Avsnitt
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Have you ever had the experience of fixing something in the practice room…only to have it come back in performance?
Maybe it’s a passage where tension creeps back in. Or a section where your fingers revert to an old fingering. Or some aspect of your technique that you’ve worked hard to fix - until it shows up again at exactly the wrong moment.
Why does this happen?
In this month's episode, cognitive psychologist Paul Baxter explains why bad habits are so persistent, and shares a little-known research-based method that may help change stubborn habits more quickly - and permanently.
Get all the nerdy details in this month's interview:
Paul Baxter: Why Bad Habits Keep Coming Back (And a Faster Way to Change Them)
Additional Resources
The exact Old Way New Way protocol and examples across a wide range of performance domains can be found in Paul's book, Overcoming Performance Roadblocks
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How should musicians actually practice to improve faster? In this conversation with researcher and trumpet professor Micah Killion, we explore what expert musicians do differently in the practice room and what research reveals about effective practice.
Micah Killion is Assistant Professor of Trumpet and Brass Coordinator at Montclair State University and former principal trumpet of the United States Air Force Band in Washington, D.C. A Yamaha Performing Artist with degrees from Juilliard, Teachers College–Columbia, and UT Austin, his research on expert practice and music learning has been presented at leading institutions including Juilliard, Eastman, and the Royal Academy of Music.
In this episode, Micah shares what he discovered after closely analyzing how elite performers actually practice - and why their approach looks very different from the way most musicians were taught. We explore the decision-making process behind effective practice, the surprising role of mistakes in learning, and a simple strategy that can help musicians practice more efficiently, musically, and consistently.
Get all the nerdy details right here:
Micah Killion: The One Thing Artist-Level Musicians Do Differently in the Practice Room
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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 -
Saknas det avsnitt?
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One of my teachers often used to say that no matter what you’re playing, when you’re on stage, the beginning of a piece is always the hardest part.
Not because the opening is more difficult technically, but because we’ve generally been sitting around for a little while, so we’re feeling kind of cold, a little disconnected from our instrument, and nervous and jittery.
And it often takes us a minute or two to get warmed up and really hit our stride. Which might not be the end of the world if you’re playing a 30-minute concerto. But if it’s an audition that only lasts a few minutes, this “warm-up” period can feel like a really long (and crappy) couple minutes.
Is there something we can do to be more accurate right from the start, and skip that “settling-in” period? (spoiler alert - yes, there is 😁).
Get all the nerdy details here:
How to Start a Performance with More Accuracy (Without the "Onstage Warm-Up")
Live mental skills class begins soon!
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Registration ends January 25th.
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References
Perry, I. S., and Katz, Y. J. (2015). Pre-performance routines, accuracy in athletic performance and self-control. Athens J. Sports 2, 137–152. doi: 10.30958/ajspo.2-3-1
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In some years it feels easier to begin the new year with a lot of energy and enthusiasm. Other years, it can be difficult to get going and build up those new habits that we’d love to develop.
Whichever kind of year this is shaping up to be for you, I have a few things planned these next few weeks to help make it a productive one.
Today, I have a couple studies to share that look at a popular technique for getting started when your motivation isn’t quite there.
Then, Coworking Week begins Monday, where we’ll have five days of drop-in coworking calls to clear distractions, get unstuck, and check things off your list (join here).
And the week after that, I’ll be opening the doors for the Winter Psych Essentials class, where through a month of group classes and gentle peer accountability, you’ll learn how to accelerate your progress, and perform more confidently in 2026 with research-based techniques and exercises from performance science that you can apply to your daily practice (details here).
But for now, let's take a look at a strategy that could make it easier to start (and finish) tasks, whether that be practicing, studying, or doing the laundry:
When You Can’t Get Yourself to Start Practicing, Try This
References
Ara, Z., Rahim, I. B., Zhou, P., Yu, L., Esmaeili, B., Yu, L., & Hong, S. R. (2025). You are not alone: Designing body doubling for ADHD in virtual reality. arXiv (Cornell University). https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2509.12153
Eagle, T., Baltaxe-Admony, L. B., & Ringland, K. E. (2024). “It Was Something I Naturally Found Worked and Heard About Later”: An Investigation of Body Doubling with Neurodivergent Participants. ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing, 17(3), 1–30. https://doi.org/10.1145/3689648
More from The Bulletproof Musician
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We all get stuck on problem passages from time to time. And it can be very natural to simply throw more repetitions at it, in hopes that this will eventually unlock something.
