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 fifths in tune, and so much more.

And if you’re not a string player, don’t worry - many of the principles are equally applicable to other instruments too.

Get all the nerdy details and learn how to level up your practice in this month’s interview:

Ida Kavafian: Habits That Separate Good Musicians from Great Ones

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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 might be a little more nuanced than a simple yes or no. 

Get all the nerdy details right here:

Can Memorizing Music Make You a More Expressive Performer?

A course on how to develop “bulletproof” memory (registration ends 10/26/25)

Most of us never learn how, but memorizing music is actually a concrete skill that can be learned. Discover a step-by-step, 3-phase, research-based framework for memorizing music that draws from the strategies that expert musicians and effective memorizers use to memorize music efficiently, and perform more confidently from memory - even under pressure.

Get the Bulletproof Memory course (Public release ends October 26, 2025)

References

Chaffin, R., Gerling, C. C., & Demos, A. P. (2024). How secure memorization promotes expression: A longitudinal case study of performing Chopin’s Barcarolle, Op. 60. Musicae Scientiae, 28(4), 703-722. https://doi.org/10.1177/10298649241241405

Williamon, A. (1999). The Value of Performing from Memory. Psychology of Music, 27(1), 84-95. https://doi.org/10.1177/0305735699271008

Woody, R. H. (2006). The effect of various instructional conditions on expressive music performance. Journal of Research in Music Education, 54(1), 21–36. https://doi.org/10.1177/002242940605400103

More from The Bulletproof Musician

• Get the free weekly newsletter, for more nerdy details and bonus subscriber-only content.
• Pressure Proof: A free 7-day performance practice crash course that will help you shrink the gap between the practice room and the stage.
• Learning Lab: A continuing education community where musicians and learners are putting research into practice.
• Live and self-paced courses

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 weeks - with Jane Ginsborg two episodes here and why pianists can have more difficulty than other musicians here.

And today, we’ll be looking at the pros and cons of the two different types of memory that musicians rely on. Spoiler alert - the one that most of us rely on is the less reliable of the two, which is why our memory is often not as reliable under pressure as we’d like!

Also, if you’ve been a long-time listener, you might remember that I mentioned working on a memorization course a couple summers ago. Well, the Bulletproof Memory course is finally ready - and will be available on a limited basis through next Sunday, October 26th (you can get immediate access to the course right here).

Ready to see which type of memory you might be using?

Get all the nerdy details here:

Two Approaches to Memorization (Beware: One Could Leave You Stranded!)

Learn how to develop “bulletproof” memory

Memorizing music can be a gift, but is very much also a skill that can be learned. Discover a step-by-step, 3-phase, research-based framework for memorizing music that draws from the strategies that expert musicians and effective memorizers use to memorize music efficiently, and perform more confidently from memory - even under pressure.

Bulletproof Memory (available for a limited time only - Oct. 19-26)

References

Chaffin, R., Lisboa, T., Logan, T., & Begosh, K. T. (2009). Preparing for memorized cello performance: the role of performance cues. Psychology of Music, 38(1), 3–30. https://doi.org/10.1177/0305735608100377

More from The Bulletproof Musician

• Get the free weekly newsletter, for more nerdy details and bonus subscriber-only content.
• Pressure Proof: A free 7-day performance practice crash course that will help you shrink the gap between the practice room and the stage.
• Learning Lab: A continuing education community where musicians and learners are putting research into practice.
• Live and self-paced courses

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 taught us a ton in the last couple decades about how the best memorizers memorize music. And so I thought it’d be worth taking a look at various aspects of memory in the next couple weeks.

Today, we’ll take a look at research which explains why pianists may have a tougher time with memory than other musicians (spoiler alert: it’s not because they have more notes), and what we can all learn from this to enhance our own memory security. Get all the nerdy details here:

A Hidden Reason You Forget Music on Stage

Wish you could perform more confidently from memory?

