Music Psy

  Are any of the following statements familiar to you? I don't understand why I feel like this before playing. I shouldn't feel like this. If only I could control my anxiety level, then I could play as I know I can. My hands are shaking and feel very cold. I better let this audition pass. I don't think I can.  These are some examples of musical performance anxiety (MPA). As musicians, we can experience these symptoms as very debilitating and interfere with our artistic development. It is not surprising that we want to control these experiences and we try everything to "fix" this problem. As we will see in this post, controlling is not the solution, but the problem. Imagine that there is a dial in front of your eyes and a switch behind your head (Hayes et al., 1999; Juncos & de Paiva e Pona, 2022). The dial marks the intensity of your MPA. The switch reads “I am willing to experience my MPA” or “I am not willing to experience my MPA”. Maybe your MPA dial is max...

I invite you to participate in the following exercise. Read the following sentence: I can't open my mouth. Now, if it helps you focus, I would like you to close your eyes and let the only thing that comes to your mind be "I can't open my mouth." Believe firmly in “I can't open my mouth”, focus all your energy and attention on really believing that you can't open your mouth, go over it slowly in your mind, savoring each word and really internalizing that you can't open your mouth. Once you have believed it, I would like you to open your mouth. Ready? Begin! Now, while you're keeping your mouth open, I'd like you to refocus all your energy and attention on believing that you can't blink three times in a row. When you have this very clear thought in your mind and have believed with all your willpower that you cannot blink three times in a row, blink three times in a row. Perhaps this exercise seemed a bit strange to you. I will surely confuse you...

In this post I will explain what committed action is and how, in combination with our values, it can be the beginning of an expansive and meaningful musical life. A committed action is characterized by being a conduct aligned to one's values, which persists until reaching a goal set and despite the internal and external difficulties that may arise. It can also be defined as the commitment to adopt ever expanding patterns of habits informed by our values. Suppose one of my values as a musician is the following: I value being a musician learning new and challenging repertoire. I could define the action “learning new and challenging repertoire” in different ways. I might choose a challenging new piece in different ways: in its length, the variety of technical elements needed to perform it, the rhythmic precision it demands, etc. If I don't clearly lay out what "new and challenging" means, I won't know when I'm getting closer to or further away from this value. Th...

Suppose you set out on a journey to the East. Traveling East is important to you. Along the way you will come across paths that will be easier to travel than others. Your journey to the East can start with something as basic as positioning your body in that direction. Perhaps a part of the trip you can do on foot, while others will need other means of transport such as buses, cars, planes or boats. You may require to put on more effort and wear adequate equipment, if you come across forests or steep trails. You may also need to climb mountains or skirt them. Sometimes the road will be very difficult and you will seek to collaborate with other people who are also interested in traveling East or at least willing to lend you a hand. The paradox is that no matter how much you go East or how much effort and time it takes, you will never reach the East. It is also possible that the difficulties of the trip make you forget that you are going East and change course to any other direction, exce...

I would like to invite you to try something a bit strange. Set an alarm for a minute or two. Then whatever you're doing right now, do it at half speed (Praxis, 2023). Whether it's drinking your coffee, reading this text, raising an arm in the air, etc., do it at half time and let time run. What do you think about it? Did you notice anything different in your body and the movements you made? What sensations, emotions, or thoughts do you remember experiencing? Did you notice that you were noticing? I decided to drink some water. I felt the movement of my arm cause the sleeve of my shirt to rub against my forearm. I also felt the weight of the glass and how my arm compensated for it to be able to be carried. I also noticed how the glass feels on my lips and how the cool water moistened my mouth and lips. It was curious to notice how my tongue moves while I drink the water and how my throat made an automatic movement and that “glu, glu” sound we make when passing water. I almost go...