Mental Practice for Musicians — The Bulletproof Musician

7/22/2019 Mental Practice for Musicians The Bulletproof Musician

1/16

Home

Blog

Online Course

Coaching

About

About

ContactWhat Im Reading

Login

The Bulletproof Musician

Does Mental Practice Work?

Tweet

42

682

Like

4

by Dr. Noa Kageyama 25 comments

It is said that legendary pianists Rubinstein and Horowitz hated practicing. Rubinstein simply didnt like

practicing for hours on end, while Horowitz supposedly feared that practicing on pianos other than his

own would negatively affect his touch. Their solution? A healthy dose of mental practice.

ntal Practice for Musicians The Bulletproof Musician http://www.bulletproofmusician.com/does-mental-practice-work/

16 9/4/2013 9:44 PM


2/16

Though many of us may never be legends, mental practice is something that all musicians can absolutely

benefit from, regardless of skill level.

Have a concert coming up that youre not ready for, but too tired to practice? Want to practice but cant,

because of a flare-up of tendonitis or a bad cold? Practice rooms full? Instrument in the shop? Too

early/too late to practice? Only have 15 minutes, so its not really worth getting your instrument out of

your locker, finding a practice room, and getting set up, only to have to quit a few minutes later?

Sound familiar?

Sure, but just imagining yourself playing cant be the same as real physical practice, right?

Youre right. Its not the same, but from studies of athletes, we know that successful individuals tend to

engage in more systematic and extensive mental rehearsals than less successful individuals. Yes, I

acknowledge that there are some differences between athletes and musicians but not as many as you

would think when it comes to the mental aspect of performance.

Furthermore, researchers are finding more neurological and physiological evidence to support what top

athletes such as basketball great Larry Bird, Olympic diver Greg Louganis, and golfer Tiger Woods have

known for years that mental practice produces real changes and tangible improvements in performance.

In one study, participants who mentally practiced a 5-finger sequence on an imaginary piano for two

hours a day had the same neurological changes (and reduction in mistakes) as the participants who

physically practiced the same passage on an actual piano. Some have suggested that mental practice

activates the same brain regions as physical practice, and may even lead to the same changes in neural

structure and synaptic connectivity.

In other words, there is growing evidence that mental practice (if done correctly), can absolutely make adifference in your playing.

My Experience with Mental Practice

I remember when I was 4 or 5, my Mom would put me down for a nap before performances, and tell me

to lie quietly in my room mentally going over my performance note by note. I thought this was silly at the

time, but it kind of stuck, and just became part of what I did.

I found out years later that this mental practice habit contributed to my developing a reputation in college

for not practicing because I spent so little time at the practice rooms. Mostly, the reputation was true Ipracticed maybe a couple hours a day at most and usually even less on the weekends. I heard that another

violinist in my studio asked our teacher how I was able to play as well as I did despite practicing so little.

She told him that most of my practicing took place in my head, so I didnt need to spend as much time in

the practice room. I dont know how she knew this, but she was right. Off and on throughout the day,

whether I was walking to class, eating, or just sitting around, I would often find myself inside my head,

hearing whatever I was working on, seeing and feeling my fingers play the notes, trying out different

fingerings or bowings, experimenting with shifts and finger pressures, correcting mistakes, all in my head.

At the end of the day, Id spend an hour or two going over the things I had already spent all day working

on, and that would be the end of it.

In all honesty, I really should have practiced more, so I cant endorse the idea of trying to get away with

practicing only an hour or two a day (though you may wish to read this article on how to practice more

efficiently). I also cant promise that you will sound like a Rubinstein or Horowitz if you engage in more

mental rehearsal, but I do know that if you dont engage in mental practice, you are totally missing out on


16 9/4/2013 9:44 PM


3/16

a tremendous tool for improving your playing.

Keys to Effective Mental Practice

The psychological literature on mental rehearsal suggests that there are two important keys to keep in

mind when engaging in mental rehearsal that it be systematic and vivid. In other words, mental practice

is not the same as daydreaming, in the same way that practicing on autopilot is not very helpful. To be

effective, it must be structured just as actual practice, with self-evaluation, problem solving, andcorrection of mistakes.