But in doing so, we end up accumulating more and more incorrect repetitions and reinforcing mistakes. So what’s the alternative?
A new study took a rare, close-up, repetition by repetition look at how artist-level musicians practice difficult passages. And it identified some key similarities in how they approach problems and keep making progress - without reinforcing mistakes.
The result is a concrete practice framework that any musician can use to guide their practice. You might even argue that this is THE core process that underlies effective skill learning.
Get all the nerdy details here:
The Central Strategy Expert Musicians Use to Practice Difficult Passages
References
Killion, M. F., & Duke, R. A. (2025). The central strategy of music practice: A blow-by-blow account. Journal of Expertise, 8(2–3), 85–128.
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The voice in our head can be an asset at times - but also kind of a jerk at the worst possible moments. And like that one person in the “quiet car” of the train that doesn’t seem to understand the rules, it never seems to be quiet when we need it to.
A 2014 study identified a self-talk strategy that led to improved performances, and less post-performance shame and rumination.
And it doesn’t require us to shush the inner critic entirely (whew, because that’s really difficult!). It’s just a small, simple - yet quirky - tweak that anyone can do.
Get all the nerdy details here:
How a Small Change in Self-Talk Could Improve Performance Under Pressure
References
Kross, E., Bruehlman-Senecal, E., Park, J., Burson, A., Dougherty, A., Shablack, H., Bremner, R., Moser, J., & Ayduk, O. (2014). Self-talk as a regulatory mechanism: How you do it matters. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 106(2), 304–324. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0035173
More from The Bulletproof Musician
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A few months ago, when a sportswriter published an article in The New York Times about an unusual and “revolutionary” practice method that NBA star Victor Wembanyama and other elite athletes and teams (like the World Series-winning LA Dodgers) were utilizing, I started getting emails from musicians, asking if this method, known as the “constraints-led approach,” might apply to practicing music too.
So what is the constraints-led approach? And is it relevant to musicians?
Spoiler alert - yes, it totally is. 😁
And if you’ve ever been frustrated by how you can play exactly the way you want in the practice room, but find that things start to break down when you’re surrounded by other musicians, or playing in a new hall, or on a different piano, this can not only help you be more comfortable in performance, but have way more fun in your daily practice too.
Get all the nerdy details right here:
A Learning Method That Outperformed Traditional Practice
More joy in the practice room and on stage in 2026?
Get the Beyond Practicing 2-for-1 offer (ends on December 14, 2025 at 11:59pm)
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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 -
A friend recently asked if it's true that becoming a virtuoso performer requires being a perfectionist.
Well, spoiler alert, it's not a simple yes or no answer. And there are a lot of fascinating nuances to explore.
One of which involves performance anxiety, and the question of whether perfectionism increases or decreases nerves.
Get all the nerdy details and find out how much perfectionism might work best:
How Much Perfectionism Do You Really Need to Succeed?
References
Racine, P., Laflamme, S. V., Gaudreau, P., & Langlois, F. (2025). Please don’t stop the music! A new look at the performance anxiety of musicians with the model of excellencism and perfectionism. Psychology of Music. https://doi.org/10.1177/03057356241300538
☃️ Holiday 2-for-1 Offer
Get the Beyond Practicing course, with bonus account and two additional bonuses for you and a buddy (ends December 7, 2025):
👉 Get the 2-for-1 offer + bonuses
More from The Bulletproof Musician
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Playing for other people, whether it’s an audience of one, a dozen, or several hundred, can be a stressful thing! So it’s easy to focus on the negative aspects of performance, like how to manage nerves and avoid mistakes.
But performing can also be a real thrill, and one of the most satisfying and meaningful things we do in music. So I thought it might be fun to explore performing and practicing from this more positive angle as well.
