The Bulletproof Musician

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Why Good Ensemble Playing May Require More Than Just Your Ears Mar 10, 2024

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This episode is sponsored by Musician's Maintenance - safe, simple, maintenance exercises that specifically address the muscle groups that matter most to musicians.
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I think we've all been told that we should look at the conductor or at our musical colleagues in chamber music settings. But how important is this really?
Isn't it enough to have good ears, and simply listen really attentively? Or do we miss out on something when we're more focused on the music on the stand than our music-making partners?
A study of the Afiara and Cecilia string quartets provide some clues.
Get all the nerdy details here;
Why Good Ensemble Playing May Require More Than Just Your Ears

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A Gentle Way to Help Kids (or Adults) Build Performance Confidence? Mar 03, 2024

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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 fewer opportunities to practice getting better at performing, and could lead to more negative experiences on stage, and more avoidance.
So how do we interuppt this cycle? if we're uncomfortable playing for an audience, how can we practice performing and build up more confidence and positive performance experiences? Short of just doing it anyway and hoping for the best?
A 2014 study about young readers (it's more relevant than you might think) may provide some clues!
Get all the nerdy details and this week’s practice hack right here:

A Gentle Way to Help Kids (or Adults) Build Performance Confidence?

More from The Bulletproof Musician

Get the free weekly newsletter, for more nerdy details and bonus subscriber-only content.
Pressure Proof: A free 7-day performance practice crash course that will help you shrink the gap between the practice room and the stage.
Learning Lab: A continuing education community where musicians and learners are putting research into practice.
Live and self-paced courses

A Simple Strategy for Reducing Worries and Practicing With More Focus Feb 25, 2024

Show notes

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 inconvenient times, and make it difficult to focus effectively on the thing we're actually doing in that moment.
And there is an emotional cost too, as worrying can make us more stressed, anxious, and tense.
So...is there anything we can do to reduce these worries and get better at single-tasking and focusing on the thing in front of us at the moment?
Get all the nerdy details right here:
A Simple Strategy for Reducing Worries and Practicing With More Focus

More from The Bulletproof Musician

Get the free weekly newsletter, for more nerdy details and bonus subscriber-only content.
Pressure Proof: A free 7-day performance practice crash course that will help you shrink the gap between the practice room and the stage.
Learning Lab: A continuing education community where musicians and learners are putting research into practice.
Live and self-paced courses

Why the Wrong Kind of Praise Could Heighten a Student's Fear of Failure Feb 18, 2024

Show notes

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's confidence, and embolden them to take on new challenges, what kind of praise works best?
A 2014 study suggests that not all praise has the same effect. And that even if well-intentioned, one particular type of praise can backfire and even heighten a student's fear of failure. 😳
Get all the nerdy details right here:
Why the Wrong Kind of Praise Could Heighten a Student's Fear of Failure

More from The Bulletproof Musician

Get the free weekly newsletter, for more nerdy details and bonus subscriber-only content.
Pressure Proof: A free 7-day performance practice crash course that will help you shrink the gap between the practice room and the stage.
Learning Lab: A continuing education community where musicians and learners are putting research into practice.
Live and self-paced courses

Do You Have a Bias Against Creative Students (Without Realizing It)? Feb 11, 2024

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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 (Without Realizing It)?

More from The Bulletproof Musician

Get the free weekly newsletter, for more nerdy details and bonus subscriber-only content.
Pressure Proof: A free 7-day performance practice crash course that will help you shrink the gap between the practice room and the stage.
Learning Lab: A continuing education community where musicians and learners are putting research into practice.
Live and self-paced courses

Steven Tenenbom: On Rhythm, Phrasing, and the Life Within Each Note Feb 04, 2024

Show notes

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 attention to. (And where was I in such a rush to get to? No idea. Maybe the end of the piece so I could get off stage? 🤣)
This might seem like a really abstract concept at first. So it's the sort of thing that can be easy to push to the back burner, because there are always so many notes to learn on your music stand. But paying more attention to the life within each note can make practicing and performing a much more engaging and gratifying experience. And improve your sense of rhythm and phrasing as well.
In other words, it's worth keeping on the front burner, even if just at a simmer.
Umm...ok, but what does this mean or look like exactly?
In today's episode, violist Steven Tenenbom (Orion Quartet, Curtis, Juilliard, Mannes, Bard) explains, and illustrates what this means using concrete musical examples.
Get all the nerdy details right here:
Steven Tenenbom: On Rhythm, Phrasing, and the Life Within Each Note

