“Confident performance isn’t an elusive feat but involves knowledge and skills that any musician can learn.” –The Musician’s Way, p. 133 When I talk to musicians who wrestle with stage nerves, I find that many hold a common belief. They think that they lack a trait...
“You must play for the love of music. Perfect technique is not as important as making music from the heart.” –Mstislav Rostropovich, cellist/conductor The Musician’s Way, p. 133 To practice music is to pursue perfection – or so we often hear. What nonsense. Rather, we...
“2-to-1 breathing helps reduce, coordinate, and stabilize the activity of the brain and the nervous system.” –John Clarke, M.D., former Chairman of the Himalayan Institute If we feel unsettled prior to playing or singing, 2-to-1 breathing is a powerful technique that...
“Performance anxiety is the kind of problem that rears its ugly head in both straightforward and subtle ways.” –Eric Maisel, author and psychologist If you’re an active performer, then I expect that you or a musician you know has taken a beta-blocker to alleviate...
“Only accessible material enables students to acquire the habits of mastery that beget secure, artistic performances.” Time and again, when I hear students audition, some will attempt to perform music that’s beyond their capacities. “This’ll be...
Many music students believe that if they can get through a piece in practice, they should necessarily be able to perform the piece on stage. Then, when they become undermined by nervousness, they conclude that their performance problems must be caused by psychological...
