Peak Performance for Musicians
Overcome Music Performance Anxiety with Mental Game Strategies
In the previous posts, Are You a Mentally Tough Performer? Pt. 1 and Are You a Mentally Tough Performer? Pt. 2, we have been looking at the skills, habits, and thought processes of successful performers. What makes these performers mentally "tough" enough to withstand the pressures of performing and seemingly, fly above? In Part 1, we discussed the "basic" skills or life skills of attitude, … [Read more...]
In Are You a Mentally Tough Performer? Pt. 1 we discussed how important it is for performers to be mentally tough and that mental toughness is simply having effective mental skills that allow for fearless, exciting performing. The Level I Skills include Attitude, Motivation, Goal Setting, and Commitment—basic life habits and skills that are developed early in life. Mental Skills Needed … [Read more...]
Performers don't hesitate to assess their musical skills as they continue to train and practice to be an excellent player or singer. It's just as important to periodically assess your mental skills in order to determine how prepared you are to move forward, to grow, and continue to evolve as an excellent and mentally strong performer. These mental performing skills include commitment, … [Read more...]
Have you had a problem performing well when you are under pressure at competitions or at auditions? Have you been so anxious before or even during a performance that it adversely affected your performing? Has your critical voice ever overpowered you with doubts and anxious thoughts? Have you ever been so concerned with what others think about your performing that you felt unable to perform … [Read more...]
After a big performance or competition, performers can feel a little let down because what they have been striving for is completed. Rather than move right on to the next goal, why not stop and assess? After a major recital, competition, or audition is an excellent time for performers to check in with how they are doing. If you're thinking, I thought that's what the performance or … [Read more...]
Anyone who has seen the 50's American hit television show, I Love Lucy, has heard Ricky Ricardo say to his wife, "LUCY, you've got some splainin' to do!" Oh, how we've laughed at Lucy's wild and funny explanations. As performers, the explanations we have for our successes and setbacks may not be so wild or funny, but we have them all the same and they can and do really affect the way we … [Read more...]
Did you see the recent Associated Press article about Barbra Streisand's new album, Release Me? It seems that during the heyday of her recording career, if she made a mistake or found a single problem while recording a song, she'd toss the whole thing. Because of this perfectionism, she ended up with a whole case full of unreleased material. "If I didn't like that one word, I wouldn't … [Read more...]
What are illusions? Illusions are tricks our eyes and minds play on us. They trick us into perceiving something different from what actually exists. What we see often does not correspond with reality. The funny thing about optical illusions is that what we perceive seems very real until we view it in another light! Look at the black and white picture to the right. What do you see? … [Read more...]
Most performers have had a big audition, that important performance, or the competition that they've worked six months to prepare for, raise their anxiety level. This anxiety level can be manifest in one of several ways: in your body (somatically), in your mind (cognitively), and ultimately, in your performances. Somatic or bodily symptoms of music performance anxiety are a result of the … [Read more...]
If you have read or heard of the 2008 New York Times bestseller, My Stroke of Insight, you know Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor’s story—a Harvard brain scientist experiencing her own stroke and then, living to tell about it. Yes, she survived, but the left side of her brain did not. That meant that all her language, scientific training, and memories of her past life were gone. After a period of … [Read more...]
