I was talking to a student yesterday about knowing something so well that, should nerves kick in, my fingers just take over and play the notes. Sometimes it catches me by surprise, to be honest. It seems almost as if they magically do the job.
It’s not really magic. It’s practice. Careful, lengthy practice.
It’s work.
Students frequently accept mistakes. They make the same ones over and over. I hear the “I always do that!”, as if that makes it okay. Or at least accepted. Or expected.
Don’t accept. Don’t expect. It’s not okay.
FIX.
Slow, methodical, careful practice is a good thing. Get passages in your fingers. Nerves kick in and you just don’t want to fall apart. Like dominoes. One goes down, they frequently ALL go down. If you get something in your fingers incredibly well they carry through. It might surprise you, but it’s true!
