Why do you play the piano like a virtuoso one day and then suck the next?

Question:This happens to me occasionally. I'm not sure if the famous musicians ever had their off-days, but I certainly do. And it gets annoying when you play that piece you've learnt for a year, only to hear it riddled with errors!

What do you think is wrong with me? (FYI, I am a piano virtuoso, so this is a serious problem) How should I fix it?

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: This happens to me occasionally. I'm not sure if the famous musicians ever had their off-days, but I certainly do. And it gets annoying when you play that piece you've learnt for a year, only to hear it riddled with errors!

What do you think is wrong with me? (FYI, I am a piano virtuoso, so this is a serious problem) How should I fix it?

All musicians have bad days but professionals have fewer than amateurs.

The reason why you may experience bad days is based on the way you prepare. The majority of non professional musicians lack proper practicing techniques. And it also comes down to concentration.

There are pieces I learned 10 years ago that I can pick up in 3 or 4 days because I was very detailed when I learned it. I memorized everything hands seperate, sang all the lines, analyzed the score, understood the harmonic movement etc. etc. Everything is done at a conscious level. If you are not fully focused and concentrated on the details of the piece then what you experience is often the case.

Tips to help secure a piece:
You should always know what key you are in.
Practice all passage work slowly, memorizing the fingering.
Memorize in large sections - no patterns, sequences, look out for repeated sections and understand the form of the piece.
Practice without pedal so you clearly hear every note
Be able to sing all parts of the piece by memory out loud
Be able to start any where in the piece.

The mistakes you make when you play, again are because of detail and are usually a mental thing. When you make a mistake you must over come it consciously, not physically. Playing it over and over won't help. You need to tell yourself what the mistake was, why it happened and how to fix it. Mistakes are preventable, they are not accidents. Mistakes are caused by errors in practicing and preparation. Do not be fooled that mistakes are accidents. In music there are never accidents. Mistakes are also the result of a lack of focus and concentration.

Everything leads back to how you prepare for a piece. The first thing is to practice with detail - always do slow practice, practice more hands separate than hands together. Be humble, understand that even when you are done practicing, there is more to do. You never know a piece well enough until you can write it out on staff paper with every single marking and notation on the page. Horowitz would tell students in master class that knowing a score means you can notate the entire score out with every marking and that memory represents complete understanding of the piece.

Often students and teachers think memory is memorizing the notes and being able to play it back. This is wrong. Memory is the complete knowledge of a piece - notes are only 10%. You must know all the articulation marks, all the rests, every phrase marking, every dynamic, every fingering, note values, pedal marks... etc. Everything on the page, including the page numbers should be known.

This type of detail separates those who are great artists and professionals from those who are amateurs. Musicians with concerts, faculty positions, touring dates are those who respect the music and give it every ounce of focus and detail it requires. I suggest you look into the way you prepare. I often get this question when I do guest lectures from students and teachers and the root always comes down to how someone practices.