Some Guidelines on Mental Rehearsal

Here are some ideas on how to get started.

1. Calm down

Close your eyes. Focus only on your breathing for a minute. Breathe in slowly and fully through your

nose, then breathe slowly out through your mouth. Then do a total body scan for tension: check your head

and facial muscles, your jaw, neck, shoulders, arms, wrists, hands, back, hips, quads, hamstrings, calves,ankles, even toes. Let any tension you find just melt away.

2. Expand your focus

It can be anything your instrument, the stand in your practice room, a specific wall. See it in your head.

At first, it may not have much detail, or you may have trouble bringing it into focus. Thats ok, your goal

is to take something small, make it more vivid, and begin to expand that vividness into the rest of your

imagined environment. Youll get better with practice.

3. Warm up

Imagine yourself playing scales or warming up with something easy. Can you hear yourself? Exactly theway it sounds? What do you feel? Can you feel your fingers, your arms, shoulders, lungs, throat, etc.? See

how vividly you can mentally recall the kinesthetic elements involved in playing your instrument.

4. Imagine

See, feel, and hear yourself starting to play. Concentrate on the motions that produce the sounds and

effects you want as you go through the music, note by note, phrase by phrase in your head. Keep

playing until you make a mistake or feel the need to correct the way something sounded.

5. TiVo it

When you hear or see yourself play something that doesnt sound like you want it to, immediately hit

the pause button on your mental TiVo. Rewind to a place before the mistake. Start from that point,

moving slowly forward, at a speed you can control. Repeat this process several times, just as you would

in real practice, until youre doing it correctly up to speed. Dont just keep rewinding and trying it again

mindlessly make sure you hit pause, think about why the mistake happened, hit play, try it again, and

then move on when youre satisfied you got it down and know why the mistake happened in the first

place.

6. Keep it real

Its important to make the experience as vivid and real as you can feel the instrument under your

fingers, hands, lips. Really hear the sound, the textures, the volume. See the room around you and the

instrument you are playing.

Additional Suggestions


16 9/4/2013 9:44 PM


4/16

When you use this technique, break it up into shorter segments, like phrases or shorter sections of the

piece. You dont always have to play straight through.

Try visualizing yourself in different locations, wearing different clothes, and in different conditions.

When you feel youve gotten the hang of mental practice, try testing yourself. Record yourself performing

an excerpt, review and rate your performance, then run through a series of mental rehearsals of that

excerpt taking notes about what you notice. Then perform again, review and rate your performance, andmake note of what has changed.

Once you make systematic mental practice a part of your everyday practice routine, I am certain youll

soon wonder how you ever did without it.

New to the blog? Here are a few reasons to sign up for free weekly email updates (plus your copy of

the Bulletproof Musician practice hacking guide)!

Thanks for visiting!

Further Reading:

Do Musicians Need Mental Toughness?1.

How to Develop Greater Mental Toughness2.

Goal-setting Strategies That Work3.

More Goal-setting Strategies That Work4.

How Many Hours a Day Should You Practice?5.

Tagged as: Confidence, mental practice

Tweet

42

682

Like

4

About Dr. Noa Kageyama

Performance psychologist and Juilliard alumnus & faculty member Dr. Noa Kageyama teaches musicians

how to play their best under pressure through live classes, coachings, and an online course. Based in


16 9/4/2013 9:44 PM


5/16

NYC, he is married to a terrific pianist, has two hilarious kids, and is a wee bit obsessed with technology

and all things Apple.

Visit my website

The Psychological Skills of Top Performers

How do great artists perform flawlessly to packed houses? How do some

musicians consistently advance in even the toughest auditions?

Is it the number of hours they practice? Natural talent? An extra hour of scales?

