmatist, so I'm not fussy about names. With that as preface some remarks on recognition of things and how I might practice them while learning.

***Measure 21 should read "Tricky Measure", not "Trick Measure".

Measures 21-22: the Fm7 is on the way to becoming a B♭7, the dominant of E♭. So I would first just play those measures as the aforementioned chords.
Measure 23: E♭, play as E♭ chord as written
Measure 24-25: RH is E♭ major scale; LH is E♭ major scale going to A♭ (IV in E♭) in the LH; play RH as written, 24-26, LH as triad A♭ major.
.... and I leave the rest of the exercise to you

Concluding - I think the mistakes in such passages stem from too much reading of every note without enough conscious recognition of the underlying harmonic structure. Having a clear(er) understanding helps not only learn them; it will lead to a more informed and musically cohesive performance.

ShiroKuro

Seeker If I haven't already done so, may I suggest that calling your mistakes "stupid" is not serving you well. You are certainly not "stupid". Being judgmental of yourself in that way is self-defeating.

Thank you for saying this! <3

AMHIK😄
😆 😆 😆

ShiroKuro

Seeker Concluding - I think the mistakes in such passages stem from too much reading of every note without enough conscious recognition of the underlying harmonic structure.

I love this comment! I won't be able to implement it before the recital (which is tomorrow, eek!) but I am enrolled in a university music theory course this summer (starts in about 3 weeks!) so I'm looking forward to being able to work on this aspect of my approach!

ShiroKuro

Oops, sorry for spamming the site this morning, but I uploaded my latest recording of Wishing to my member recording thread, but I didn't put it. So here it is just in case anyone wants to see how I did with this week's practice approach (primarily what we discussed in this thread).

it's definitely improved in terms of accuracy. Now there aren't any "stupid mistakes" (although I have some dropped notes)... It might be better if I played it a tad more slowly, but that's not going to happen before tomorrow's recital! 😛

P.S. just fyi, I had to repeat the video inside this video in order to get YT to let me upload it as a regular video, the actual piece is only about 2 minutes long. 😃

L-M

ShiroKuro Just listened — you did a really great job! Amazing！

Seeker

ShiroKuro Great! Looks and sounds better to me. I'm not hearing any of that hesitancy when the harmony changes that was there previously; you look and sound more relaxed. How does it feel?

ShiroKuro

L-M thank you so much! 😊