No, normally I don't record myself whilst learning a piece... we are trained to do that in real time... although there are many musicians that don't bother with that. We can be quite analytic and self critical like that...

However, what one experiences of your own playing isn't necessarily what others hear from the outside (think about when you hear your own voice on a recording.... it's always really different!). Things that you thought were good musical ideas seem indulgent... or just don't come through.... things that you thought were terrible weren't as bad as you thought (and vice versa!).

So, it is good idea to do a reality check every now and then... after all, we are all quite good at deluding ourselves!

However, I thought it would be a nice format for a post... I see the visual artists posting their step by steps... and I was trying to think of a musical equivalent!