Good Enough

So our orchestra had a concert this last weekend. It was the last concert of the season, and was packed with major literature. Every piece had something in it that would be found on bassoon audition lists. The most vexing of these was the Ravel Piano Concerto. This excerpt is wicked. Wicked. Luckily our conductor had a modicum of self preservation and let us know he'd scheduled it at the end of LAST season.

So.

I've been practicing this excerpt for a year. Which is a long time for me. And I STILL screwed it up in the concert. Luckily I didn't completely fall apart, nor did I take down the entire section. THANK you BETH, you were a rock. But it brought home a problem with my preparation technique that my teachers have been trying to tell me for years. I only practice to sufficiency. In other words, I only practice until its "good enough". And for the Ravel, good enough is NOT good enough. A minor twitch in tempo was enough to throw me off. And it shouldn't have been. In fact, for any audition excerpt, good enough is not good enough. Nerves get in the way. Reeds get temperamental. Tempos fluctuate. And good enough in the practice room is not the same as good enough on stage.

This also makes me wonder about other areas of my life that I prepare to "good enough". Is "good enough" parenting ok? What about being a "good enough" wife? Friend? Relative? Christian? When is "good enough" NOT good enough? Tell me about a time in your life when good enough wasn't. Or when you think good enough is ok. Either way.