Posts on the mental lives of musicians. Advice to find joy, avoid frustration, and find success in all of your musical endeavors.
As musicians, we spend a lot of time by ourselves in the practice room trying to acquire skills on our own, albeit with a little guidance from our teachers. It’s pretty easy to practice when we first start out on an instrument. As the honeymoon phase comes to an end, however, we frequently find ourselves …
5 Ways to Find Joy While Practicing an Instrument Read More »
In one of my choirs, the graduating seniors were asked to share words of wisdom as we look forward to graduation in the next couple weeks. I’m in a unique position in that I actually graduated back in 2016 with a BA in Piano Performance and English Literature but had the opportunity to return to …
Raise of hands, how many of you feel like you’re faking your way through life? Like you don’t actually know how to do your job, or people think you’re a lot smarter than you actually are? Impostor syndrome (also “imposter”), impostor phenomenon, impostor experience, impostorism, and fraud syndrome are all terms that encompass the idea …
Waging War: 5 Battle Strategies to Defeat Impostor Syndrome Read More »
Recently, one of my professors shared this article by Tanya Kalmanovitch, a Juilliard graduate. The title, “How Quitting Music Made Me an Artist” sounds like clickbait with the promise of some revolutionary way of looking at a tradition that’s ages old. Yet, I keep coming back to it, and I find something new to take away …
Constant self criticism, practicing perfectionism, locking yourself away for hours. Such is the life of a musician. Half of it, anyway. The other half of being a musician can be so rewarding, but when you’re stuck in the first half, it can feel like there’s no point in trying. There’s so many more people that …
3 Questions to Ask When You Feel Pointless as a Musician Read More »
Music becomes magical in the moments when it touches our vulnerability, and this can be anywhere: performance, jamming with others, or even on our own in the practice room. But this magic is built upon hours of arduous work, many of which can be frustrating if you’re not used to practicing patience with yourself. Learning …
5 Ways to Avoid Frustration While Practicing an Instrument Read More »