Hard work and talent are important, of course. But once you get to a level where everyone is talented and

everyone has done the work, it comes down to a different set of skills.Mental skills that can be the

difference between a sub-par performance, and one that people remember and talk about for days

afterwards.

Click to learn more...

*Just FYI, if you've been thinking about signing up, I've got a bit of news. Version 2.0 of Beyond

Practicing will be launching soon, and there will be a price increase when it does. But if you enroll before

2.0 goes live, you can get all the 2.0 updates for the 1.0 price.

Enroll now

{ 23 comments read them below or add one }

Bernadette October 21, 2009 at 1:31 pm

Thanks very much. Very helpful suggestions for a busy working parent trying to also learn to play

the piano!

Reply

E March 26, 2011 at 12:00 pm

Thank you for the lovely insight on other ways to practice! Very helpful advice.

~A

Reply

Frances Starling June 11, 2011 at 4:42 pm

I do this often with my singing. I can hear the music, once I have learned it, and sing it in my head


16 9/4/2013 9:44 PM


6/16

without missing a note. Even to correcting that wrong note, If sung wrong. I dont have a piano, but

a song once learned and sung enough is re-called. My head sings it better than my voice, for when I

open my mouth sometimes the sound is not as pretty as it should be. Age has alot to do with this,

and the fact that I am 72 years old and do not perform as I have in the past. Maybe more practice

with the voice, instead of in my head?

Reply

Dr. Noa KageyamaJune 15, 2011 at 10:05 am

Hello Frances,

Youre not alone in finding that often we are capable of sounding better in our heads than in

real life though its always surprising to me how many mistakes we make even in our own

minds.

Have you ever tried mental practice with a primary focus on kinesthetic sensations? Meaning,rather than being focused on sound when engaging in mental practice, to focus also on what it

feels like when you are singing optimally i.e. to practice recreating the physical sensations

and muscle activation patterns which occur when you are singing your very best?

Reply

L. Rochefort June 21, 2011 at 4:43 am

Hello,

Thanks a lot for all this very useful information. Im in a kind of transformation as a music student,

seeking for everything that can improve my performances and especially my time inside the

practice room.

Ive just started applying this technique, and as soon as I played a difficult passage in my head, I

could realise that my body was getting tense playing those notes! Now Ill try to do this every day,

before I go to practice. Its very useful!

Many thanks!

L. Rochefort

Reply

Graeme July 1, 2011 at 9:57 am

Dr. Kageyama,

First of all, I love reading your articles. They are all very helpful and insightful, and I have already

implemented some of your suggestions, such as keeping a practice notebook.


16 9/4/2013 9:44 PM


7/16

I was particularly excited about the idea of mental practice because I will be in Japan without my

clarinet later this month. A few logistical questions: When I do use mental practice, should I have

sheet music in front of me, or should it all be from memory? Do you recommend keeping your eyes

closed the whole time? How long should a typical mental practice session last? And when have

access to both an imaginary clarinet and my real one in the same day, should I allow for much time

between my real practice and my mental practice? Should I mental practice before/after I real

practice?

Forgive me for the barrage of questions, and thank you very much!

Graeme

Reply

Dr. Noa KageyamaJuly 2, 2011 at 2:51 pm

Graeme,

Mental practice is a lot like regular physical practice, and can be structured similarly. If you

are working on memorization, then certainly, youd want to practice from memory. On the

other hand, if youre learning a new piece or just working through different passages, you

could practice with your music in front of you. For me personally, its difficult to keep mental

practice vivid if my eyes are open, but I dont think theres any hard and fast rule about

whether eyes open or closed is better (eyes closed is generally what you will see described in

the literature though).

At first, Id encourage you to keep mental practice sessions shorter so that you dont getburned out, or lose focus. As you develop greater mental stamina and the ability to stay

focused on practicing productively in your head, sessions can be longer.

And when you have both a real clarinet and your imaginary one on the same day, given the

circumstances you describe, you could probably give your imaginary clarinet a break that

day. Under normal circumstances I would encourage you to integrate the two, i.e. play

through a passage, rate yourself and write down observations, then run through a few mental

practice runs to work out kinks and get it sounding exactly like you want, then playing it on

your real clarinet, rate/write down observations again, and so on.

