A Hidden Reason You Forget Music on Stage

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 memory slip on stage is a whole other level of discomfort. 😳 It’s one of the things that makes many musicians most anxious about performing. Researchers have taught us a ton in the last couple decades about how the best memorizers memorize music. And so I thought it’d be worth taking a look at various aspects of memory in the next couple weeks. Today, we’ll take a look at research which explains why pianists may have a tougher time with memory than other musicians (spoiler alert: it’s not because they have more notes), and what we can all learn from this to enhance our own memory security. Get all the nerdy details here: A Hidden Reason You Forget Music on Stage Wish you could perform more confidently from memory? Memorization can feel like a mysterious process, but it's a more concrete and practical process than you might think. I’ve distilled a couple decades of research, and over a hundred studies, book chapters, dissertations, and case studies into a 5-module step-by-step course on memorization for musicians, that will be available for a limited public release from October 19 - 26, 2025. If you’d like to get on the waitlist so you don’t miss it, you can do that right here: bulletproofmusician.com/memory References Mishra, J., & Backlin, W. M. (2007). The effects of altering environmental and instrumental context on the performance of memorized music. Psychology of Music , 35 (3), 453–472. 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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A Hidden Reason You Forget Music on Stage is an episode from The Bulletproof Musician by Noa Kageyama.

This episode is 8:40 long.

This episode was published on Oct 12, 2025.

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