Music Notes
The pursuit of perfection is never far from a musician’s mind. As performers, we spend countless hours practising, refining, and polishing the smallest details of our music. We repeat passages again and again, adjusting articulation, intonation, phrasing, and timing. Often, these are details that many listeners may never consciously notice, but to us they feel incredibly important.
Along the way, it is easy to become our own harshest critics. We compare our performances to professional recordings or videos online, and we can find ourselves dwelling on the smallest imperfections. A missed note, a shaky entrance, or a moment that didn’t go quite as planned can feel much larger to us than it does to anyone listening.
However, there is an interesting perspective we can take from outside the world of music.
For those who remember the Swiss tennis champion Roger Federer, you might be surprised to learn that across his entire professional career, he only won about 54% of the total points he played. That means that nearly half the time, he lost the point.
If we were to translate that statistic directly into music, it would seem almost unimaginable. If a performance contained only 54% correct notes, it would probably be very difficult to even recognise the piece! Yet Federer is widely considered one of the greatest tennis players of all time.
What can we learn from this? In Federer’s own words:
When you lose every second point on average, you learn not to dwell on every shot. You teach yourself to think, ‘Okay, I double-faulted… it’s only a point.’ ‘Okay, I came to the net and got passed again… it’s only a point.’ And it is. But when it’s behind you, it’s behind you.
For musicians, this is an important reminder. While we strive for excellence and continually work toward improvement, mistakes are an inevitable part of performing. A missed note or small slip does not define the performance, and it certainly does not define us as musicians. What truly matters is our ability to move forward, stay focused on the music, and continue sharing it with confidence and joy.
As we continue to pursue perfection in our practice and performance, it is equally important to remember that perfection itself is not the goal. Growth, expression, and resilience are what truly shape us as performers.
Concerto Concert
Concerto Concert is coming up on Monday 30 March at 6.30pm at Toorak Uniting Church. The performers have been working tirelessly on their performances, alongside the Jorgenson Orchestra. This is a concert not to miss!
Recital
I would like to congratulate all of the performers from our first Recital for the year, held on Thursday 26 February. It was a lovely afternoon of music and a real joy seeing our students performing the pieces they have been working on this term.
SCOGA Reunion events
On the last weekend in February, a number of students were involved in providing musical support at the SCOGA Reunion.
It was fantastic to see our students interacting with Old Girls, especially during the singing of the original St Catherine's School song that has not been sung for many years. Thank you to our 2026 Choral Captain, Kathrina Ang, for leading the singing of this.
Mr Frank Blakiston
Head of Music
