Piano Playing And Excuses A Sour Mix
Below is a MRR and PLR article in category Reference Education -> subcategory Weather.
Piano Playing and Excuses: A Sour Mix
Summary
After performing the piano for family or friends, it's tempting to offer excuses if it didn’t go well, such as:
- "Who can play at this time of day?"
- "It’s hard to focus with a whistling nose in the audience."
- "I just started this piece last week. What do you expect, Liberace?"
- "You try playing it. It’s difficult!"
While there might be some truth in these excuses, making a habit of them is unprofessional. Even beginners should aim for professional behavior to ease their path in the future.
Handling Compliments and Criticism
Worse than making excuses for poor performance is dismissing compliments when things go well. Being unable to accept praise is a bad habit. Here’s why:
When someone compliments you, they might genuinely mean it. If you deny their opinion, you undermine both yourself and them. Consider this example:
Audience member: "That was fantastic. I loved your playing."
Three inappropriate responses:
1. "Oh, come on. I was terrible! I can’t believe anyone liked that."
2. "Yeah, but did you hear all those mistakes? I'm so embarrassed."
3. "You’re just being nice. You don’t have to pretend. My playing was awful."
In the first response, you discredit your audience’s opinion, suggesting it's uninformed. In the second, you highlight mistakes they might not have noticed, and in the third, you’re downright dismissive.
Improving Your Reactions
To move away from excuses and ineffective responses, practice positive reactions. If someone asks you to play and it doesn’t go perfectly:
1. Smile at the end of the performance.
2. Take a bow, even if you don’t feel like it.
3. Say, "There you go" or "Thanks for letting me play for you."
If you truly struggle through a piece, maintain a sense of humor without being overly self-critical. Responses like "Oops" or "Looks like I need a bit more practice" are fine. However, the best approach is to play only when you are well-prepared emotionally and physically.
This way, you can accept compliments with grace and embrace feedback constructively.
You can find the original non-AI version of this article here: Piano Playing And Excuses A Sour Mix.
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