Have a great trip!

Reply

Mary Titus November 12, 2011 at 7:56 pm

Mental practice is so very important. You must know your music mentally, its construction, keys

and key changes. Ive had students who would prepare repertoire with chunks of scales that they are

familiar with but have no idea that they are playing scales until I make them look at the runs. Thenthey realize that all they are doing is playing a simple C Major scale then the particular passage is

played with very little effort. We live in a society that does not have time to waste time. When I am

working on my jazz pieces I will spend hours writing out the changes and writing what keys work


16 9/4/2013 9:44 PM


8/16

the best with the changes. I enjoy playing my axe more when I dont have to stress about what

works best with a Bb7 chord.

Reply

A December 13, 2011 at 8:54 am

Many thanks for this article. Im always looking for ways to improve my musicianship when I dont

have my instrument to hand. I am so excited about trying this!

Reply

Danijel May 14, 2012 at 2:59 pm

Hello!Im a student and I play double bass. Im doing mental practice for half year and I can tell you that

it is a gratest thing/ idea that Ive ever apply in my every day practice! More you do it easier it is.

Im so happy that you post this on your site, so now more people can, and know how to ,use their

genious brain and body in a best way.

From my experience, I would just add some details:

- metronome while doing mental practice

- well breathing( while m. playing hard passages)

- end extra tip that I got in Alexander technique class: Put your hands on a table with your palms up

and put some heavy book( more more) on each of your palms. Also, I recommend to put some rag

or textile on the table. I do this during my mental practice because then arm muscels are in their fulllenght and mostly important relaxed! DONT FORGET TO BREATH WELL AND HAVE YOUR

BACK STRAIGHT!

- also, mental practice is so much easier after doing Brain gym. Very simple and effective. Paul E.

Dennison wrote few books on it. I RECOMMEND!

Dr. Kageyama God bless you and your work!

P.S.

Would love to hear a comment on my comment!

Danijel Radanovi, Croatia

Reply

Timothy TikkerMay 16, 2012 at 8:48 am

Last year I had to perform a major Liszt organ work for my end-of-semester jury. I had played the

piece with score in concert in the preceding months and it hadnt gone as well as I had hoped. Butthis jury was to be by memory the first time I had ever performed it that way!

That morning, I was moved to devote my time entirely to mental practice. Something in me said

keyboard practice wont accomplish anything new at this point. Mental practice will prepare you


16 9/4/2013 9:44 PM


9/16

in a different and very decisive way. I continually set aside my panic-based resistance to the idea

(WHAT?! no real practicing?!) and set to work.

I sat on my bed and studied the score, noting harmonies, structural elements, intervallic

relationships, melodic shapes, sequential formulae I then closed my eyes and thought through

each of these elements by memory. I visualized myself playing each passage, moving my fingers

through the fingerings and being mentally aware of each in memory. I also mentally rehearsed all

changes of registration, the physical movement required for each and how it would be timed andfitted into playing the music.

The end result was that, even though I was playing this piece by memory for the first time in front

of other people, this performance went better than the ones I had done earlier with score! And that

was after only one mental practice session, on the very day of this performance. What if I had been

doing them regularly for months before then?

Reply

Dr. Noa KageyamaMay 16, 2012 at 10:57 am

Hi Timothy,

This is a great description of mental rehearsal thanks for posting! The key here is how vivid

you made the experience of playing in your imagination. All the little tiny details, the

kinesthetic sensations, were all part of the experience, and that really seems to be the key to

successful mental rehearsal.

Reply

Lee Koss June 10, 2012 at 9:51 pm

Yes, I agree that mental practice works. Daniel Coyles book Talent isnt born, Its made, Heres

how reports about brain research that supports this idea. He writes that when someone learns

something challenging and interesting (this is very important), specialized neurons in the brain lay

down myelin along the neural pathway for that task. This permits us to play with increasing speed.

