About consistency and playing without mistakes

[IamGroot]

I learned the answer to this in physics class in HS. Teacher said that an instrument of measurement is only accurate to 1/2 of the smallest unit it describes. So... what that means is that once you think you have something accurate, you can move to a finer set of measurements and find inaccuracies there. And the same applies with music performance. No matter how close you get, there is always a way to see that you should have been closer. Are you in tune, sure, I'm only 2 cents sharp (oh, well then, get a better tuner and practice). Do I swing enough? Yea, probably, but you don't swing as much as the drummer, or 1st trumpet, or guitar etc. How about my tone? Volume? Crescendos? Balance? Tempo? Did I put the note the right amount ahead of the beat... or was I supposed to be behind the beat? How about the style? Did I get it right?
The bottom line is that there always be someone ready to tell you how you messed up. And it's a good thing that asshat is there. That way you can quit beating up on yourself and play some music.

Nyquist rate - Wikipedia

 

[IamGroot]

Stay sober.

Played in restautant with free food and liquor for years. Moderate booze is not an issue. On the other hand, Pot kills my musical ability, unlike my colleagues. I stay at the bar, they go to the car.

 

[Engineer_Josh]

Recovering from a flub is probably the more important skill.

edot nails it…..selling your mistakes is what differentiates a genuine tight working band from a collection of players, with a collection of players one hiccup rattled the whole train apart to a screeching halt, with a band “the train kept a rollin’” and the crowd kept dancing and drinking……it comes from a level of collective confidence in the band that when one player slips the others are without question going to keep going while the slipped player recovers

 

[IamGroot]

edot nails it…..selling your mistakes is what differentiates a genuine tight working band from a collection of players, with a collection of players one hiccup rattled the whole train apart to a screeching halt, with a band “the train kept a rollin’” and the crowd kept dancing and drinking……it comes from a level of collective confidence in the band that when one player slips the others are without question going to keep going while the slipped player recovers

Forget about that bad note and concentrate on playing whats ahead.
Once that bad note is in the air, you cant make it it disappear but it fades way faster than a fart.