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But this is a quote from Paco:"The truth is that I am very self critical, and once I record an album I rarely listen to it again. If I do, I start to see mistakes everywhere and I want to change it completely."
of course paco hears flaws in his playing...even technical. like any musician im sure he has a picture (sound) in his head how he would like it to be, and im sure he feels he could have done things diffrent. things can always improve. even for paco.
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This is hard stuff! Don't give up... And don't make it a race. Enjoy the ray of sunshine that comes with every new step in knowledge.
I find I play best when I have a really strong idea of what I am tryng to achieve musically. If I feel that I understand the piece well enough that the listener can hear these intentions then I allow myself not to care too much about the odd missed note or fumble.
Since I started to try and play all of my excercises in compass and with a strong musical intent (no matter how unmusical the actual notes might be ) then I have noticed a tremendous change in my accuracy because the excercises then build a technique which is fit for purpose.
I try and get a balance between technical work and working on a piece since if you try and work a whole piece as a performance form say 100 to 240 for buleria you are really going to start to see it as a chore and the piece will go a little stale and you will start to listen for mistakes as you play ( looking back ) instead of trying to shape a phrase ( in the moment or slightly ahead ).
Still maybe you play a lot better than me but you asked for my two cents and I have a pocketful.
There are big and little mistakes. Mistakes everyone hears and mistakes only the artist hears. I've seen Paco buzz a string and miss notes in a run live.
I of course strive for perfection but for most people that just isn't gonna happen. For me if I miss a note or play a wrong one and still go over it without losing my cool and most of the audience doesn't notice, it's not really a mistake. A mistake would be when the audience isn't able to enjoy my performance because it sounds like crap with too many mistakes or my fear of making a mistake makes them nervous.
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Don't sweat the petty things and don't pet the sweaty things
I agree John. Another thing in the mix for live performance is forgiveness. I once saw a really great and deeply musical brazilian guitarist play at a classical competition which I was at. He played with really very few mistakes and his musical integrity was everything that I had been striving for in my paying. But when he made a mistake (no matter how slight) his dissapointment in himself blew them out of proportion for us too and they were more memorable and more distressing than they need have been. I do not how this happened but he communicated so well that he communicated his anxiety as well.
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