My guest today is pianist Pallavi Mahidhara. A prizewinner at the Geneva International Piano Competition and the International Prokofiev Competition in Saint Petersburg Russia, Pallavi has performed across five continents, and at festivals such as Marlboro and Verbier. She also hosts the “Conscious Artist” podcast, which promotes mental health awareness for performing artists, and is often invited to give workshops and master classes at universities and summer programs as well.
In this episode, you’ll hear Pallavi describe how practicing and performing are separate, how practicing and performing are connected, how she is able to look for the good rather than the bad in each piano she plays, how she is able to be present and trust herself in performance, and why it’s helpful - both in music and in life - to have no regrets.
Get all the nerdy details right here:
Pallavi Mahidhara: On Practicing for Flexibility, Not Perfection
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Sleep and recovery is an aspect of preparation that athletes prioritize, with teams hiring sleep consultants, and many athletes going to great lengths to ensure they’re getting enough sleep.
And studies suggest that this investment of time is very much worth their while, when it comes to high-level performance.
But how much of a difference would an additional 90 minutes of sleep make when it comes to music performance?
Get all the nerdy details and see what happened when a group of music students and professional musicians added an extra 90 minutes to their sleep for a week:
What Happened When Musicians Slept 90 Minutes More
References
Pelletier, B. (2025). Effects of sleep extension on musical performance skills. Music & Science, 8. https://doi.org/10.1177/20592043251385420
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I remember a lesson many years ago, when my teacher told me that her job was to teach me how to teach myself. So that I would one day no longer need a teacher.
I couldn’t have been more than 9 or 10 at the time, so the notion of me teaching myself was hard to fathom. It was difficult enough to just play in tune, never mind come up with my own bowings and fingerings, or making decisions about phrasing and all the musical details and nuances involved.
Of course, she was right. One day I wouldn’t have a teacher. Or even if I did, I would only have that teacher’s assistance for one brief hour out of each week. Which meant that for 99.4% of the week, I was on my own. And if I wanted to make meaningful progress during the week, I’d have to learn how to teach myself.
But how exactly do you teach someone to become a more independent learner?
Get all the nerdy details right here:
Why Being Too Quick to Offer Feedback Could Inhibit Learning
References
Swinnen, S. P., Schmidt, R. A., Nicholson, D. E., & Shapiro, D. C. (1990). Information feedback for skill acquisition: Instantaneous knowledge of results degrades learning. Journal of Experimental Psychology Learning Memory and Cognition, 16(4), 706–716. https://doi.org/10.1037/0278-7393.16.4.706
More from The Bulletproof Musician
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Whether we’re baking a cake, driving to a new restaurant, or putting together a puzzle, we can usually get to the goal more efficiently and effectively if we have a clear idea what the destination looks like.
I think we all know that the same is true for learning a new piece of music too - but often, this is not actually what our practice looks like. While we might have a pretty good idea what we don’t want something to sound like, our approach to practicing suggests that we are typically much less clear about what exactly we do want.
A 2023 study illustrates how taking a moment to be clearer about our musical intentions (with a 4-step process) could lead to more effective practice!
Get all the nerdy details here:
Fewer Repetitions….But More Rapid Progress?
References
Williams, S. G., van Ketel, J. E., & Schaefer, R. S. (2023). Practicing Musical Intention: The Effects of External Focus of Attention on Musicians’ Skill Acquisition. Music & Science, 6. https://doi.org/10.1177/20592043231151416
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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 with violinist Ida Kavafian is packed with key points about effective practice, plus fascinating nerdy details about bowing and fingering principles, references to specific passages in the Sibelius concerto, Schubert Fantasy, Beethoven’s Kreutzer sonata, a clever hack for playing fifths in tune, and so much more.
And if you’re not a string player, don’t worry - many of the principles are equally applicable to other instruments too.
Get all the nerdy details and learn how to level up your practice in this month’s interview:
Ida Kavafian: Habits That Separate Good Musicians from Great Ones
More from The Bulletproof Musician
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One of the arguments often made for why we should memorize music, is that performing from memory facilitates more expressive performances. But is that really true?