Also, it is very important to begin practice of a piece on a different page each day or to use different

rhythms and articulation patterns to keep the music fresh (credit to Michel Debost). When I taught

woodwinds in the public schools I would have students play along with their peers, fingering on a

drumstick, if they forgot their instrument at home. I could see whether the students knew their

parts. The drumstick approximated the length of their instrument and the students knew that I

would be watching their fingers. Of course, only actual playing improves tone but at least this way

the students were concentrating and laying down a little bit of myelin as well. I think that this style

of practicing helps to develop inner hearing, too.

Reply

Andrea July 3, 2012 at 3:27 pm


16 9/4/2013 9:44 PM


10/16

Dr. Kageyama,

I have teachers that recommend this type of mental practice. I do use it sometimes and I do an

active practice on the keyboard, thinking of what Im doing, not automatically (my practice

routine is like three times more efficient than other students!! its only about thinking and not about

time, its true:)!!)

Your article was very helpful. But I was wondering is mental practice more efficient than real

practice whe you are starting a piece? My sight reading has improved a lot and that obviously helpsme whem Im starting a new piece, but I dont know how to accelerate that process of learning a

new piece.

Sorry for my bad english and my poor vocabulary! I hope you understand me!

Andrea

Reply

Dr. Noa KageyamaJuly 6, 2012 at 4:55 pm

Hi Andrea,

Theres no substitute for real practice, so mental practice isnt necessarily more efficient

per se when youre trying to accelerate learning of a new piece. However, too often we wait

too long to decide what we really want a piece to sound like, which ends up being more

inefficient in the long run.

What I mean is we start off just trying to learn the notes and rhythm and other technicaldetails with no regard for what we really want the piece to sound like. And then when the

technical details are in place, we then think about adding musicality to it. But that then

fundamentally changes the piece, and we have to learn how to play it in this new way with a

whole new set of technical challenges. Better in the long run to figure out how we really want

it to sound first, and then work towards that from day 1.

And thats where mental practice can come into play and accelerate our progress in the long

run by giving ourselves a clear picture of how we want things to sound even though we

cant yet play it that way on our instrument.

Reply

Kate August 17, 2012 at 11:47 pm

Thank you for this article. The past years or so I have been working at figuring out how to practice

most efficiently; I am attempting to study two instruments (flute & piano) seriously and figured I

couldnt afford to waste time in mindless practicing (I just found your website the other day and am

so far finding it useful and confirming in this endeavour!). In this journey I had started spending my

(substantial) time on the bus working on my music in my mind, and in the last couple of months Ihave started to find it really working for me, and appreciate hearing essentially exactly what Ive

been doing given as advice. What Ive actually found this to be most useful with is solidifying

memory. Only looking down at the notes when the bus is at a complete stop I can accomplish as


f 16 9/4/2013 9:44 PM


11/16

much in a 45 minute bus ride as in a couple of hours with the instrument in my hands.

Reply

Leo November 24, 2012 at 1:25 pm

Hi, all

During mental play, I have difficulty envisioning a wide enough area of the keyboard to really see

both hands effectively. Sometimes I raise the point of view to a greater height over the keyboard,

but then I start to lose the visual detail within each hand. Or I my focus gets so tight on one hand,

I lose vision of the other.

Part of the reason, I believe, is that when actually playing, you cant necessarily see/focus on both

hands simultaneously. You typically have one hand in visual focus, and the other hand is only seen

peripherally or coordinated tactilely and not visually at all.

So perhaps mental play SHOULD be an envisioning/practicing of this visual asymmetry?

Was wondering how folks approach this. What precisely do you envision? How do you envision

both hands? Are they both in focus? Do you try to replicate the exact, asymmetical visual

experience of being at the piano?

Thanks!

