The Bulletproof Musician
by Noa Kageyama
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.
Episodes
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2026.8 | Lorna McGhee
Do elite performers actually feel as confident as they look? In this conversation with Boston Symphony principal flutist Lorna McGhee, we explore what's really happening beneath a confident-looking performance, and why she's come to believe that confidence is something you do, not something you...
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Joanna Fong-Isariyawongse: The Science of Sleep for Musicians
What if one of the most overlooked factors affecting memory consolidation, emotional regulation, practice efficiency, and performance consistency wasn’t a new practice strategy - but sleep? Dr. Joanna Fong-Isariyawongse is a triple board-certified neurologist, sleep specialist, and epileptologist...
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Paul Baxter: Why Bad Habits Keep Coming Back (And a Faster Way to Change Them)
Have you ever had the experience of fixing something in the practice room…only to have it come back in performance? Maybe it’s a passage where tension creeps back in. Or a section where your fingers revert to an old fingering. Or some aspect of your technique that you’ve worked hard to fix…
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Micah Killion: The One Thing Artist-Level Musicians Do Differently in the Practice Room
How should musicians actually practice to improve faster? In this conversation with researcher and trumpet professor Micah Killion, we explore what expert musicians do differently in the practice room and what research reveals about effective practice. Micah Killion is Assistant Professor of...
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How to Start a Performance with More Accuracy (Without the Onstage Warm-Up)
One of my teachers often used to say that no matter what you’re playing, when you’re on stage, the beginning of a piece is always the hardest part. Not because the opening is more difficult technically, but because we’ve generally been sitting around for a little while, so we’re feeling kind of...
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When You Can’t Get Yourself to Start Practicing, Try This
In some years it feels easier to begin the new year with a lot of energy and enthusiasm. Other years, it can be difficult to get going and build up those new habits that we’d love to develop. Whichever kind of year this is shaping up to be for you, I have a few things planned these next few weeks...
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The Central Strategy Expert Musicians Use to Practice Difficult Passages
We all get stuck on problem passages from time to time. And it can be very natural to simply throw more repetitions at it, in hopes that this will eventually unlock something. But in doing so, we end up accumulating more and more incorrect repetitions and reinforcing mistakes. So what’s the...
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How a Small Change in Self-Talk Could Improve Performance Under Pressure
The voice in our head can be an asset at times - but also kind of a jerk at the worst possible moments. And like that one person in the “quiet car” of the train that doesn’t seem to understand the rules, it never seems to be quiet when we need it to. A 2014 study identified a self-talk strategy...
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A Learning Method That Outperformed Traditional Practice
A few months ago, when a sportswriter published an article in The New York Times about an unusual and “revolutionary” practice method that NBA star Victor Wembanyama and other elite athletes and teams (like the World Series-winning LA Dodgers) were utilizing, I started getting emails from...
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How Much Perfectionism Do You Really Need to Succeed?
A friend recently asked if it's true that becoming a virtuoso performer requires being a perfectionist. Well, spoiler alert, it's not a simple yes or no answer. And there are a lot of fascinating nuances to explore. One of which involves performance anxiety, and the question of whether...
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Pallavi Mahidhara: On Practicing for Flexibility, Not Perfection
Playing for other people, whether it’s an audience of one, a dozen, or several hundred, can be a stressful thing! So it’s easy to focus on the negative aspects of performance, like how to manage nerves and avoid mistakes. But performing can also be a real thrill, and one of the most satisfying…
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What Happened When Musicians Slept 90 Minutes More
Sleep and recovery is an aspect of preparation that athletes prioritize, with teams hiring sleep consultants, and many athletes going to great lengths to ensure they’re getting enough sleep. And studies suggest that this investment of time is very much worth their while, when it comes to…
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Why Being Too Quick to Offer Feedback Could Inhibit Learning
I remember a lesson many years ago, when my teacher told me that her job was to teach me how to teach myself. So that I would one day no longer need a teacher. I couldn’t have been more than 9 or 10 at the time, so the notion of me teaching myself was hard to fathom. It was difficult enough to…
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Fewer Repetitions….But More Rapid Progress?
Whether we’re baking a cake, driving to a new restaurant, or putting together a puzzle, we can usually get to the goal more efficiently and effectively if we have a clear idea what the destination looks like. I think we all know that the same is true for learning a new piece of music too - but...
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Ida Kavafian: Habits That Separate Good Musicians from Great Ones
This episode with violinist Ida Kavafian is packed with key points about effective practice, plus fascinating nerdy details about bowing and fingering principles, references to specific passages in the Sibelius concerto, Schubert Fantasy, Beethoven’s Kreutzer sonata, a clever hack for playing...
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Can Memorizing Music Make You a More Expressive Performer?
One of the arguments often made for why we should memorize music, is that performing from memory facilitates more expressive performances. But is that really true? There's not a lot of direct data that speaks to this question, but there are some clues here and there, suggesting that the answer...
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Two Approaches to Memorization (Beware: One Could Leave You Stranded!)
Memory can often feel like a mysterious, unknowable phenomenon. Something that happens magically by itself at times, with great effort at others, and sometimes deceives us by abandoning us suddenly when we need it most! We’ve worked on unpacking various aspects of memory over the last couple…
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A Hidden Reason You Forget Music on Stage
Mistakes on stage are never fun, but missing a note here or there, or playing out of tune is over and done with pretty quick. Having a memory slip on stage is a whole other level of discomfort. 😳 It’s one of the things that makes many musicians most anxious about performing. Researchers have...
