The three main reasons for a sticky mistake are:
- The student stops imagining the corrected sound or feel once they start playing, and just reverts back to the mistake
- The student does not have the precise imagination of sound or physical feeling in their mind that will make it possible to correct the mistake while they are playing
- The student has not found the proper thing to imagine (the sound of a steady beat, a different feeling in the rhythm of their hands, etc.) that will correct the mistake
Most students can get back on track with a reminder to do #1. Sometimes #2 is simply a matter of the student paying more attention to the correction task. And #3 is most typical if the student is trying something new and/or has not thought through exactly what it is about the music they are trying correct. Once a student becomes more aware of how their mind is working while fixing a mistake, they can start using these solutions in their practice time.