Reply

Dr. Noa KageyamaDecember 4, 2012 at 6:47 am

Hi Leo,

My take is that it would depend on what you are doing mental practice for. Meaning, if you

are working on running a piece in your head for some mental performance practice, youd

want to create the same experience you would have if playing physically. So you would be

focusing on whatever youd focus on in a real performance at times looking at one hand, at

times both, at times perhaps neither.

On the other hand (does that count as a pun?), when engaging in mental practice for practice

purposes, you may really take a closer look at a hand that you dont generally pay much

attention to, so as to clean up a technical error, or bring greater awareness to something that

isnt working quite right.

Reply

Leo December 24, 2012 at 10:59 am

Thanks for the reply, Doc. That makes a lot of senseand something I was slowly

realizing as I kept at it. Persist!


f 16 9/4/2013 9:44 PM


12/16

Reply

mary T. December 24, 2012 at 2:41 pm

When I do mental practice, I do it with the music in mind. I dont think about what my hands

should be doing. I think about what is going on in the music. Often 8 measures of runs turn out tobe simple fragments of scales. Like in jazz, a measure can be based on 1 particular keyfully

understanding that key can easily make that measure into one note instead of many. Listening is a

very good way to practice with the mind. Listening to a piece repeatedly, without even playing it

physically, can speed up the learning process. ALso, a series of key changes can move

methodically. Such as a series of runs in one key can be repeated in another key that has moved

down 1/2 step. I use mental practice as a means of seeing the piece without memorizing.

Reply

Beyla Kaythin January 30, 2013 at 2:12 pm

Actually this works really well! I already tended to go over whatever I just practised whenever I

was finished, especially because I usually practise just before sleep (which hasnt rarely resulted in

dreams of piano keys, haha).

Funnily enough I make the same mistakes when mentally practising as when actually playing,

which proves to me that the deficiencies arent really in my hands, fingers, etc. but in my brain

itself! (I can move my hands and fingers pretty fast and pretty accurately (like when typing), and

because I also draw and paint a lot the fine motor skills of my right hand are great. But yet I hit

wrong notes and am unable to play fast, let alone with two hands together. This puzzled me for along time, until I realized its not my body where it goes wrong, but in my brain!)

I thought at first that when playing something mentally I would be able to play ANYTHING

flawlessly, which is wrong! I can HEAR it in my head flawlessly, but cannot imagine the keys,

fingering, movements, notes, etc. at ALL unless Ive actually done it physically first. For me

Mental Play is very useful and also pretty fun (because I dont get tired, can replay any time, etc.)

and you can do it ANYWHERE, ANYTIME! (which is terrific during boring maths lessons, I tell

you XD though I have to be careful not to look too much zoned-out as I tend to drop into some

sort of a trance when Im practising something with Mental Play)

I was also wondering something ehm well I am afraid I sound terribly psycho when sayingthis; but is hearing music in your head well ahem normal? (its not some weird form of

schizophrenia, right?) And with this I dont mean having a song stuck in your head, like

something you heard on the radio or something, but DIFFERENT music! The best way to describe

it is that it feels like having an orchestra locked up inside your head of which you arent the

conductor, nor the composer of the music it plays. (which CAN be great, but also pretty annoying,

like lately I had this gorgeous song playing during a PHYSICS test, which made it impossible to

concentrate on the test P_P *sigh*)

But anyway, that has been one of the reasons for me to pick up learning music, as I tell you

nothing is more frustrating than hearing music round the clock and NOT BEING ABLE TO PLAY

IT! Argh! (nor being able to REplay it, as my brain never is kind enough to put it on repeat,unfortunately. Only known songs keep looping around and around now and again, while I can listen

THOSE anytime I want. Speaking of annoying!)


f 16 9/4/2013 9:44 PM


13/16

Reply

Connie May 5, 2013 at 4:52 am

im pretty sure you are composing in your head. this sounds like what most composers

describe is going on all the time mentally in their heads, which they say is sometimes quiteannoying. hope this helps. write down the music, before you lose something great! if you

cant write it down, hum it and record it.

