The Bulletproof Musician

The winter holidays are just around the corner, which means family, festivities, food, and lots of good things. But it also means end-of-semester projects and grading, holiday recitals and gigs and performances, shopping, travel, cooking, hosting, and many other things that can leave us feeling drained and emotionally exhausted.And if you're already feeling kind of drained post-Thanksgiving, it can be exhausting just thinking about getting through the next month.The good news is that there's a simple, quick, 3-step exercise, that in a week or two, could reduce that feeling of emotional exhaustion and even increase your happiness. And better yet, these positive changes could last for up to a year - even after you've stopped doing the exercise!It's been tested successfully in stressful healthcare settings with physicians, nurses, and other healthcare workers, so there's a good chance it'll be helpful in whatever stressful circumstances you find yourself in as well.Get all the nerdy details here: Reduce Burnout With a Simple Three-Step ExerciseMore 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

In last week's episode, we looked at a study which tested a particular sound for its ability to decrease our anxiety. (Which you can revisit here if you missed it.)I figured we might as well stay on that theme, so this week I have a study which compared several different types of breathing, to see if there was a particular way of breathing that might reduce our stress more than others.Turns out not all breathing techniques have the same effect! So whether you’re looking for a way to regulate your stress before a performance or keep your cool amidst family drama during the Thanksgiving holidays, I think you’ll find this week’s breathing technique to be a very handy addition to your emotional regulation toolkit. 😅Get all the nerdy details here: The Best Way to Breathe for Reducing Stress?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

Managing pre-performance nerves on the day of a performance or audition can be a real challenge. And it can get even more difficult backstage as the moment draws nearer.Should we study the score some more? Listen to music? Read a book? Try to meditate or  do some deep breathing? Color or doodle? Do some expressive writing? Visualize?The best answer is that it's probably a combination of things that's most effective, but a recent pair of studies suggest that listening to one thing might really help to calm you down and put you in a better headspace.Get all the nerdy details here:The Best Thing to Listen to Backstage for Reducing Anxiety?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

Bassoonist Benjamin Kamins shares anecdotes and tips for overcoming common challenges in the practice room and on stage. They discuss the impact of the Alexander Technique, the value of making mistakes, the role of tension in playing an instrument, the importance of clear sound and reedmaking, and the effectiveness of slow practice in music performance.

Discover why lowering standards can sometimes promote better learning and performance in this podcast. Explore the impact of different standards on performance and the benefits of lowering standards in learning contexts. Dive into an experiment comparing golfers' putting skills using different target sizes.

Other than putting our instruments down, what should we be doing during our practice breaks to mentally recharge our batteries and prepare ourselves best for the next chunk of practice?Watch cute animal videos? Take a quick nap? Grab some coffee? Is there such a thing as a "best" practice break activity? Maybe not, but there's some research in the creativity and stress-reduction domains which all point at one particular activity that could be worth experimenting with during your next practice break.Get all the nerdy details here:“Brain Fatigue” and the Best Thing to Do on Practice BreaksMore 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

Explore the importance of reflection in learning and performance, and how it can lead to higher levels of achievement. Discover the value of self-reflection in the learning and practice process and its contribution to self-regulated learning for improvement.

Have you ever wished audiences (or your teacher) could hear the awesome private version of yourself that you hear in the practice room, instead of the slightly less awesome public version of yourself that appears on stage?Sure, nerves can play a role in this, but part of the problem is how we practice. There's a tendency to strive for too much consistency in the practice room - which sounds like the right thing to do, but can actually be counterproductive. I know that seems bonkers, but we'll explore a couple studies today that will illustrate why aiming for too many "perfect" repetitions in a row can paradoxically lead to less consistency and accuracy on stage. And you'll learn what we should be doing more of instead.Get all the nerdy details and this week’s practice hack right here:​How to Practice for More Consistent PerformancesMore 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

Expert in performance psychology, Christine Carter, discusses the problems with perfectionism in practice and how it inhibits learning and creativity. They explore the impact of perfectionism on musicians, the educational system's role in fostering it, and offer tips for effective practice strategies.

A few weeks ago, violinist Nigel Kennedy was quoted as saying that today's young musicians are more "clone-like," noting that while so many have phenomenal technical fluency, this may have come at the expense of musical communication.This was in the context of a larger (and intriguing) conversation about how funding in music is distributed, and how this might be part of the issue, but regardless, I was curious to see if there might be any studies on this particular issue.Though I didn't find any data on this in the realm of classical music, I did find a 2012 study that explored this in the context of popular music. Which had some pretty interesting findings that I suspect could be related to classical music as well.Click below for all the nerdy details, and how this could be related to your daily practice: Are Today’s Musicians More “Clone-Like?"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