Memorization can feel like a mysterious process, but it's a more concrete and practical process than you might think. I’ve distilled a couple decades of research, and over a hundred studies, book chapters, dissertations, and case studies into a 5-module step-by-step course on memorization for musicians, that will be available for a limited public release from October 19 - 26, 2025. If you’d like to get on the waitlist so you don’t miss it, you can do that right here: bulletproofmusician.com/memory

References

Mishra, J., & Backlin, W. M. (2007). The effects of altering environmental and instrumental context on the performance of memorized music. Psychology of Music, 35(3), 453–472. https://doi.org/10.1177/0305735607077838

More from The Bulletproof Musician

• Get the free weekly newsletter, for more nerdy details and bonus subscriber-only content.
• Pressure Proof: A free 7-day performance practice crash course that will help you shrink the gap between the practice room and the stage.
• Learning Lab: A continuing education community where musicians and learners are putting research into practice.
• Live and self-paced courses

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 where I was, just started making stuff up, until I could figure out where I was. It wasn’t a very fun experience for me, but I think it actually freaked the pianist out even more. 😆

One of the problems, was that I never learned how to memorize music. And not because my teachers were negligent in any way. We just didn’t really know that much back then about how memory works! 

But thanks to the efforts of several researchers in the last couple decades, we now know quite a bit about the most - and least - effective ways to get all those notes into and out of our brains.

One of those researchers is Jane Ginsborg. And in today’s episode, Jane will share many key tips and details with us on the science of memorization, specifically as it relates to musicians. And because Jane’s background is in voice, there are some special nuances included for singers as well!

Get all the nerdy details right here: 

Jane Ginsborg: On Building Stronger and More Reliable Musical Memory

A memory course

If you'd like to learn more about the music memorization process and get more comfortable (and confident) performing from memory, you may be interested in the Bulletproof Memory course that will be released soon. You can join the waitlist for the limited public release right here.

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• Get the free weekly newsletter, for more nerdy details and bonus subscriber-only content.
• Pressure Proof: A free 7-day performance practice crash course that will help you shrink the gap between the practice room and the stage.
• Learning Lab: A continuing education community where musicians and learners are putting research into practice.
• Live and self-paced courses

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 freedom and confidence under pressure.

Get all the nerdy details in today's episode. Or, get the text version with references, links, and other details right here:

How to Use Focus Cues to Play More Freely on Stage

A live online performance enhancement class (registration closes on 9.28.2025)

Performance Psych Essentials: Work on practicing more effectively and performing more optimally alongside a global cohort of musicians, educators, and learners of all ages. Registration for the live online 4-week class is open! (Class runs from October 5 - November 2)

References

Aiken, C. A., & Becker, K. A. (2022). Utilising an internal focus of attention during preparation and an external focus during execution may facilitate motor learning. European Journal of Sport Science, 23(2), 259–266. https://doi.org/10.1080/17461391.2022.2042604

More from The Bulletproof Musician

• Get the free weekly newsletter, for more nerdy details and bonus subscriber-only content.
• Pressure Proof: A free 7-day performance practice crash course that will help you shrink the gap between the practice room and the stage.
• Learning Lab: A continuing education community where musicians and learners are putting research into practice.
• Live and self-paced courses

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 skills or strategies might be most helpful to work on in cases like this.

Get all the nerdy details in today's episode. Or, get the text version with references, links, and other details right here:

Is There Hope for the Most Anxious Performers?

Additional links

Pre-performance routines

Acclimatization training

Left-hand contractions

Deep breathing

Registration for Cohort 25 is open (signups close on 9.28.2025)

Performance Psych Essentials: Work on practicing more effectively and performing more optimally alongside a global cohort of musicians, educators, and learners of all ages. Registration for the live online 4-week class is open! (Class runs from October 5 - November 2)

References

Lubert, V. J., Nordin-Bates, S. M., & Gröpel, P. (2023). Effects of tailored interventions for anxiety management in choking-susceptible performing artists: a mixed-methods collective case study. Frontiers in Psychology, 14. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1164273

More from The Bulletproof Musician

• Get the free weekly newsletter, for more nerdy details and bonus subscriber-only content.
• Pressure Proof: A free 7-day performance practice crash course that will help you shrink the gap between the practice room and the stage.
• Learning Lab: A continuing education community where musicians and learners are putting research into practice.
• Live and self-paced courses

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.

