Celebrating Missed Notes

Benjamin Zander is a world-renowned conductor and the current music director of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra. In working with superbly talented musicians, he has developed a curious technique for improving their abilities and triggering their growth as a musicians: he celebrates mistakes. For example, when a musician in his orchestra misses a note, they are to raise their hands in triumph and with pride while the rest of the orchestra pauses to join them in their moment of “celebration.”

At first glance this may seem silly or corny at best, but I think there is some real genius behind this policy. Ben realizes that in order for his already accomplished musicians to continue to grow and improve, they need to play at the edge of their current capabilities. In stretching them beyond their comfort zones, he accepts and even expects that errors will indeed be made as the musicians push themselves into new territory. This technique is not meant to tolerate errors made because of complacency or lack of attention, but to give the artists freedom to fail as they seek to work beyond their limitations and then rewarding them for taking that leap of faith.

In our own lives, it’s important for us to recognize the difference between mistakes being made because of lack of effort and those made in the pursuit of expanding the boundaries of our current abilities. And when they are of the latter variety, we must learn to give ourselves the freedom to celebrate the accomplishment of “missing the note” we may not previously have even dared to attempt.

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