I found today’s blog by Of Music and Men a bit of an interesting read.

I’ve never made excuses that weren’t true. But I’ve certainly made “excuses”! Certainly my cut half-hole finger was my excuse for a few nights. (Although i didn’t play poorly aside from one time when my finger slipped). Earlier this year I had some sort of stomach pain that had me doubled over in between Mozart arias. I remember playing a rehearsal where, during measures of rest, I’d leave the room to go throw up. (I was told I sounded fine when I played.) I played the Poulenc Sextet when I had a fever and couldn’t hear well. (I was told I played fine then too, but I’d sure love to hear the recording because I can’t imagine it was all that good. The only thing the reviewer commented on, though, was that we were too loud.)

So yeah, guilty as charged when it comes to making “excuses”. But not lies. I don’t lie.

We all have our off days. We have our bad days. We make mistakes. Lying doesn’t help. Sometimes the only excuse is “Oops. Definitely not my day.” Good preparation helps avoid these problems, but I do believe most all of us have these bad days.

The first story that the blogger tells is a flat out lie*. That’s not an excuse. That’s a lie. And inexcusable.

*Update: I realized this sounds as if the blogger lied. Didn’t mean to write it quite that way. It’s that the performer flat out lied. (And this really was a doozy too.)
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