Ever worry that excellent performance might not be “good enough?” And maybe you've assumed that aiming for perfection is a safer bet? You’re not alone, for what it's worth! 

But it's always interesting to get some actual data on this sort of thing, so a team of researchers conducted a series of studies to see if striving for perfection had benefits beyond aiming for excellence. The results might surprise you.

Get all the nerdy details:

Does Aiming for Perfection Actually Hurt Performance?

Additional resources

• Robert Duke: On the Value of Errors and How Learning Really Works
• How to Use Positive “Trigger Words” for More Expressive Performances
• Is There a “Best” Way to Teach Students to Play Expressively?

References

Gaudreau, P., Schellenberg, B. J. I., Gareau, A., Kljajic, K., & Manoni-Millar, S. (2022). Because excellencism is more than good enough: On the need to distinguish the pursuit of excellence from the pursuit of perfection. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 122(6), 1117–1145. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspp0000411

Gaudreau, P. (2019). On the distinction between personal standards perfec- tionism and excellencism: A theory elaboration and research agenda. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 14(2), 197–215. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691618797940

More from The Bulletproof Musician

• Get the free weekly newsletter, for more nerdy details and bonus subscriber-only content.
• Pressure Proof: A free 7-day performance practice crash course that will help you shrink the gap between the practice room and the stage.
• Learning Lab: A continuing education community where musicians and learners are putting research into practice.
• Live and self-paced courses