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PODCAST

The Bulletproof Musician

Ever wonder why you can practice for hours, sound great in the practice room, and still be frustratingly hit or miss on stage? Join performance psychologist and Juilliard alumnus/faculty Noa Kageyama, and explore research-based “practice hacks” for beating anxiety, practicing more effectively, and playing up to your full abilities when it matters most.

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All Episodes

8:12

A Comparison of Three Approaches to Teaching...

The Bulletproof Musician ·

2025/06/29

We learned last week that having more to say expressively with the music we’re playing could increase the likelihood of experiencing more flow states in performance (here, in case you missed it). But this study looked at a bunch of different strategies and classes that were spread out over 6 months. Are there faster ways to help students play more expressively? Like, what about the sorts of things that our teachers did for us when we were students? Like demonstrating certain passages in lesso...

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7:35

The Overlooked Skill That Could Make Performing More...

The Bulletproof Musician ·

2025/06/22

You know those really good days on stage? Where you’re totally present and in the moment, at one with your instrument, locked in on the music, not worried at all about what anyone might think, and just have this feeling that everything is going to work out, because playing just feels so easy and effortless? Would be nice if we could have more of those kinds of days, no? 😅 Are these good days a function of simply practicing more? And making sure our technique is totally secure and solid so we

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9:13

How Do Effective Practicers Make the Most of Their...

The Bulletproof Musician ·

2025/06/15

Effective practicers tend to be more motivated, empowered, and persistent, whereas less effective practicers tend to feel more helpless and lower self-efficacy. But what do they actually do differently? One of the big differences between better and worse practicers in a 2021 study was the time spent in "non-playing" practice activities. Like, those periods between the playing and repetitions where our fingers aren't moving and making sounds come out of our instruments. And what exactly ...

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12:13

Do We Unconsciously Favor Talent Over Effort?

The Bulletproof Musician ·

2025/06/08

You're probably heard the quote "Genius is 1 percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration." But what do you think? Both play some role of course, but which do you think is more important for achieving success - innate ability or effortful training? What would you say if I said that you might be fooling yourself? Where even if you think that you believe effort and training to be more important, deep down, you might actually favor natural ability over hard work? Are we all biased again...

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49:45

Cellist Yumi Kendall: On Becoming a More Positive...

The Bulletproof Musician ·

2025/06/01

Cellist Yumi Kendall has been the assistant principal cellist of the Philadelphia Orchestra since 2004, serves on the faculty of the Curtis Institute of Music, co-hosts the Tacet No More podcast with bassist Joseph Conyers, and is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania’s Master of Applied Positive Psychology program. In this episode, we explore… Yumi’s early musical influencesWhat effective practice really means (and looks like)How Yumi balances competing demands and sets practice goals...

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8:14

How to Keep Your Inner Critic From Getting the Better...

The Bulletproof Musician ·

2025/05/25

We all have a voice in our head, that can sometimes get pretty loud and awfully critical. Ever wonder where this voice and all that negativity comes from? And why it can suddenly become more critical at certain times more than others? A 1990 study provides some intriguing clues! Get all the nerdy details right here: How to Keep Your Inner Critic From Getting the Better of You * * * Have you ever wondered why it is exactly that things often sound better at home than they do on stage? If you’...

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7:38

Pre-Performance Apathy (and the Importance of...

The Bulletproof Musician ·

2025/05/18

There's a famous quote attributed to Heifetz (or any number of different folks) - that if I don't practice one day, I know it; two days, the critics know it; three days, the public knows it. So does that mean that we can't afford to take any days off, if we're truly serious about our craft? And what does it mean if we start to feel burned out and stale? Well...it could be my imagination, but I swear I once saw a video in which Heifetz said that he always took one day off from practicing a wee...

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9:08

Your Brain Isn’t Built for Consistency - Here’s How...

The Bulletproof Musician ·

2025/05/11

Ever wonder why it's so difficult to do the same thing twice, in exactly the same way? Like the same exact crescendo or the same exact speed of vibrato? Do we just need to practice more? Or is there something else involved? Turns out our brain isn't wired for this kind of consistency. But that's actually a good thing! And it has some interesting implications on how we ought to approach practicing too. Get all the nerdy details here: Your Brain Isn’t Built for Consistency - Here’s How to Make ...

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69:19

Mitch Abrams: On Trauma and High-Level Performance

The Bulletproof Musician ·

2025/05/04

I think the last couple decades have seen a growing change in the music community, where there's a greater openness to talking about nerves and certain mental health struggles. But one area that isn't yet being talked about so much is trauma. What is trauma? What "counts" and what doesn't? How does this happen? How does it affect us? How can we know if a student has experienced trauma? Could we unintentionally (and unknowingly) be causing trauma? To better understand trauma and its intersecti...

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8:36

Reward vs. Punishment: Which Leads to Faster Learning?

The Bulletproof Musician ·

2025/04/27

When it comes to motivating students, musicians, or even ourselves, we all wonder: is it better to reward effort — or call out mistakes? It turns out, both approaches can work… but they lead to very different kinds of learning. Get all the nerdy details here: Reward vs. Punishment: Which Leads to Faster Learning? * * * Have you ever wondered why it is exactly that things often sound better at home than they do on stage? If you’ve been confused (and frustrated) by the inconsistency of your p...