There's not a lot of direct data that speaks to this question, but there are some clues here and there, suggesting that the answer might be a little more nuanced than a simple yes or no.
Get all the nerdy details right here:
Can Memorizing Music Make You a More Expressive Performer?
A course on how to develop “bulletproof” memory (registration ends 10/26/25)
Most of us never learn how, but memorizing music is actually a concrete skill that can be learned. Discover a step-by-step, 3-phase, research-based framework for memorizing music that draws from the strategies that expert musicians and effective memorizers use to memorize music efficiently, and perform more confidently from memory - even under pressure.
Get the Bulletproof Memory course (Public release ends October 26, 2025)
References
Chaffin, R., Gerling, C. C., & Demos, A. P. (2024). How secure memorization promotes expression: A longitudinal case study of performing Chopin’s Barcarolle, Op. 60. Musicae Scientiae, 28(4), 703-722. https://doi.org/10.1177/10298649241241405
Williamon, A. (1999). The Value of Performing from Memory. Psychology of Music, 27(1), 84-95. https://doi.org/10.1177/0305735699271008
Woody, R. H. (2006). The effect of various instructional conditions on expressive music performance. Journal of Research in Music Education, 54(1), 21–36. https://doi.org/10.1177/002242940605400103
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 -
Memory can often feel like a mysterious, unknowable phenomenon. Something that happens magically by itself at times, with great effort at others, and sometimes deceives us by abandoning us suddenly when we need it most!
We’ve worked on unpacking various aspects of memory over the last couple weeks - with Jane Ginsborg two episodes here and why pianists can have more difficulty than other musicians here.
And today, we’ll be looking at the pros and cons of the two different types of memory that musicians rely on. Spoiler alert - the one that most of us rely on is the less reliable of the two, which is why our memory is often not as reliable under pressure as we’d like!
Also, if you’ve been a long-time listener, you might remember that I mentioned working on a memorization course a couple summers ago. Well, the Bulletproof Memory course is finally ready - and will be available on a limited basis through next Sunday, October 26th (you can get immediate access to the course right here).
Ready to see which type of memory you might be using?
Get all the nerdy details here:
Two Approaches to Memorization (Beware: One Could Leave You Stranded!)
Learn how to develop “bulletproof” memory
Memorizing music can be a gift, but is very much also a skill that can be learned. Discover a step-by-step, 3-phase, research-based framework for memorizing music that draws from the strategies that expert musicians and effective memorizers use to memorize music efficiently, and perform more confidently from memory - even under pressure.
Bulletproof Memory (available for a limited time only - Oct. 19-26)
References
Chaffin, R., Lisboa, T., Logan, T., & Begosh, K. T. (2009). Preparing for memorized cello performance: the role of performance cues. Psychology of Music, 38(1), 3–30. https://doi.org/10.1177/0305735608100377
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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 -
Mistakes on stage are never fun, but missing a note here or there, or playing out of tune is over and done with pretty quick. Having a memory slip on stage is a whole other level of discomfort. 😳 It’s one of the things that makes many musicians most anxious about performing.
Researchers have taught us a ton in the last couple decades about how the best memorizers memorize music. And so I thought it’d be worth taking a look at various aspects of memory in the next couple weeks.
Today, we’ll take a look at research which explains why pianists may have a tougher time with memory than other musicians (spoiler alert: it’s not because they have more notes), and what we can all learn from this to enhance our own memory security. Get all the nerdy details here:A Hidden Reason You Forget Music on Stage
Wish you could perform more confidently from memory?
Memorization can feel like a mysterious process, but it's a more concrete and practical process than you might think. I’ve distilled a couple decades of research, and over a hundred studies, book chapters, dissertations, and case studies into a 5-module step-by-step course on memorization for musicians, that will be available for a limited public release from October 19 - 26, 2025. If you’d like to get on the waitlist so you don’t miss it, you can do that right here: bulletproofmusician.com/memory
References
Mishra, J., & Backlin, W. M. (2007). The effects of altering environmental and instrumental context on the performance of memorized music. Psychology of Music, 35(3), 453–472. https://doi.org/10.1177/0305735607077838
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 -
Talk to anyone who has ever performed from memory, and you’ll probably get a story of a time when their memory failed them. For instance, I remember a time, perhaps in elementary school, when I got lost in a piece on stage, and rather than stopping and looking over the pianist’s shoulder to see where I was, just started making stuff up, until I could figure out where I was. It wasn’t a very fun experience for me, but I think it actually freaked the pianist out even more. 😆
One of the problems, was that I never learned how to memorize music. And not because my teachers were negligent in any way. We just didn’t really know that much back then about how memory works!
