“It’s not about playing well by being comfortable and wiping out nervous energy. It’s about finding the right channel for all that energy” -Don Greene, sports psychologist The Musician’s Way, p. 184 We’ve all felt that adrenaline-fueled...
“Confident performance is not a fluke, but the product of imaginative and consistent synthesis of technical and emotional work.” -Frank R. Wilson The Musician’s Way, p. 146 Musicians who grapple with performance nerves typically hear plenty of clichéd...
“It was when I found out I could make mistakes that I knew I was on to something.” -Ornette Coleman, saxophonist & composer The Musician’s Way, p. 190 In the discovery phase of practice, all of us make errors as we try out interpretive and technical...
“Public performance is a potent truth serum.” -William Westney, pianist The Musician’s Way , p. 201 In my post, “The 3 Roots of Performance Anxiety,” I explain how stage nerves arise due to personal, task-related and situational factors. This article...
“Without inclusive preparation, musicians can’t be cool in high-stakes situations” –The Musician’s Way, p. 148 Performance anxiety stifles the ambitions of countless musicians. Yet the path to becoming a fearless performer is open to any musician who chooses to...
“Deep practice entails achieving mastery, integration, and transcendence with everything that you play or sing.” –The Musician’s Way, p. 20 For budding and veteran performers alike, the fundamental source of confidence on stage is thorough preparation. And although...
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