The Bulletproof Musician

A pianist once told me the last thing their teacher said at their final lesson after years of study: “Now forget everything I ever told you.”

Not exactly the parting wisdom you’d expect, right?

But hidden in that odd-sounding advice is an important mental shift that could help you play with more freedom and confidence under pressure.

Get all the nerdy details in today's episode. Or, get the text version with references, links, an...

One of the questions that I'm often asked, is the question of whether performance psychology can be helpful to those whose performance anxiety is a little more severe than most.

Well, a 2023 study looked at that exact question actually. And it even gives us some insight into which specific mental skills or strategies might be most helpful to work on in cases like this.

Get all the nerdy details in today's episode....

Staying in a good mental and emotional state before performances is critical to playing up to our abilities when it counts. And we're probably going to be less likely to shy away from performance opportunities too, if we have more control over how we feel in the leadup to auditions and concerts.

But how does one do this? What can we do in the hours and minutes before a performance to get into a good headspace?

Get all the nerdy ...

When you think of practicing your instrument, what are some of the first words that come to mind? Are the words “fun” or “playful” anywhere on your list? 🤣

For most of my life, practicing felt an awful lot like memorizing my multiplication tables. A lot of mind-numbing repetition, and not much fun.

We know that mindless drudgery doesn’t make for very effective learning, of course - but what is the alternative? What might more playfu...

Ever worry that excellent performance might not be “good enough?” And maybe you've assumed that aiming for perfection is a safer bet? You’re not alone, for what it's worth! 

But it's always interesting to get some actual data on this sort of thing, so a team of researchers conducted a series of studies to see if striving for perfection had benefits beyond aiming for excellence. The results might surprise you.

Get all t...

There are a lot of reasons why someone might decide to quit music at some point along the way. But could performance anxiety be one of them?

Indeed, performance anxiety can feel pretty uncomfortable! And it’s one thing if we still sound pretty good on stage regardless, and have a positive experience of performing overall. But when we get nervous and sound like just a shell of ourselves in performance, it could make us wonder why we ...

Worrying is never much fun, but it’s especially not fun in the leadup to a performance or audition. And even more so when we get stuck in a “worry loop” and can’t seem to get ourselves out of it.

It’s a little like the time my family visited Paris when I was a kid, and my dad got stuck in the roundabout around the Arc de Triomphe. I don’t know how long we drove around and around, but I do know that I fell asleep at some point, and w...

Are you a regular napper? Or maybe not such a fan?

Either way, given that today is National Lazy Day, I thought it would be the perfect time to look at a couple studies which suggest that naps could play a significant role in accelerating the learning of physical skills.

Check out the episode for all the nerdy details about how long of a nap might be best and who perhaps should not try this.

References

Milner, C. E., Fogel, S. M., &...

I never got all that serious about playing the piano, but I did take lessons for a number of years and remember the many challenges I ran into as the number and density of black dots on the page increased.

Mostly I remember how dependent I was on my vision. On the violin, I didn’t look at my fingers or music much at all. But on the piano, I was constantly looking at either the music or my hands (I know, I know, I probably shouldn’t ...

Whether learning a new sport or playing an instrument, traditionally, we're often taught to start by building up some fundamental skills first, before we start adding in expression.

But there are others who argue that we should start with expression from the very beginning, rather than waiting.

Who's right? Which ultimately leads to better performances?

Get all the nerdy details, including the instructional videos used in th...

It can be pretty uncomfortable to play for others and ask for feedback. I mean, putting ourselves out there to be judged and evaluated is never much fun, right?

But what if there's a different way to approach this? A way where you come out of the experience feeling less judged, and more supported instead? With concrete and useful advice that you can act on to get better, rather than a list of things that sound good or bad to st...

Ineffective practice can be discouraging on so many levels. For one, practicing for time or repetitions is not much fun. And negative practice experiences can make students want to avoid practicing, or assume that they aren't very talented when improvement is slow or inconsistent.

But what if your students were already more savvy and capable practicers than they realize? What if we just need to create the conditions for these a...

“If I didn’t have the harp, I wouldn’t be me.”

Internationally renowned harpist Judy Loman remains an active practicer, performer, and teacher at 89 years of age - and still clearly enjoys and loves what she does.

So how does one maintain motivation and a sense of joy in making music through life’s ups and downs, good and bad practice days, and peak and not-so-peak performances?

In this episode, you’ll hear the five pieces of advice s...

We learned last week that having more to say expressively with the music we’re playing could increase the likelihood of experiencing more flow states in performance (here, in case you missed it). But this study looked at a bunch of different strategies and classes that were spread out over 6 months.

Are there faster ways to help students play more expressively?

Like, what about the sorts of things that our teachers did for us when we...

You know those really good days on stage? Where you’re totally present and in the moment, at one with your instrument, locked in on the music, not worried at all about what anyone might think, and just have this feeling that everything is going to work out, because playing just feels so easy and effortless?

Would be nice if we could have more of those kinds of days, no? 😅

Are these good days a function of simply practicing more? And...

Effective practicers tend to be more motivated, empowered, and persistent, whereas less effective practicers tend to feel more helpless and lower self-efficacy.

But what do they actually do differently?

One of the big differences between better and worse practicers in a 2021 study was the time spent in "non-playing" practice activities. Like, those periods between the playing and repetitions where our fingers aren't mo...

You're probably heard the quote "Genius is 1 percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration."

But what do you think? 

Both play some role of course, but which do you think is more important for achieving success - innate ability or effortful training?

What would you say if I said that you might be fooling yourself? Where even if you think that you believe effort and training to be more important, deep down, you might a...

Cellist Yumi Kendall has been the assistant principal cellist of the Philadelphia Orchestra since 2004, serves on the faculty of the Curtis Institute of Music, co-hosts the Tacet No More podcast with bassist Joseph Conyers, and is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania’s Master of Applied Positive Psychology program.

In this episode, we explore…

• Yumi’s early musical influences
• What effective practice really means (and looks ...

We all have a voice in our head, that can sometimes get pretty loud and awfully critical.

Ever wonder where this voice and all that negativity comes from? And why it can suddenly become more critical at certain times more than others?

A 1990 study provides some intriguing clues!

Get all the nerdy details right here:

How to Keep Your Inner Critic From Getting the Better of You

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