There are many stories of athletes who visualized themselves practicing before going to bed, whether it be a baseball player engaging in a little batting practice or a diver rehearsing their dives. But you’ll often hear discrepancies among their accounts of how and what they visualized. Some describe going over the same skill repeatedly to work out some kinks, while others describe imagining a perfect performance, or playing out a realistic match complete with the inevitable ups and downs. I think there is a time and place for each kind of visualization, and the research suggests that visualiz ..read more

One day in 5th grade, instead of going to gym class, my classmates and I were led to the cafeteria, and greeted by a whole collection of shiny band instruments lined up on a table. The band teacher then pitched us on each instrument, hoping to pique our interest in at least one of them. I’ve forgotten most of the details - but I do remember that we all thought it was hilarious when he deliberately made the most horrible sound come out of one of the instruments, and joked that if we chose that instrument, we too could make that sound and annoy our parents anytime we wanted. Source ..read more

E.E. Cummings once said “It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.” For many years, I didn’t understand what that meant. But it’s starting to make more sense. After all, it’s easy to follow a well-worn path, to do the safe thing, or to take others’ advice when it comes to figuring out what we should do with our lives. But artists seem to find their own way. Artists learn to listen to that inner voice, and have the courage to follow – even if they have no idea where it will take them. And whether we fall in love with their art or not, we respect the artist within them. Because ..read more

When it comes to buying a bathmat, convection oven, or sugar free gummy bears, online reviews can be a real life saver (tip: do not get these gummy bears, aka “Satan bears”). But when it comes to buying violin/viola/cello/bass strings, it’s not quite so straightforward. The right set of strings can make a big difference in how your instrument sounds and plays – but the process of experimenting with various strings to find the right match can be discouraging and costly. Source ..read more

You probably spend a lot of time thinking about how to practice and learn more effectively. You probably also spend a lot of time thinking about how to perform more optimally, and what you have to do in that moment to play your best. But as performance science researcher Aaron Williamon noted in his podcast episode a few months ago, there’s a third element that’s helpful to include in the practice-performance equation. And that’s what we ought to do after a performance - i.e. the post-performance review. Source ..read more

My parents would sometimes take me on drives in the countryside, with the intention of getting lost and finding their way back home. It always worked out fine with my dad at the wheel, but it seems that I did not inherit his good sense of direction, and given a choice, will tend to take the exit or fork in the road that takes me further away from home. Source ..read more

Whether it’s sight-reading under pressure, nailing that big shift in an audition, or making an impossible shot to get all your classmates an A on an organic chemistry quiz, we all know from experience that performing up to our full abilities is infinitely more challenging when we feel like there’s something at stake. But we’ve also learned from recent research (like here and here), that we don’t have to accept this. That being clutch under pressure is a skill we can get better at - by practicing under pressure. Of course, that’s easier said than done, because it’s not like we have a “pressure ..read more

I don’t know if this is normal or not, but I’ve always really enjoyed reading consumer reviews. Whether I’m searching for the right bathmat, garbage bags, or sugar free gummy bears (and if this is the first you’re hearing of this internet phenomenon, read that review ?), I like having some data before taking action. Source ..read more

You’ve undoubtedly heard the saying that “practice makes perfect.” And you’ve probably heard the saying “practice doesn’t make perfect; perfect practice makes perfect” as well. Both statements sort of imply that effective practice means avoiding mistakes. But what if that’s actually not true? What if making mistakes - on purpose - has the potential to accelerate the learning process and lead to much better performance than avoiding mistakes? I know that sounds backwards, but let’s take a look at a teaching strategy that may tempt you to encourage students to do things the “wrong way” more ..read more

It’s the day before an audition, and as you take a few minutes to review some tricky sections, suddenly you get a twinge of anxiety and start stressing and freaking out about how awful everything sounds. How unprepared you feel. And how horribly you’re afraid things are going to go.  It’s at those exact moments when you know the right thing to do is “think positive.” But these are also the exact moments when it’s hardest to think good thoughts.  Like telling a kid to cheer up after they just lost all of their video game privileges for the day, as their little sister munches happily o ..read more