The reason so many of us lose our bearings about practising early in life is that we practice in living rooms with other family members in earshot - and healthy practice would simply sound too obnoxious, intrusive, repetitious and unmusical for others to hear without annoyance.

The reason so many of us lose our bearings about practising early in life is that we practice in living rooms with other family members in earshot - and healthy practice would simply sound too obnoxious, intrusive, repetitious and unmusical for others to hear without annoyance.

Robotic correctness is the last thing judges want to see or hear

Don't attribute mishaps to a lapse in concentration - if you missed the note you don't know it.

If you have played "six times wrong, one time right" the problem is not quite corrected.

[perfectionism leads to] a tendency to apologize preemptively for one's efforts, knowing from experience that there's sure to be something wrong with them.

If we're not actively making things better, chances are we're making them worse.