Ever wonder what EXACTLY more effective and efficient practicers do differently than the rest of us?

A 2010 basketball study reveals two specific differences in the practice habits of good and bad free throw shooters. Differences that can totally be applied to music as well.

Two Things Experts Do Differently Than Non-Experts When Practicing

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Have you ever found it a struggle to take risks and learn effectively in lessons because it feels important to avoid mistakes and get things right? Even if you know your teacher is doing their best to foster a safe environment?

Director and choreographer Ann Bergeron explains how her experience training her dogs through positive reinforcement methods led to changes in her approach to teaching her dance students - and how perhaps we can all borrow a few things from those who teach our furry friends (wait...what?!).

Ann Bergeron: On Facilitating a More Positive Learning Experience, More Effective Skill Acquisition, and More Creative Artists

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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

We know that spacing one's practice leads to better learning. And that sleep is an important factor in memory consolidation too. So what happens if we combine these two factors in a strategic way? Research suggests that this might lead not only to accelerated learning, but much more durable memory and recall too!

A Simple Practice Scheduling Hack That Couldn’t Possibly Be as Effective as It Seems

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• 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

Have you ever heard it said that trying NOT to think of something only triggers more thoughts of that thing? It makes sense, but is this actually true? And if so, and thought suppression really doesn't work, is there anything else we can do, to avoid thinking negative thoughts on stage?

Why Thought Stopping Doesn’t Work (And the Paradoxical Strategy That Might Work Better)

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• 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

I think we all know that taking short breaks between practice sessions is a good thing. But a recent study suggests that to maximize learning, we also ought to be taking short micro-breaks within each practice session. Because it seems that most of our learning doesn't take place when our fingers are moving, but in the short rest periods between the moments when we're actively performing a skill.

Evidence That You Should Probably Be Taking Practice "Micro-Breaks," if You Want to Maximize Learning.

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• Pressure Proof: A free 7-day performance practice crash course that will help you shrink the gap between the practice room and the stage.
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• Live and self-paced courses

In this episode cellist Natasha Brofsky and violist Roger Tapping share insights on how to approach and practice new repertoire - from whether to begin from the score or a recording, to how to learn a composer's unique language, to cultivating patience in the practice room and how to prevent fear or cautious playing from transferring from the practice room to the stage.

Natasha Brofsky and Roger Tapping: On Learning New Repertoire and Getting to Know a Composer’s Unique Language

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• 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

Have you ever found yourself struggling to quiet those increasing doubts and worries and fears in the last week before a big audition or performance? Where even if you tell yourself you're prepared and things will be fine, the thoughts keep popping into your head, stressing you out, and making you kind of miserable, wishing the moment would just come so you could get it over with already?

A 2014 study provides some clues on a strategy that could help to reduce the repetitive negative thoughts, and make it easier for us to quiet our inner doomsday monkey.

Can’t Stop Worrying About an Upcoming Performance? Here’s Why Practicing More Might Not Be the Answer.

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• 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

There are a lot of extrinsic motivators that naturally incentivize students to practice - like parental pressure, not wanting to let teachers down, seating auditions, recitals, competitions, and more. But there can be some negative costs of relying too much on extrinsic motivation. So...are there things we can do to increase students' intrinsic motivation to practice and hone their craft as well?

What’s the Best Type of Feedback to Provide, if the Goal Is to Increase Students’ Intrinsic Motivation?

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• 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

You're probably familiar with white noise, which you may already be using to help you get to sleep at night. But recent research suggests that it might be worth experimenting with pink noise. Which seems to enhance slow wave activity during certain phases of sleep, and boost memory consolidation, which can help you retain more of what you learned or studied the day before.

Forget White Noise. There May Be a Better Type of Noise That Could Potentially Enhance Memory While You Sleep.

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• 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

Having to suddenly transition to teaching online in March 2020 was quite a challenge for many (if not all!) of us. It's looking like we may be able to return to live instruction soon, but this seemed like a good time to reflect on what we've learned, and how we've grown in the months since.

To that end, here's Alexander Technique teacher Lori Schiff's story of how she went from believing that Zoom was not a viable medium for teaching Alexander Technique, to finding ways to adapt and grow as a teacher, discovering that she could indeed make online Alexander Technique lessons a meaningful experience for students.

Lori Schiff: On Adapting to Remote Instruction, and Learning to Teach Alexander Technique Online

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