But how does one do this? What can we do in the hours and minutes before a performance to get into a good headspace?

Get all the nerdy details here:

How to Get Your Mind in the Right Place Before Going On Stage

References

Watanabe, A., Kondoh, S., Samma, T., & Fujii, S. (2025). Enhanced subjective performance achievement in wind instrument playing through positive memory recall: effects of sympathetic activation and emotional valence. Frontiers in Psychology, 16. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1544069

Registration begins soon! (9.21.2025 - 9.28.2025)

Performance Psych Essentials: Work on practicing more effectively and performing more optimally alongside a global cohort of musicians, educators, and learners of all ages. Live 4-week class begins soon! (October 5 - November 2)

More from The Bulletproof Musician

• Get the free weekly newsletter, for more nerdy details and bonus subscriber-only content.
• Pressure Proof: A free 7-day performance practice crash course that will help you shrink the gap between the practice room and the stage.
• Learning Lab: A continuing education community where musicians and learners are putting research into practice.
• Live and self-paced courses

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 fun.

We know that mindless drudgery doesn’t make for very effective learning, of course - but what is the alternative? What might more playful practice actually look like?

Enter today’s guest, Graham Fitch. He’s a pianist, but the ideas and concepts that he shares with us in today’s chat can be applied or translated to any instrument.

So if you haven’t been learning music or improving overall as quickly as you would like, or your practice has felt stale or stagnant, I think today’s episode will help to revitalize your practice and scooch it a few notches in the direction of fun. 😜

Get all the nerdy details on memorization, slow practice, fast practice, metronome practice, hands together vs. separate and more, in this month's episode:

​Graham Fitch: On Playful Practice and Muscle Memory You Can Trust

Additional Resources

Graham mentioned chaining and interleaved practice. Here's more on both of those concepts.

How to do chaining: Jason Sulliman: On Why Fast, At-Tempo Practice Can Be More Efficient and Effective Than Slow Practice

How to do interleaved practice: Why the Progress You Make in the Practice Room Seems to Disappear Overnight

More from The Bulletproof Musician

• Get the free weekly newsletter, for more nerdy details and bonus subscriber-only content.
• Pressure Proof: A free 7-day performance practice crash course that will help you shrink the gap between the practice room and the stage.
• Learning Lab: A continuing education community where musicians and learners are putting research into practice.
• Live and self-paced courses

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 studies to see if striving for perfection had benefits beyond aiming for excellence. The results might surprise you.

Get all the nerdy details:

Does Aiming for Perfection Actually Hurt Performance?

Additional resources

• Robert Duke: On the Value of Errors and How Learning Really Works
• How to Use Positive “Trigger Words” for More Expressive Performances
• Is There a “Best” Way to Teach Students to Play Expressively?

References

Gaudreau, P., Schellenberg, B. J. I., Gareau, A., Kljajic, K., & Manoni-Millar, S. (2022). Because excellencism is more than good enough: On the need to distinguish the pursuit of excellence from the pursuit of perfection. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 122(6), 1117–1145. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspp0000411

Gaudreau, P. (2019). On the distinction between personal standards perfec- tionism and excellencism: A theory elaboration and research agenda. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 14(2), 197–215. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691618797940

More from The Bulletproof Musician

• Get the free weekly newsletter, for more nerdy details and bonus subscriber-only content.
• Pressure Proof: A free 7-day performance practice crash course that will help you shrink the gap between the practice room and the stage.
• Learning Lab: A continuing education community where musicians and learners are putting research into practice.
• Live and self-paced courses