The Bulletproof Musician

I think we've all wondered what the most effective strategies for memorization might be. But have you ever wondered what the most efficient strategy might be? The one that gets you the furthest in the least amount of time?In today's episode, we'll explore four strategies for memorizing - all of which work, but two of which get you to the same place in much less time than the others. The Two Most Efficient (and Two Least Efficient) Memorization StrategiesMore 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

Did you enjoy music theory in school? Or did it just make your head hurt and wish you could be almost anywhere else instead?If you were never especially fond of music theory, this episode is for you. =) I'm joined by music theory professor Brian Alegant, and guest co-host violist Molly Gebrian (who taught music theory classes in her previous faculty position).We won't talk about seventh chords or modes, but instead, have a chat about how we can make it feel more like MUSIC theory than music THEORY. 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

Ever wonder why your playing or singing (or that of your students) tends to be less expressive under pressure? A 2015 study provides some clues on what exactly happens to the expressiveness of our playing when we're on stage, and even some details on what exactly happens with a particular aspect of expressiveness - phrasing that makes it sound less musical. Why Your Playing (or Singing) Tends to Become Less Musically Expressive on StageMore 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

Whether in music, sports, fitness, or in business, there’s often a tendency for us to assume that the best performers in any domain have the most valuable advice to offer. Of course, there’s a common counter-narrative which suggests that sometimes the best athletes, the top performers at work, and the most shredded folks at the gym, don’t necessarily make the best teachers. So…which is it? Is a person’s performance a pretty good predictor of the quality of their advice? Or are performance and advice-giving two very different things? Do the Best Performers Also Provide the Best Advice?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

Ever find yourself getting sucked into mindless repetitions, despite your best intentions to practice more thoughtfully and efficiently? Research suggests that thinking out loud could enhance problem-solving, essentially making you a more efficient and effective practicer. Why Thinking Out Loud Could Help You Become a More Efficient PracticerMore 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

Ever wonder what it is that makes for great ensemble "chemistry"? Like, what are the underlying skills that make some musicians especially easy and fun to play with? Peter Keller is a trombonist/composer-turned-music psychologist, who studies the neural and behavioral bases underlying effective ensemble playing. In this episode, he shares some insights from cognitive science that could enable us to be more effective musical collaborators, whether playing in a duo, quartet, or orchestra.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

Ever find yourself wishing you could get better at something, but getting stuck somewhere along the way? And facing a lot of internal resistance to doing the uncomfortable, awkward things that you know would help you get there? A recent study provides some insights on why this is, and what we can do about it. An “Awkward” Way to Increase Motivation and Make More Progress Towards 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

Ever notice how mean and distracting (and unhelpful) your inner critic can be on stage? Previous research has found that writing out our worries right before a test (as counterintuitive as that sounds) can help to improve test performance. But would something like this work with musical performance as well? How to Clear Your Mind of Worries Before a Big Performance (revisited)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

Anecdotally at least, fear of memory slips seems to come up more often for pianists than for some other instruments. Is this because of how many notes they have? Or is there something else about the instrument itself that contributes to an increased risk of memory slips in performance (unless one adjusts their practice habits to account for this)? Evidence That Performing From Memory May Be More Challenging for Pianists Than Others (What?!)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

Memory slips can be a scary thing and a major cause of anxiety on stage. But it's not a skill that we tend to think of much in our daily practice... We know from previous research that mental practice plus physical practice leads to better learning than physical practice alone. Could the same thing be true for memory too? Like, could substituting a bit of mental practice for physical practice lead to more reliable memory than physical practice alone? Do You Struggle With Unreliable Memory on Stage? Perhaps Your Memorization Strategy is Missing This Key ingredient...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