But thanks to the efforts of several researchers in the last couple decades, we now know quite a bit about the most - and least - effective ways to get all those notes into and out of our brains.
One of those researchers is Jane Ginsborg. And in today’s episode, Jane will share many key tips and details with us on the science of memorization, specifically as it relates to musicians. And because Jane’s background is in voice, there are some special nuances included for singers as well!
Get all the nerdy details right here:
Jane Ginsborg: On Building Stronger and More Reliable Musical Memory
A memory course
If you'd like to learn more about the music memorization process and get more comfortable (and confident) performing from memory, you may be interested in the Bulletproof Memory course that will be released soon. You can join the waitlist for the limited public release right here.
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 -
A pianist once told me the last thing their teacher said at their final lesson after years of study: “Now forget everything I ever told you.”
Not exactly the parting wisdom you’d expect, right?
But hidden in that odd-sounding advice is an important mental shift that could help you play with more freedom and confidence under pressure.
Get all the nerdy details in today's episode. Or, get the text version with references, links, and other details right here:
How to Use Focus Cues to Play More Freely on Stage
A live online performance enhancement class (registration closes on 9.28.2025)
Performance Psych Essentials: Work on practicing more effectively and performing more optimally alongside a global cohort of musicians, educators, and learners of all ages. Registration for the live online 4-week class is open! (Class runs from October 5 - November 2)
References
Aiken, C. A., & Becker, K. A. (2022). Utilising an internal focus of attention during preparation and an external focus during execution may facilitate motor learning. European Journal of Sport Science, 23(2), 259–266. https://doi.org/10.1080/17461391.2022.2042604
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 -
One of the questions that I'm often asked, is the question of whether performance psychology can be helpful to those whose performance anxiety is a little more severe than most.
Well, a 2023 study looked at that exact question actually. And it even gives us some insight into which specific mental skills or strategies might be most helpful to work on in cases like this.Get all the nerdy details in today's episode. Or, get the text version with references, links, and other details right here:
Is There Hope for the Most Anxious Performers?
Additional links
Pre-performance routines
Acclimatization training
Left-hand contractions
Deep breathing
Registration for Cohort 25 is open (signups close on 9.28.2025)
Performance Psych Essentials: Work on practicing more effectively and performing more optimally alongside a global cohort of musicians, educators, and learners of all ages. Registration for the live online 4-week class is open! (Class runs from October 5 - November 2)
References
Lubert, V. J., Nordin-Bates, S. M., & Gröpel, P. (2023). Effects of tailored interventions for anxiety management in choking-susceptible performing artists: a mixed-methods collective case study. Frontiers in Psychology, 14. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1164273
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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 -
Staying in a good mental and emotional state before performances is critical to playing up to our abilities when it counts. And we're probably going to be less likely to shy away from performance opportunities too, if we have more control over how we feel in the leadup to auditions and concerts.
But how does one do this? What can we do in the hours and minutes before a performance to get into a good headspace?
Get all the nerdy details here:
How to Get Your Mind in the Right Place Before Going On Stage
References
Watanabe, A., Kondoh, S., Samma, T., & Fujii, S. (2025). Enhanced subjective performance achievement in wind instrument playing through positive memory recall: effects of sympathetic activation and emotional valence. Frontiers in Psychology, 16. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1544069
Registration begins soon! (9.21.2025 - 9.28.2025)
Performance Psych Essentials: Work on practicing more effectively and performing more optimally alongside a global cohort of musicians, educators, and learners of all ages. Live 4-week class begins soon! (October 5 - November 2)
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 - Visa fler
