Mountains into Molehills
By Philip Johnston
Page 1 of 2
 Some hard bits are hard because they actually difficult. If someone
tells you to play the left hand of Chopin's "Revolutionary"
etude in double octaves, you are entitled to think of that as tough.
But some hard bits are hard simply because you have talked yourself
into thinking of them as tricky.
It can all start so easily. You might be looking at a section for the
very first time, and somehow manage to mess it up on your first few
attempts. Somewhere in the back of your mind, you file this section away
under "Tricky Bit".
The problem is that as soon as you label a bit like that, it will always
feel tricky - even if it is not actually that hard. You will find it
hard to relax when you try the section, and will sometimes get it wrong
just because you were worried about it.
Sometimes the best thing you can do with a section you are worried
about is to try not to worry about it so much! Don't let it dominate
your practice - in fact treat it just like it is any other ordinary
section.
That's the first step. But it's the second step that is really
powerful.
Not another cliffhanger! Tell me already!
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