The Musician's Way Blog

“Combine your mistakes and your triumphs, stir them into the pot of artistic progress, and then savor what bubbles up.”
–The Musician’s Way, p. 112

Let’s say that you’ve pinpointed some creative goals, equipped your workspace, and scheduled daily times to create - your objectives are within reach and you’re fired up to achieve them.

Is that sufficient groundwork to establish an ongoing creative practice? Continue Reading

“Begin slowly and increase gradually any unaccustomed use of the hands.”
–Michael Charness, MD (The Musician’s Way, p. 237)

Guitarists Billy McLaughlin and Liona Boyd, pianists Leon Fleischer and Gary Graffman – all are musicians whose careers were upended by the mysterious condition known as focal dystonia.

Focal dystonia is a movement disorder characterized by painless, involuntary muscle contractions that occur when a person does a particular activity.

The images shown here portray a guitarist’s hand and a trombonist’s embouchure during dystonic contractions. Continue Reading

“Breaks are as vital to musicians as they are to athletes.”
–The Musician’s Way, p. 75

If you’re like me, you typically become absorbed during practice sessions, so much so that it often doesn’t seem that breaks would be necessary.

But even when we feel mentally focused and physically strong, after working for a while, our muscles, tendons, vocal folds, lips, and the like still need time to recharge. Continue Reading

“Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.”
–Albert Einstein

Is there anything that we creative types prize more than imagination? I expect not. And one way that we can support our imaginativeness is to preserve the mental space that our ideas need to germinate and grow.

Problem is, in our hyperconnected world, information bombards us, and processing all of that information consumes our mental resources.

Here are five habits I use to protect and replenish the mental space I need to do my creative work. Continue Reading

“Learning the basics in a rote, unthinking manner
almost ensures mediocrity.”
–Ellen Langer, psychologist (The Power of Mindful Learning, p. 14)

How does mindfulness apply to music making? When we’re mindful, we notice. We attend to our sound, emotions, execution, and coperformers.

We perceive accurately, without judging ourselves. We bring fascination to every note we play or sing. Continue Reading

“The simplest things are the ones that count.”
–Pablo Casals, cellist

Have you ever dealt with discomfort caused by sitting?

Most of us sit for hours each day as we practice, study, and use computers.

Yet I’ve observed that few music students know how to sit optimally and, as a result, many endure frequent episodes of back pain.

Here are 4 principles that contribute to easeful sitting. All are expanded on in The Musician’s Way (p. 250-269), which includes dozens of high-resolution photos.

Continue Reading

“Ultimately, your musical progress will depend more on your skillfulness with the creative process than on any talent.”
–The Musician’s Way, p. 313

We dedicated musicians invest heavily in growing our abilities because we know that the personal payoff is immense: Few things in life rival the joy of making music.

Why then do countless young artists who have talent and opportunities to excel nonetheless practice halfheartedly, miss application deadlines, avoid making recordings & websites, and otherwise dither? Continue Reading

Barbara Fredrickson

“Positive emotions open our hearts and minds,
making us more receptive and more creative.”
–Barbara Fredrickson, psychologist and author (Positivity, p. 21)

We musicians intuitively understand the power of positive emotions.

Whether we’re practicing or performing, we know that feelings such as joy and hope ignite our artistry.

We also understand that, on the flipside, negativity can sap our motivation and stifle our musicality. Continue Reading

“I ignored all my body’s warning signals in the name of ‘dedication’ to what I was doing. I had absolutely no idea that this little problem
would in fact threaten my career.”
–Christine Harrison, violinist (The Musician’s Way, p. 238)

We may not like to admit it, but we all have physical limits. And given that music making is so physical, we musicians sometimes exceed our limits, much as dancers and athletes do.

Still, we can prevent minor hurts from escalating into dire injuries, if we’re able to recognize and respond to the body’s warning signs. Continue Reading

“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 tool that helps us restore inner balance and kindle creativity.

Repeated for a number of cycles, this exercise triggers an innate calming response that also tempers the fight-or-flight activation brought on by performance nerves.

Here’s how it’s done. Continue Reading