More from The Bulletproof Musician

Get the free weekly newsletter, for more nerdy details and bonus subscriber-only content.
Pressure Proof: A free 7-day performance practice crash course that will help you shrink the gap between the practice room and the stage.
Learning Lab: A continuing education community where musicians and learners are putting research into practice.
Live and self-paced courses

Can Good Luck Charms and Superstitious Rituals Enhance Performance? Jan 21, 2024

Show notes

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 of luck, but could this have been more helpful than we think?
A 2010 study provides some answers and insights into whether good luck charms and superstitious rituals could help enhance your next performance or audition.
Spoiler alert - Pavarotti might have been onto something!
Of course, there’s more to performing optimally under pressure than good luck charms and superstitious too. There are actually a handful of concrete, learnable skills - like anxiety regulation, attention control, grounded confidence, and retrieval-oriented practice - that can help make performing funner and a much more positive experience, even if you’ve struggled with this for years.
If you’d like to develop these skills in 2024, that will be the focus of the upcoming live, online, 4-week Performance Psych Essentials class. Registration ends today, Sunday, Jan. 21st (2024), at 11:59pm Pacific time. Get the class dates and details here: Register for Performance Psych Essentials
But if now’s not the right time for a class like this, that’s ok too! In the meantime, you can get all the nerdy details about this week’s study and practice hack right here:
Can Good Luck Charms and Superstitious Rituals Enhance Performance?

More from The Bulletproof Musician

Get the free weekly newsletter, for more nerdy details and bonus subscriber-only content.
Pressure Proof: A free 7-day performance practice crash course that will help you shrink the gap between the practice room and the stage.
Learning Lab: A continuing education community where musicians and learners are putting research into practice.
Live and self-paced courses

A Simple Technique to Prevent Choking (Which Sounds Like it Couldn’t Possibly Work) Jan 14, 2024

Show notes

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 over as everyone behind me watched and (presumably) rolled their eyes at this doofus who can’t park.
I just experienced “choking.” And I’m assuming you’ve had some experience with this phenomenon too, whether it’s parking or performing.
It’s tempting to assume that we can prevent choking by simply practicing more. But it turns out it’s a little more interesting than that, and there are several key skills that go into performing your best under pressure. There’s retrieval-oriented practice. Anxiety regulation skills. And learning how to get into a performance-enhancing headspace, and stay focused on the right things on stage too.
(BTW, if you’d like to develop these skills in 2024, that will be the focus of the upcoming live, online, 4-week Performance Psych Essentials class. Registration begins Sunday, Jan. 14 and runs through Sunday, Jan. 21. Get the class dates and details here: Register for Performance Psych Essentials)
Then again, there’s a 2013 study, which suggests that a simple 30-second performance hack could prevent you from choking too. Hmm...could it really be that easy?
Get all the nerdy details and this week’s practice hack right here:
A Simple Technique to Prevent Choking (Which Sounds Like it Couldn't Possibly Work)

More from The Bulletproof Musician

Get the free weekly newsletter, for more nerdy details and bonus subscriber-only content.
Pressure Proof: A free 7-day performance practice crash course that will help you shrink the gap between the practice room and the stage.
Learning Lab: A continuing education community where musicians and learners are putting research into practice.
Live and self-paced courses

WOOP: A Better Way to Set Goals? Jan 07, 2024

Show notes

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 yourself slipping already, know that it’s not just you!

And there’s no need to beat yourself up about this either. Because in all likelihood it’s not you, your commitment, or your willpower that’s the issue. It might just be that there’s a small (but often-overlooked) step missing from your goal-setting process that could make all the difference.
Get all the nerdy details right here:
WOOP: A Better Way to Set Goals?

More from The Bulletproof Musician

Get the free weekly newsletter, for more nerdy details and bonus subscriber-only content.
Pressure Proof: A free 7-day performance practice crash course that will help you shrink the gap between the practice room and the stage.
Learning Lab: A continuing education community where musicians and learners are putting research into practice.
Live and self-paced courses

How Important Is It to Write Down Your Goals? Dec 31, 2023

Show notes

'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 The Bulletproof Musician

Get the free weekly newsletter, for more nerdy details and bonus subscriber-only content.
Pressure Proof: A free 7-day performance practice crash course that will help you shrink the gap between the practice room and the stage.
Learning Lab: A continuing education community where musicians and learners are putting research into practice.
Live and self-paced courses

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