The Bulletproof Musician

Latest Episodes:

Evidence That You're Probably Not Great at Performing and Critiquing Your Performance at the Same Time Jun 14, 2020

Show notes

If you've been trying to convince yourself (or your students) to do more self-recording, here's a study that illustrates why this is such a useful practice tool. And also suggests that we might not be quite as good at simultaneously performing and critiquing as we'd like to think.

Evidence That You're Probably Not Great at Performing and Critiquing Your Performance at the Same Time

More from The Bulletproof Musician

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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

Christian Howes: On Overcoming Improvisation Anxiety, Making Technical Practice More Creatively Satisfying, and Becoming a Better Friend to Yourself Jun 07, 2020

Show notes

Violinist and educator Christian Howes drops by to chat about learning how to improvise, how to overcome overwhelm, connect and collaborate more effectively with a diverse range of other musicians, and hopefully become a better friend to ourselves through it all.

Christian Howes: On Overcoming Improvisation Anxiety, Making Technical Practice More Creatively Satisfying, and Becoming a Better Friend to Yourself

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 the Things You Think about Backstage Could Carry over into Your Performance May 31, 2020

Show notes

Why is that in some performances, we're totally focused, and the critic in our head leaves us alone, and on other days, it's a total nightmare?

Research suggests that it might have a little something to do with what we think about in the moments leading up to the performance, and that we might be able to manage our nerves a little better if we engage in the right sort of mental script backstage.

How the Things You Think about Backstage Could Carry over into Your 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

How to Talk to Yourself When You’re Having a Bad Practice Day (or Week) May 24, 2020

Show notes

We all naturally react to failure a little differently, but ever wonder what's different about those folks who seem to bounce back more effortlessly from repeated failure? This study provides some pretty fascinating insights, as the researchers explore the differences between what more and less persistent kids say to themselves when they experience failure.

How to Talk to Yourself When You’re Having a Bad Practice Day (or Week)

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

Having Difficulty Believing in Yourself? Here’s a Confidence-Building Technique That Doesn’t Feel Like You're Lying to Yourself. May 17, 2020

Show notes

We've all been told that it's important to go into auditions or performances with positive expectations - but that's often easier said than done. If you've ever gotten frustrated with positive visualization or affirmations, there's another strategy you could try - that might not elicit quite so much pushback from your inner critic.

Having Difficulty Believing in Yourself? Here’s a Confidence-Building Technique That Doesn’t Feel Like You're Lying to Yourself.

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

Struggling with Practice Apathy? You Might Be Neglecting “Psychological Rest” May 10, 2020

Show notes

We have all been told that bringing our "A" game in the practice room and on stage requires a certain amount of physical rest and recovery. But I don't know that we as acutely aware of the importance of psychological rest and recovery as well.

Recent research suggests that learning to "switch off" might be an important key to maintaining a consistently high level of practice and performance as well.

Struggling with Practice Apathy? You Might Be Neglecting “Psychological Rest”

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

Howard Nelson & Pamela Frank: On Recovering from Injury, the Importance of Being Non-Judgmental, and Practicing with 1000% Expression May 03, 2020

Show notes

Physical therapist Howard Nelson and renowned violinist Pamela Frank share simple and practical insights on smart, effective practice that transfers to the stage, and ways to ensure that you have a long and pain-free playing career.

Howard Nelson & Pamela Frank: On Recovering from Injury, the Importance of Being Non-Judgmental, and Practicing with 1000% Expression

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

Sarah Lewis: On Thinking Useful Thoughts, Gratitude, and the Challenge of Juggling Auditions and a 3-Month Old Apr 26, 2020

Show notes

A few months ago, percussionist Rob Knopper and I had a chance to sit down and chat with three musicians from the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, to see what sorts of similarities and differences there might be in different musicians' approaches to audition preparation.

In Episode 3 of this mini-series, oboist Sarah Lewis shares insights on how she stays in a good headspace backstage, what her ideal day-of-audition routine looks like, and what she prioritized in the final week leading up to audition day, while also caring for her 3-month old daughter.

Sarah Lewis: On Thinking Useful Thoughts, Gratitude, and the Challenge of Juggling Auditions and a 3-Month Old

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

Amanda Blaikie: On Believing in Yourself, Letting Go of Attachments, and Giving Yourself Permission to Be Kind to Yourself Apr 22, 2020

Show notes

In Episode 2 of this mini-series, flutist Amanda Blaikie shares her insights on how to stay in a good headspace backstage, what her ideal day-of-audition routine looks like, and what she prioritized in the final week leading up to audition day.

Amanda Blaikie: On Believing in Yourself, Letting Go of Attachments, and Giving Yourself Permission to Be Kind to Yourself

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

Caroline Coade: On Being Flexible and "Practicing to Bulletproof” Apr 19, 2020

Show notes

In Episode 1 of this mini-series, violist Caroline Coade shares her insights on how she stays in a good headspace backstage, what her ideal day-of-audition routine looks like, and what she prioritized in the final week leading up to audition day.

What Are the Audition Preparation Strategies That Work Best for You? | Caroline Coade: On Being Flexible and "Practicing to Bulletproof”

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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