Reply

Barra Jacob-McDowell / Barra the BardAugust 27, 2013 at 11:08 am

Dr. Kageyama,

Just discovered your excellent blog! Thank you! I have been performing as Barra the Bard for 24

years, as a traditional Celtic storyteller specializing in Scottish and Welsh tales, myths, legends,

folklore and music, as well as being a writer, poet, blogger, harper and workshop leader.I do many

kinds of programs, often of multicultural, historical, and/or family/personal tales, and for the past

few years have begun finally approaching my initial goal of combining my telling with harping,

poetry, and singing. With over 5,000 tales of all kinds in my repertoire, it has been very frustrating

to me to have such difficulty in memorizing music! I can learn a new story by hearing it once and

retelling the bones of it within 24 hours; a written story takes only slightly longer; a song Im

singing takes about 2 weeksbut memorizing and *keeping* a piece in my memory and fingers on

the harp strings is far more difficult! Im about an intermediate on lever harp, and admit that I dontpractice regularly or consistently enough physically. OTOH, what stood out to me in reading your

post was that Mental Practicing applies in other ways; I realized Ive been doing it all my life in

regards to stories (my own original fiction as well as traditional tales), rhyming games just before I

slept as a teenager obsessed with poetry, working on songs in the shower or doing dishes, etc. The

hard part will be applying it to harp music, but Im excited to try! Thank you again!

Reply

Leave a Comment

Name *

E-mail *

Website


f 16 9/4/2013 9:44 PM


14/16

Submit

Notify me of followup comments via e-mail. You can also subscribe without commenting.

{ 2 trackbacks }

Practice skills. | Jess Rodda/Tuba/Human

How can I motivate my students to practice efficiently? Anthony Manluccia's Music Ed Portfolio

Previous post: How to Become a More Confident Performer

Next post: What Should I Think About the Night Before an Audition?

As Seen In

Free Updates

Learn how sport psychology can help you beat performance anxiety and play up to your potential

under pressure.

Sign up below, and you'll also get Practice Hacks, a handy guide with 8 strategies for accelerating

your progress in the practice room.

Popular Articles

How Many Hours a Day Should You Practice?


f 16 9/4/2013 9:44 PM


15/16

Is Slow Practice Really Necessary?

Five Best Metronome Apps

How to Make Performance Anxiety an Asset Instead of a Liability

3 Reasons Why Beta Blockers Could Ultimately Be Holding You Back

Does Mental Practice Work?

What Every Musician Ought to Know About Stage Fright

Two Things Experts Do Differently Than Non-Experts When Practicing

How to Become a More Confident PerformerThe Best Time of Day to Practice

Use These 7 Key Preparation Tips to Be More Successful at Your Next Audition

The Importance of Writing Notes in Your Music

How to Start Believing in Yourself

David Kim: On Letting Go and Being Yourself

Five Best Recording Devices

Looking for Something?

Search for:

Teaching artist position in piano

If you are a pianist, have completed your Masters or Doctoral degree in music, and want to

experience living in a different part of the world, this opportunity may be of interest to you.

Read more...

Hello!

Performance psychologist and Juilliard graduate Dr. Noa Kageyama teaches

musicians how to do their best under pressure.

Want more than a one-sentence bio? Click on over to the About Me page where Noa

promises not to talk about himself in the 3rd person.

The Performance Skills

Concentration (11)

Confidence (47)Courage (32)

Determination (33)

Energy (9)

Focus (31)

Preparation (58)

Resilience (34)

Uncategorized (6)

X-Factor (23)

Recent Articles

How Does Music Produce Emotional Reactions?

Does Style Really Trump Substance?


f 16 9/4/2013 9:44 PM


16/16

Two Things Experts Do Differently Than Non-Experts When Practicing

Do Extroverts Make Better Performers Than Introverts?

The Not Entirely Surprising Truth About What Makes Us Happy

Are Great Performers as Cool and Collected on Stage as They Appear?

Built on Thesis

Copyright The Bulletproof Musician | Disclosures


Documents

Mental Practice for Musicians — The Bulletproof Musician