The Bulletproof Musician

I think we've all heard that mental practice can help us improve some aspects of our playing. But is shifting or leaping from one note to another one of those areas that visualization can help with? A 2013 study of pianists provides a few clues... Need to Work on Shifting or Leaps From One Note to Another? Here’s How Mental Practice Could Help.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

This episode is for all of the parents out there who worry when their kids don't practice, or who aren't sure how much to push when the child says they want to quit. There isn't one single correct way to approach any of this, of course, but if you've ever wondered how professional musicians might handle these situations, here is one family's recollection of how they navigated this tricky path. The Kantor Family: On Being Effective Music Parents to Musical ChildrenMore 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

You've probably heard that it's helpful to make your own test questions when studying for a test or exam. But is this actually true? A recent study suggests that there are a couple study strategies that could be more effective than the standard approach of reading/rereading/reviewing your notes and assigned readings for a class. Finals Coming Up Soon? Here’s Why You Shouldn't Just Read and Review Your Notes.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

You've probably heard the saying that "practice doesn't make perfect; perfect practice makes perfect." But is that true? Or just a myth? Research on errors in learning suggest that error-free practice might actually hinder the learning process, and that how we respond to errors might be the more interesting factor to consider. Is “Perfect” Practice as Essential a Thing As We Tend to Assume It Is?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 have one of those performances that makes you cringe to think of it, even years after the fact? And discover that it still continues to affect you a little bit even in performances today? A recent study identified a strategy that may not wipe your memory clean of the negative performance, but could help you move past it a bit more effectively. Having Difficulty Moving Past a Particularly Distressing Audition or Performance? “Just Think Positive” May Not Be the Best Strategy...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

The "memory palace" or method of loci technique, is a strategy often used by memory champions to achieve some pretty impressive feats of memory. Like being able to memorize the order of a deck of cards in less than a minute, for instance. Typically though, memory athletes are asked to recall the information relatively soon after encoding the information into memory. So...does this strategy work for more long-term memory too? And could it be used for music too? Does the “Memory Palace” Strategy Really Work? And Is It Something Musicians Could Use?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 in a conversation that you think should have ended some time ago, but you're still hanging in there because you think the other person wants to continue, and you don't want to be rude? What if that person actually wished the conversation were over too, but is sticking around so as not to be rude to you? A new study suggests that this sort of thing might be happening more than you'd think - and that we may all be a lot worse at knowing when to end conversations than you'd think. Evidence That Most of Us Are Terrible at Knowing When to End ConversationsMore 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

Have you been experiencing "Zoom fatigue?" There isn't a ton of research on this phenomenon quite yet - but a paper did come out recently identifying four potential causes, and a couple tips on how to manage this. I tried one of the Zoom fatigue "hacks" and found it surprisingly helpful! “Zoom Fatigue” - Why It Happens, and a Couple Things You Can Do About ItMore 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

Some athletes have noted that visualizing past successes has helped them get into a more positive and confident headspace before competition. Which makes perfect sense, but is there any research evidence supporting this? A 2013 study provides some clues, and tests out a simple writing exercise that could help you present yourself more effectively - especially in performance situations where you are being evaluated by an expert (e.g. auditions, juries, competitions). A Simple Writing Exercise That Could Help You Perform More Confidently  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

Cellist Astrid Schween (Juilliard String Quartet) shares some of the daily routines she relies on to set herself up for a productive day of practice, as well as how to approach new repertoire, remain open to one's colleagues' ideas in rehearsal, and much more. Astrid Schween: On Cultivating Routines, Curiosity, and 800 Different SpiccatosMore 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