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Jane Ginsborg: On Building Stronger and More Reliable Musical Memory
Talk to anyone who has ever performed from memory, and you’ll probably get a story of a time when their memory failed them. For instance, I remember a time, perhaps in elementary school, when I got lost in a piece on stage, and rather than stopping and looking over the pianist’s shoulder to see...
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How to Use Focus Cues to Play More Freely on Stage
A pianist once told me the last thing their teacher said at their final lesson after years of study: “Now forget everything I ever told you.” Not exactly the parting wisdom you’d expect, right? But hidden in that odd-sounding advice is an important mental shift that could help you play with more...
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Is There Hope for the Most Anxious Performers?
One of the questions that I'm often asked, is the question of whether performance psychology can be helpful to those whose performance anxiety is a little more severe than most. Well, a 2023 study looked at that exact question actually. And it even gives us some insight into which specific mental...
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How to Get Your Mind in the Right Place Before Going On Stage
Staying in a good mental and emotional state before performances is critical to playing up to our abilities when it counts. And we're probably going to be less likely to shy away from performance opportunities too, if we have more control over how we feel in the leadup to auditions and concerts....
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Graham Fitch: On Playful Practice and Muscle Memory You Can Trust
When you think of practicing your instrument, what are some of the first words that come to mind? Are the words “fun” or “playful” anywhere on your list? 🤣 For most of my life, practicing felt an awful lot like memorizing my multiplication tables. A lot of mind-numbing repetition, and not much...
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Does Aiming for Perfection Actually Hurt Performance?
Ever worry that excellent performance might not be “good enough?” And maybe you've assumed that aiming for perfection is a safer bet? You’re not alone, for what it's worth! But it's always interesting to get some actual data on this sort of thing, so a team of researchers conducted a series of...
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Could Performance Anxiety Be Causing Students to Quit?
There are a lot of reasons why someone might decide to quit music at some point along the way. But could performance anxiety be one of them? Indeed, performance anxiety can feel pretty uncomfortable! And it’s one thing if we still sound pretty good on stage regardless, and have a positive...
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Worried About a Performance? 4 Reasons Why (And How to Stop)
Worrying is never much fun, but it’s especially not fun in the leadup to a performance or audition. And even more so when we get stuck in a “worry loop” and can’t seem to get ourselves out of it. It’s a little like the time my family visited Paris when I was a kid, and my dad got stuck in the...
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Double Your Practice Gains With a Nap?
Are you a regular napper? Or maybe not such a fan? Either way, given that today is National Lazy Day, I thought it would be the perfect time to look at a couple studies which suggest that naps could play a significant role in accelerating the learning of physical skills. Check out the episode for...
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Ignasi Cambra: On Learning, Memorizing, and Interpreting Music
I never got all that serious about playing the piano, but I did take lessons for a number of years and remember the many challenges I ran into as the number and density of black dots on the page increased. Mostly I remember how dependent I was on my vision. On the violin, I didn’t look at my...
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Notes First or Music First? Which Leads to Better Performance?
Whether learning a new sport or playing an instrument, traditionally, we're often taught to start by building up some fundamental skills first, before we start adding in expression. But there are others who argue that we should start with expression from the very beginning, rather than waiting....
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A Way to Get More Useful Performance Feedback?
It can be pretty uncomfortable to play for others and ask for feedback. I mean, putting ourselves out there to be judged and evaluated is never much fun, right? But what if there's a different way to approach this? A way where you come out of the experience feeling less judged, and more supported...
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How to Unlock Your Students’ Hidden Practice Abilities
Ineffective practice can be discouraging on so many levels. For one, practicing for time or repetitions is not much fun. And negative practice experiences can make students want to avoid practicing, or assume that they aren't very talented when improvement is slow or inconsistent. But what if…
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Judy Loman: On the Best Advice For an Aspiring Harpist (or Musician)
“If I didn’t have the harp, I wouldn’t be me.” Internationally renowned harpist Judy Loman remains an active practicer, performer, and teacher at 89 years of age - and still clearly enjoys and loves what she does. So how does one maintain motivation and a sense of joy in making music through…
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A Comparison of Three Approaches to Teaching Expressiveness
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...
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The Overlooked Skill That Could Make Performing More Enjoyable
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...
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How Do Effective Practicers Make the Most of Their Practice Time?
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...
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Do We Unconsciously Favor Talent Over Effort?
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…
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Cellist Yumi Kendall: On Becoming a More Positive (And Effective) Practicer
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...
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How to Keep Your Inner Critic From Getting the Better of You
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...
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Pre-Performance Apathy (and the Importance of Mentally Disengaging From Practice)
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...
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Your Brain Isn’t Built for Consistency - Here’s How to Make That Work for You
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...
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Mitch Abrams: On Trauma and High-Level Performance
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…
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Reward vs. Punishment: Which Leads to Faster Learning?
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...
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One Way Parents Can Help Their Kids Be Less Anxious
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...
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A Self-Talk Tweak to Boost the Odds of Achieving Your Goals
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...
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Linda Chesis: On Cultivating a More Beautiful Sound and Becoming a Better Practicer
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...
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Finding Your Optimal Anxiety Level: Why Calm Isn’t Always Better
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...
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The 70% Rule: Why Practicing Shouldn’t Be Too Easy
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...
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Sight Reading: The Ideal Error Rate for Optimal Learning
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…
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Why Practicing While Distracted Is Actually Very Important
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…
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How to Help Students Remember More From Each Lesson
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...
About this show
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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Noa Kageyama
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