Ok, im a student, but i think teachers would be better to ask this to - I alsways seem to mess up scales / difficult things when i concentrate on them. On a few occaisons, my teach explained something to me, and then i did it, messed it up. Then did it again not even thinking about it atall, and i did it perfectly! is this normal for this happen atall?

Thanks,
Hello_cello

I found that scales worked much better if I didn't think about them too much but just played.

I think (on piano anyway), that when a scale is in your muscle memory that it will run more or less on automatic so doesn't need much conscience thought to play it. Just make sure (again for piano), that everytime you play a particular scale you use the same finger pattern - if you mess up, then revise that bit again with the correct fingers, don't fluff it through with different fingers as it will break the habit forming, unless in an exam when my advice is to play it whatever happens!!!

If it's any consellation, I've been playing for dancing classes for about 8 years now, and many of the pieces I've been playing for those 8 years. If I think about these pieces at all while in the middle of playing them I completely lose the plot and sometimes even grind to a halt. Likewise, if someone takes the music away I can't even remember which note to start on! (I've always wanted to be the kind of pianist who sits down at the piano and can rattle off several pieces from memory, but alas, it was never to be!)

Yes, I find that on piano too.

I can play many scales in octaves slowly without thinking too hard. 3rds, 6ths, and melodic minors require concentration. So does any kind of reasonable speed. So do arpeggios. Having said which, there must be some element of muscle memory because when I do concentrate I can play these things at a speed which is far faster than I could play if I was working it out as I went along. Give me another six months (until my grade 8 exam!) . . .