Perfection within the field of human performance is a myth. Yet it persists.
In a recent interview with host Terry Gross on Fresh Air, a renowned cellist said, “What allows me to not be paralyzed is to just say, I’m doing my best. And if it doesn’t work, you know my intention is to do the best.”
Ma added that he kept himself alive and working, avoiding burnout by saying, “How do you rejuvenate, regenerate, and constantly be curious and active and do your best? I try and forgive myself because I don’t want to be neurotic.”
Limits to perfection
Understanding one’s limitations is often difficult for high achievers. Musicians says Ma may push themselves into the trap of the “industrial aesthetic”—error-free performance, as can be done in manufacturing.
Seeking further insights, I asked Tiffany Chang, an orchestra conductor, “I tell musicians that each performance doesn’t need to be exactly the same. It’s easy for a musician to have an ideal product in mind, and we spend all our efforts to recreate that ideal in practice. That is not always practical! The phrasing, tempo changes, and the tough corners don’t need to be executed in the exact same way. It is more important to be aware of each other at the moment and to navigate these passages together.”
“I remind them that perfection is not the destination,” says Chang. “Taking a step toward better is the goal. There is no one perfect interpretation. There is only our interpretation that is right for us today because of all the factors, human and otherwise, we are faced with today. It’s helpful to focus on being better rather than being perfect.”
“I help my musicians by providing them with an interpretation, while giving them artistic licenses and space to find a way to realize that musical image on their own, rather than giving them step by step instructions or micromanaging,” says Change. “I give them the basis for a story, and ask them to find and perform the evidence in the music that supports and paints that particular story.”
“Tactile Thinking”
One way YoYo Ma keeps himself fresh is by employing different modes of thinking. Analytical thinking focuses on facts. Empathetic thinking focuses on feeling, but there is another thing – “tactile thinking.” His wife knows what he is doing because she can picture him working through “fingering and bowing” on the cello without playing. Ma says many others do the same, whether golf or tennis, thinking about how you will play a shot or react to a ball hitting you.
Chang says, “It’s easy to simply think ‘I just want it to be better’ which is quite vague and can lead to more of a reactive and passive rather than proactive approach.” By contrast, Chang works as their coach. “I ask musicians to think about one, two or three specific goals they want to tackle each rehearsal and each performance.”
A good way – perhaps the best way – to keep in sync with self and others is via listening. Chang says, “Listening is crucial to achieve this connection and synergy.” How a piece is performed a given way one time does not dictate how it must be played the next time. “It’s more important that we are in sync with each other right now and supporting each other in today’s performance, rather than going rogue or being stubborn to do it ‘more right’ against a theoretical ideal.”
And that’s not bad advice for the rest of us. Listen and collaborate, and see what good things can happen.