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6:20

One Way Parents Can Help Their Kids Be Less Anxious

The Bulletproof Musician ·

2025/04/20

It's hard to be a parent and not worry about one's kids. Especially when it comes to public performances, competitions, or auditions, whether big or small. But doesn't it feel like sometimes a parents' worry is contagious? Where their stress or worry rubs off on their child, and the kid starts worrying or feeling more pressure as the performance approaches too? The answer is not to tell your students' parents to chill out and stop worrying, of course. Because that's not likely to happen no ma...

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6:50

A Self-Talk Tweak to Boost the Odds of Achieving Your...

The Bulletproof Musician ·

2025/04/13

My daughter and I have been binge-watching past seasons of The Amazing Race for some months now, and the psychology nerd in me has become increasingly fascinated by one particular aspect of the show. The participants’ self-talk. As in, what do participants say when they run into a task that feels impossible or beyond their abilities? “I can’t” When participants start saying “I can’t,” they often stop trying and appear to be on the verge of quitting altogether. After all, “can’t” is a pretty d...

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53:30

Linda Chesis: On Cultivating a More Beautiful Sound...

The Bulletproof Musician ·

2025/04/06

Ever get that overwhelmed feeling in the practice room? Where you know there’s a ton of work to be done, but you’re not quite sure where to start or what exactly to do? Maybe you’re not happy with your sound, or your intonation is sketchy, or perhaps it’s one of those days when it feels like everything needs attention? We only have so much time and energy, so what are we to do? Flutist Linda Chesis is a soloist, chamber musician, educator, and festival director. She was a student of Jean-Pier...

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10:01

Finding Your Optimal Anxiety Level: Why Calm Isn’t...

The Bulletproof Musician ·

2025/04/04

Even from a young age, I was always confused by the relationship between nerves and performance. There were times, for instance, when I’d be nervous and sound pretty terrible. But then there were other times when I’d be nervous and play better than ever. And then there were times when I’d be calm and sound very uninspired and mediocre. It all felt like a crapshoot, and none of it ever made sense. Like, why were nerves sometimes helpful and sometimes not helpful? Should I be trying harder to c...

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7:52

The 70% Rule: Why Practicing Shouldn’t Be Too Easy

The Bulletproof Musician ·

2025/03/23

Somewhere along the line we learn that mistakes are bad, and perfect is good - but what if this is actually not true when it comes to learning? What if mistakes are actually an essential part of learning? And what if we actually learn faster when we're in a challenge "sweet spot" and playing nowhere near perfectly? If that were true...where might this sweet spot be? Get all the nerdy details and learn why you don't want practicing to feel too easy right here: The 70% Rule: Why Practicing Shou...

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6:36

Sight Reading: The Ideal Error Rate for Optimal Learning

The Bulletproof Musician ·

2025/03/16

When you're practicing sight-reading, how difficult should the music be? Should it be easy enough that you can read it more or less perfectly, without any mistakes? Should it be difficult enough that you're making lots of mistakes, and feeling really challenged? Could there a specific "sweet spot" or Goldilocks zone where your sight-reading skills improve at the fastest possible rate? Get all the nerdy details here: Sight Reading: The Ideal Error Rate for Optimal Learning * * * Has performanc...

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7:13

Why Practicing While Distracted Is Actually Very...

The Bulletproof Musician ·

2025/03/09

Have you ever found yourself getting irritated or see your performance get derailed by distractions on stage? Maybe it was noises backstage, or movement in the audience, or people coughing and loudly unwrapping candy in the quiet moments? These distractions often seem like such trivial things, but sometimes, they can take up more space in our thoughts than they ought to, and lead to little slip-ups. Which can be pretty frustrating, lead to more little mistakes, and then begin to send the whol...

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6:04

How to Help Students Remember More From Each Lesson

The Bulletproof Musician ·

2025/03/02

A one-hour lesson can often go by really quickly, but also be packed with lots and lots to remember. Have you ever found yourself repeating yourself from one week to the next? Having to remind students about things you've already talked about in previous lessons? If you'd like to help students remember more from their lessons (and other classes too), I think you'll be intrigued by the finding of a 2014 study which compared two approaches to learning, and found one that significantly enhanced ...

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8:10

How to Increase the Likelihood of Being Accepted by...

The Bulletproof Musician ·

2025/02/23

It's human nature to want to be liked and accepted by others. But while some seem to have a knack for it, for many of us, fear of rejection or fear of negative evaluation can get in the way. Whether it's walking into a room for a job interview or college/grad school audition, playing in a new ensemble for the first time, or meeting your partner's family for the first time, how can we increase our chances of being liked and accepted? A 2009 study suggests that our mindset could play a role in ...

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8:39

Stumped by a Problem in the Practice Room? Try an...

The Bulletproof Musician ·

2025/02/16

Have you ever had one of those "aha" moments when a solution to a problem spontaneously popped into your head? Wouldn't it be nice if we could have those moments more often? Well, a 2012 study suggests that you may be able to cultivate these kinds of moments and increase your creative problem-solving abilities by taking a short break from the task. But not any old break will do - it has to be a specific type of break! Get all the nerdy details here: Stumped by a Problem in the Practice ...

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405 results

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