The Bulletproof Musician

We've probably all had teachers who told us that their goal is to help us learn how to teach ourselves. But how do we do that exactly? A 2006 study lays out a 3-step self-coaching process that we can use to become better teachers to ourselves. Or even share with our students as kind of a how-to-become-a-better-practicer cheat sheet. Having a Bad Practice Day? Turn It Into a Good One With This...

Pianist, educator, and music psychology researcher Adina Mornell shares insights on the four component of stage fright (and what to do about each), and describes some of the key takeaways from recent studies she has done on how to not only practice more effectively, but prepare in such a way that we can enjoy ourselves more on stage too. Adina Mornell: On Learning How to Practice in Such a Way Tha...

When we think of optimizing learning, we tend to think of practice strategies and how to make our time in the practice room more effective. But much like working out and building muscle, a good bit of motor learning actually occurs outside of the practice room, BETWEEN practice sessions. So what can we do to maximize the motor learning that occurs between practice sessions? How to Get Your Brain t...

Ever have one of those days where you just can't get yourself to practice? Or maybe that's a little bit how every day feels? Turns out there's an intriguing motivation "hack" of sorts that could make it easier to start practicing, and naturally increase your motivation to do so. It even has a cool name - the "Zeigarnik effect." How to Get Yourself to Practice Whe...

Ever find yourself in the middle of a practice session, take a moment to check your texts, and then realize an hour has gone by as you got sucked down some random internet rabbit hole or another? Why does this happen? And what can you do to prevent this without resorting to the nuclear option of airplane mode or an app that blocks you from the internet for a set period of time? Why You Get Sucked...

Ever wonder what's going through the mind of a conductor, in rehearsal or in a performance? Conductor Joshua Weilerstein shares his own journey from violinist to conductor, and sheds some light on what a conductor is thinking about in the practice room, in rehearsal, and in performance. And why it might be kind of awesome if every musician had a chance to conduct for a day. Joshua Weilerstein...

Learning a bunch of practice strategies can elevate the effectiveness of your practice, but a 2015 study of college music students suggests that supplementing this with additional self-regulation strategies can elevate your practice effectiveness even more! And what are self-regulation strategies, exactly? Check out the episode to learn more about a couple simple and effective - but easy to neglec...

We all have an inner voice. Sometimes it's a supportive presence, but often, it can be pretty critical and even a little abusive at times. Research suggests that the way we talk to our students and provide feedback may actually be able to shape their inner dialogue - for better, or for worse. How the Things You Say to Your Students Can Change the Positivity (Or Negativity) of Their Inner Voic...

There are a lot of articles on the internet suggesting that perfectionism "kills" creativity. But is that really true? A team of Canadian researchers were curious about this exact question, and put together a study to find out if there was anything to this. And if so, what a better, creativity-optimizing alternative might be. Does Perfectionism Really “Kill” Creativity? If So, What’s the...

Do you get bored of doing lots and lots of repetition in the practice room? The good news is that there's a better (and more interesting) way to get your repetitions in. A way that at least in one 2016 study led to a 2x performance improvement in the same amount of time! A Practice Strategy That Could Potentially Be Twice as Effective as Regular Practice? More from The Bulletproof Musician Ge...

Looking for some new ways to freshen up your practice routine, get off of a plateau, or find some new inspiration for 2022? Try some of these tips and insights from 2021's podcast guests - Kristian Steenstrup, Vivian Hornik Weilerstein, Merry Peckham, Daniel Matsukawa, Ann Bergeron, Natasha Brofsky, Roger Tapping, Lori Schiff, Timothy Kantor, Paul Kantor, Virginia Weckstrom, Astrid Schween, a...

I stumbled across a home video of me practicing as a young child the other day and was horrified to hear how completely unorganized, unthoughtful, and un-deliberate my practice was at that age. Which made me wonder - can young kids be trusted to practice effectively? A 2010 study provides some clues on what happens at home during the week between lessons, and a couple things teachers can do to mak...

