The Bulletproof Musician

For many toddlers, performing seems to come naturally and easily, whether it's an impromptu dance performance in the living room or comedy routine from the back seat of the car. But as we get older, we can start to get self-conscious and worry about negative judgment or what other people will think. Which makes us want to avoid performing. Which only makes performing seem scarier, gives us fe...

Ever find yourself being distracted in the practice room by random thoughts and worries? Like worrying about all the other music that you need to learn. Or the entrance you missed in the last rehearsal. Or whether you're prepared for the upcoming SAT's. Like in-laws who live across the street, these worrisome thoughts like to spontaneously pop into our personal mental space at the most i...

When I praise the family dog for doing a good thing, I'm not sure if it matters what words I say to him. He seems equally excited and happily wags his tail whether I say "good boy!" or "bad doggie!" as long as I use the same tone of voice. Of course, people are different, and the words we use do matter in the feedback we offer. So if we're trying to build up a student...

I think we would all say that we value creativity and would enjoy having more creative students. But is this actually reflected in our actions? Research suggests that we may not be as appreciative and supportive of creative students as we'd like to think. Wait...how can that be? Get all the nerdy details and this week's practice hack here: Do You Have a Bias Against Creative Students (Wi...

You know that famous quote attributed to Debussy? The one that goes something like "Music is the space between the notes."? I don't know about you, but I was certainly guilty of compress things and rushing through these spaces on many an occasion... And of course, there's an awful lot of music within each note as well. Which I also tended to rush through and pay too little atte...

The legendary Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti famously had a quirky backstage ritual that he needed to complete before he could go on stage. Apparently, he would wander around backstage, scanning the floor until he found a bent nail, which would serve as his good luck charm for that performance. It sounds like a silly sort of thing to do, and it’s hard to imagine Pavarotti needing much in the way...

The other day, I had to parallel park in a crowded neighborhood with narrow streets. I’m usually pretty good about getting it right the first time, but this time, I was feeling a bit of pressure from the antsy drivers lined up behind me, who couldn’t pass until I finished parking. You can probably imagine what happened next, but the gist is that I bonked the curb and had to reset and do it all ove...

In the previous episode we looked at at study which suggested that having goals is good - but we’re more likely to achieve our goals if we write them down and create action plans as well (you can check that out here if you missed it). Still, whether we write them down or not, New Year’s resolutions and our most well-intentioned plans can start to go off the rails pretty quickly. So if you’ve found...

'Tis the season for New Year resolutions. Which means your inbox and news feeds are probably overflowing with articles about effective goal-setting and how to form new habits. So I thought it might be best to keep things simple, and focus on just one question. How important is it to write down your goals? Get all the nerdy details here: How Important Is It to Write Down Your Goals? More from...

It's not great to make mistakes on stage, but how big a deal are mistakes when you're learning something new? Is it best to avoid them right from Day 1? Or is it ok to set the bar a little lower in the early days of learning a new skill? A 2011 study tests out two different approaches to learning - setting the bar high vs. setting the bar low - and provides some clues on which approach m...

In last week's episode with clarinetist Jason Shafer, we chatted about the value of focusing on our strengths when performing - and not just our weaknesses (you can check that out here if you missed it). And it turns out there is some research on the benefits of identifying and using our "signature strengths." If you're wondering what exactly the benefits might be, what focusin...

Is it possible to truly rid yourself of performance anxiety? Is practicing less as you get closer to a performance really better? How do you get past doubts and other mental roadblocks when returning from a significant playing injury? Is it a better use of time to focus on our strengths or our weaknesses? Why is it so important for us to take lessons with or play for musicians who play instrument...

When you put a lot of time and energy into preparing for something that’s important to you, and things don’t go the way you hoped, it’s pretty natural to feel deflated or discouraged afterwards. And you might even have difficulty getting back into the flow of things, or finding the confidence to try again. Heck, we can experience some version of this even a spectator. Believe it or not, researcher...

The winter holidays are just around the corner, which means family, festivities, food, and lots of good things. But it also means end-of-semester projects and grading, holiday recitals and gigs and performances, shopping, travel, cooking, hosting, and many other things that can leave us feeling drained and emotionally exhausted. And if you're already feeling kind of drained post-Thanksgiving,...

In last week's episode, we looked at a study which tested a particular sound for its ability to decrease our anxiety. (Which you can revisit here if you missed it.) I figured we might as well stay on that theme, so this week I have a study which compared several different types of breathing, to see if there was a particular way of breathing that might reduce our stress more than others. Turns...

Managing pre-performance nerves on the day of a performance or audition can be a real challenge. And it can get even more difficult backstage as the moment draws nearer. Should we study the score some more? Listen to music? Read a book? Try to meditate or  do some deep breathing? Color or doodle? Do some expressive writing? Visualize? The best answer is that it's probably a combination of thi...

In an ideal world, we’d be building confidence in the practice room from one day to the next, but sometimes that can be easier said than done. It’s easy for the voice in our head to get very judge-y and negative and make us feel like we’re playing a never-ending game of whack-a-mole. Where every time we think we’ve solved a problem, a new one pops up to take its place. Whether it’s getting through...

In many areas of our life (surgery, aviation, and dealing with bedbugs are a few things that come to mind), I think it’s fair to say that having really high standards is a very good thing. Intuitively, you’d think that the same would be true when it comes to learning and performing an instrument as well. But as you’ll see in today’s study, that’s not always the case. As in, there are times when re...

Other than putting our instruments down, what should we be doing during our practice breaks to mentally recharge our batteries and prepare ourselves best for the next chunk of practice? Watch cute animal videos? Take a quick nap? Grab some coffee? Is there such a thing as a "best" practice break activity? Maybe not, but there's some research in the creativity and stress-reduction do...

3-time Olympic diving coach Jeff Huber once said that he would get really excited when one of his athletes would approach him and say "Hey coach, I've been thinking..." He explained that this phrase was often a sign that they were about to take a significant leap forward in their development as a diver (you can listen to his podcast episode here if you missed it). Of course, it&apos...

Have you ever wished audiences (or your teacher) could hear the awesome private version of yourself that you hear in the practice room, instead of the slightly less awesome public version of yourself that appears on stage? Sure, nerves can play a role in this, but part of the problem is how we practice. There's a tendency to strive for too much consistency in the practice room - which sounds...

If you’re reading this, I’m guessing that you have pretty high standards of performance in at least one area of your life. I mean, you probably wouldn’t be interested in a performance psychology podcast if you didn’t, no? 😅 I'm also guessing that you've been accused, or praised, for being a perfectionist at some point or another. Maybe even both - because I think society sends us a lot...

A few weeks ago, violinist Nigel Kennedy was quoted as saying that today's young musicians are more "clone-like," noting that while so many have phenomenal technical fluency, this may have come at the expense of musical communication. This was in the context of a larger (and intriguing) conversation about how funding in music is distributed, and how this might be part of the issue,...

I often get questions about specific topics or issues that haven't already been covered in  a podcast episode. Today's episode is devoted to a question that has come up a fair bit. Specifically, it's about staying focused in the practice room. And in particular, for those who have been diagnosed with ADHD. The study compares a group of college students who practice for 80 repetition...

If you've watched any sports - especially golf, basketball, and tennis - you've probably noticed that many athletes have a pre-shot, pre-free throw, or pre-serve ritual that they go through before performing that skill. Many musicians have rituals too, even if it's as simple as wiping your hands on your pants or hearing the opening of a piece to get the tempo in mind before you begi...