I don’t know why it is, but it seems that periodically and definitely randomly, your piano practice will be just a disaster. The same is true for piano lessons – that every once in a while they just happen out of the blue.
These occurences that I am refering to , are not when you don’t practice and nothing works. If you don’t practice, of course your piece of music is not going to work. The circumstances that I am refering to is when you are practicing regularly and you are putting in a genuine effort, and everything still ends up being a disaster.
If you have been playing the piano for a little while, I am sure that you know what I mean. I have seen it happen to all of my students at some point and I certainly remember it happening to me. I was one of these piano students that always practiced (unless I was unwell or injured) and periodically I would have a piano practice, or a piano lesson that was terrible. I have very clear memories of walking along my piano teacher’s driveway after a piano lesson that was not good, thinking to myself, that I had just wasted a piano lesson because nothing worked. I also remember feeling frustrated because my teacher would correct my mistakes, without realizing I knew exactly what I was doing wrong because I had actually practiced until it was correct that week.
The point of me sharing this with you is that I believe that this happens to everyone at some point along the way. Maybe it is the self placed pressure to prove that you can play the piece of music correctly, either to yourself or a piano teacher that causes things to go haywire. Whatever the reason is, it is annoying and frustrating and it happens to everyone – not just you.
So when a practice or a piano lesson just doesn’t work the way you had prepared for, please remember that dispite how annoying it is, it is not permanent. You will play the piece or pieces of music, the way you have practiced them and be able to demonstrate (even to yourself) that you can still play it well. It is a nuisance and an annoyence and it doesn’t mean you should question yourself or your abilities. The best thing you can do is not make a big deal out of it and remind yourself that this will pass. Most definitely.