Some people seem to have a really easy time with memorizing new pieces. Or at least, they seem to be really confident and secure in their memory. Is there something they know that we don't? Are they doing anything differently in the practice room? https://bulletproofmusician.com/musicians-seem-memorization-naturals-can-become-one More from The Bulletproof Musician Get the free weekly newslett...

We've all heard stories of athletes and musicians using visualization or mental practice to enhance their learning or performance. But how exactly are we supposed to do it? In this episode, you'll learn about PETTLEP; a 7-point "how-to" set of guidelines, developed by two British researchers, drawing from the research in performance psych and neuroscience. Not Sure How to Do Me...

Have you ever wondered why solfège is such a constant in most music curricula? Or why teachers often ask us to sing in lessons? And if any of this is ever going to pay off in meaningful ways? A recent Danish study suggests that integrating a bit of singing into one's practice might indeed have some real worthwhile benefits. Lead author and trumpet professor Kristian Steenstrup drops by to cha...

We've all been told that slow practice is important. And while it's certainly an important tool to have in your toolbox, there is research which suggests that slow practice can potentially cause problems too, if we are too focused on slow, accurate playing in the early stages of learning something new. What?! In today's episode, you'll learn why this is, and two strategies to h...

The traditional method of learning is to try to learn the correct "textbook" way of performing a skill, and to do lots and lots of repetitions of that exact movement. But there's some increasing research in the last 20 years which suggests that this may not always lead to the best learning or performance. And that doing a bunch of goofy "wrong" repetitions that one would n...

I know we've all been told (and experienced first-hand) that cramming doesn't work, and learn better when our practice or study sessions are spaced out over time. But why? What's actually happening in our brains, that makes spaced practice more effective? Why Too-Short Practice Breaks Could Undermine Your Learning More from The Bulletproof Musician Get the free weekly newsletter , f...

Whether you're a pianist, a singer, or instrumentalist, I'm sure you've had the experience of feeling a sort of musical "chemistry" when collaborating with other musicians. In this month's conversation, pianist and educator Vivian Hornik Weilerstein shares insights on how pianists can be better listeners, leaders, and collaborators with their music-making partners. An...

Ever wish you could be a fly on the wall of the practice room of a well-known performer and watch or listen to how they practice? A team of researchers did something close to this - they videotaped expert and intermediate-level athletes practicing for the same exact amount of time, measured their improvement (the experts improved more), and then traced this back to specific differences in what the...

I think we all go through moments in life where we feel like failures. But has this ever gotten to a point where even though on paper, you are not at all a failure, you still feel like one? And even when everyone else seems to think you're pretty terrific? It's not a silver bullet, but the "directed abstraction" technique could help all of us become a little more confident and...

Mistakes may be inevitable, and there sure are lots of inspirational quotes out there on how important it is to learn from failure... But is that really the best way to learn? Is there any value in learning from successes? Is one better than the other? If We Want to Maximize Learning, is It Better to Focus on Our Failures? Or Our Successes? More from The Bulletproof Musician Get the free weekly ne...

Sometimes we don't have the luxury of time, and just have to get new repertoire into our fingers quickly, and up to a playable level asap. When that's the case, can listening to a recording really help to accelerate that process? And by how much? A 2014 study provides some clues on how much of a difference this might make in accelerating the learning process. Evidence That Listening to a...

Navigating ensemble rehearsals can in many ways be trickier than figuring out how to practice effectively on your own. But it can be so much fun and incredibly rewarding too! Given that many musicians are returning to ensemble rehearsals after many months away, I thought I'd ask cellist and Cavani Quartet founding member Merry Peckham to share some of her insights on effective rehearsal techn...

Ever notice how learning new things seems to get harder (and slower) as you age? It's not your imagination - but there do seem to be some strategies that could help us offset this a bit. One is a learning "metastrategy" simply called the "Five-Step Strategy" and has been shown to enhance learning in both young adults and older learners (~65 years) as well! A 5-Step Strateg...