Dr. B: How did your gig go last night?
Parent: People seemed to like it.
Dr. B: And you? How’d you feel about it?
Parent: All I can remember are the spots where I screwed up.
Dr. B: Are you being a little too hard on yourself? You said folks enjoyed it.
Parent: I practiced a lot for that gig. I shouldn’t have made any of those mistakes.
Dr. B: Really?
Parent: And they were the same mistakes I kept making when I practiced.
Dr. B: That’s interesting.
Parent: My suffering is always interesting to you.
Dr. B: That’s not … always true.
Parent: It’s like I’ve permanently learned these pieces with the mistakes built in.
Dr. B: That’s not good.
Parent: I know you aren’t a musician, but I’m desperate.
Dr. B: Coming to me for music advice is kind of …
Parent: What do you suggest?
Dr. B: There’s this book I read called ‘The Talent Code’.
Parent: Ok?
Dr. B: And it talked about good practice and less good practice.
Parent: My practicing sucks?
Dr. B: Well, there was an example of a kid learning a musical piece. She practiced the piece she was learning, but stopped immediately at the point of a mistake.
Parent: I’d never finish a piece if I did that.
Dr. B: Let ME finish.
Parent: Go on, master.
Dr. B: That’s more like it. She stopped at the point of making a mistake, listened to the piece correctly in her head, and then practiced that particular little section until she had mastered it.
Parent: So, she didn’t go on until that part of the piece was learned the right way?
Dr. B: Exactly.
Parent: That really works?
Dr. B: The author said, “you get three times the value out of that kind of practice”.
Parent: Guess it makes sense. Kind of like stopping to fix the flat before continuing to drive.
Dr. B: A flat?
Parent: Sharp example don’t you think?
Dr. B: Ugh!