Stop “Playing Through” Mistakes: The 3-Step Fix Loop
Quick Diagnosis Cheat Codes (When You’re Stuck):
If you keep playing the same mistake “until it goes away,” you’re really teaching it to stay with you. Repetition is a like loyal employee. It learns whatever you pay it to learn… including the wrong note.
Here’s the condensed cure: the 3-Step Fix Loop.
Fast, simple, and brutally effective.
Why “Playing Through” Fails
When you push past an error at full speed, your brain records the whole pattern, mistake included, as the default route. So, the next time you play it, your fingers return to the same wrong keys. You need a better method.
The 3-Step Fix Loop:
1) ISOLATE (Find the exact splinter)
Don’t re-play the whole section. Trap the mistake.
● Zoom in to 1–2 beats or one chord change
● Identify what’s actually wrong:
pitch? rhythm? fingering? coordination?
2) SLOW + SHAPE (Rebuild correctly)
Slow down until success is guaranteed, then shape it.
● Use a metronome or count out loud
● Play it correctly 3 times (not once, once is luck)
● Add a “control layer”:
● Rhythm: clap it, count it, then play it
● Pitch: sing the note names / target note first
● Fingering: freeze-frame the hand position before the shift
● Coordination: hands separately, then together.
3) REINSERT (Prove it in context)
Most people fix the mistake then immediately lose it when the song continues. That’s because transitions are where mistakes breed.
So you reinsert it like this:
● Play one bar before the trouble spot
● Play the trouble spot
● Play one bar after
Do that 2 times clean (as discussed in the previous blog article).
Now it’s not “a fixed moment.” It’s a fixed path.
If you keep playing the same mistake “until it goes away,” you’re really teaching it to stay with you...
● If it’s always late: you’re rushing the transition, slow the move, not the notes.
● If it’s random: you don’t know the fingering/shape, write it, lock it.
● If it falls apart only at speed: you skipped the “two clean in a row” rule.
● If it breaks under pressure: practice the entry and exit (reinsert, always).
The Non-Negotiable Rule
Never repeat a mistake at full speed.
If it happens twice, you stop and "Fix Loop" it immediately.
Your future self will thank you, and your mistake will be corrected!
The 3-Step Fix Loop
