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Ever wonder why you can practice for hours, sound great in the practice room, and still be frustratingly hit or miss on stage? Join performance psychologist and Juilliard alumnus/faculty Noa...
Have you ever had the experience of fixing something in the practice room…only to have it come back in performance? Maybe it’s a passage whe...
How should musicians actually practice to improve faster? In this conversation with researcher and trumpet professor Micah Killion, we explo...
One of my teachers often used to say that no matter what you’re playing, when you’re on stage, the beginning of a piece is always the hardes...
In some years it feels easier to begin the new year with a lot of energy and enthusiasm. Other years, it can be difficult to get going and b...
We all get stuck on problem passages from time to time. And it can be very natural to simply throw more repetitions at it, in hopes that thi...
The voice in our head can be an asset at times - but also kind of a jerk at the worst possible moments. And like that one person in the “qui...
A few months ago, when a sportswriter published an article in The New York Times about an unusual and “revolutionary” practice method that N...
A friend recently asked if it's true that becoming a virtuoso performer requires being a perfectionist. Well, spoiler alert, it's...
Playing for other people, whether it’s an audience of one, a dozen, or several hundred, can be a stressful thing! So it’s easy to focus on t...
Sleep and recovery is an aspect of preparation that athletes prioritize, with teams hiring sleep consultants, and many athletes going to gre...
I remember a lesson many years ago, when my teacher told me that her job was to teach me how to teach myself. So that I would one day no lon...
Whether we’re baking a cake, driving to a new restaurant, or putting together a puzzle, we can usually get to the goal more efficiently and...
This episode with violinist Ida Kavafian is packed with key points about effective practice, plus fascinating nerdy details about bowing and...
One of the arguments often made for why we should memorize music, is that performing from memory facilitates more expressive performances. B...
Memory can often feel like a mysterious, unknowable phenomenon. Something that happens magically by itself at times, with great effort at ot...
Mistakes on stage are never fun, but missing a note here or there, or playing out of tune is over and done with pretty quick. Having a memor...
Talk to anyone who has ever performed from memory, and you’ll probably get a story of a time when their memory failed them. For instance, I...
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....
One of the questions that I'm often asked, is the question of whether performance psychology can be helpful to those whose performance...
Staying in a good mental and emotional state before performances is critical to playing up to our abilities when it counts. And we're p...
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...
Ever worry that excellent performance might not be “good enough?” And maybe you've assumed that aiming for perfection is a safer bet? Y...
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?...
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...
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...
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 in...
Whether learning a new sport or playing an instrument, traditionally, we're often taught to start by building up some fundamental skill...
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 ne...
Ineffective practice can be discouraging on so many levels. For one, practicing for time or repetitions is not much fun. And negative practi...
“If I didn’t have the harp, I wouldn’t be me.” Internationally renowned harpist Judy Loman remains an active practicer, performer, and teach...
We learned last week that having more to say expressively with the music we’re playing could increase the likelihood of experiencing more fl...
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 musi...
Effective practicers tend to be more motivated, empowered, and persistent, whereas less effective practicers tend to feel more helpless and...
You're probably heard the quote "Genius is 1 percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration." But what do you think? Both play some ro...
Cellist Yumi Kendall has been the assistant principal cellist of the Philadelphia Orchestra since 2004, serves on the faculty of the Curtis...
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 negativi...
There's a famous quote attributed to Heifetz (or any number of different folks) - that if I don't practice one day, I know it; two...
Ever wonder why it's so difficult to do the same thing twice, in exactly the same way? Like the same exact crescendo or the same exact...
I think the last couple decades have seen a growing change in the music community, where there's a greater openness to talking about ne...
When it comes to motivating students, musicians, or even ourselves, we all wonder: is it better to reward effort — or call out mistakes? It...
It's hard to be a parent and not worry about one's kids. Especially when it comes to public performances, competitions, or auditio...
My daughter and I have been binge-watching past seasons of The Amazing Race for some months now, and the psychology nerd in me has become in...
Ever get that overwhelmed feeling in the practice room? Where you know there’s a ton of work to be done, but you’re not quite sure where to...
Even from a young age, I was always confused by the relationship between nerves and performance. There were times, for instance, when I’d be...
Somewhere along the line we learn that mistakes are bad, and perfect is good - but what if this is actually not true when it comes to learni...
When you're practicing sight-reading, how difficult should the music be? Should it be easy enough that you can read it more or less per...
Have you ever found yourself getting irritated or see your performance get derailed by distractions on stage? Maybe it was noises backstage,...
A one-hour lesson can often go by really quickly, but also be packed with lots and lots to remember. Have you ever found yourself repeating...
It's human nature to want to be liked and accepted by others. But while some seem to have a knack for it, for many of us, fear of rejec...
Have you ever had one of those "aha" moments when a solution to a problem spontaneously popped into your head? Wouldn't it be nice if w...