How Much Do Positive or Negative Expectations Affect Performance?

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 StageWish you could perform 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 next week (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/memoryReferencesMishra, 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/10.1177/0305735607077838More 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 MemoryA memory courseIf 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.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

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 StageA 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)ReferencesAiken, 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/10.1080/17461391.2022.2042604More 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 linksPre-performance routinesAcclimatization trainingLeft-hand contractionsDeep breathingRegistration 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)ReferencesLubert, 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.2023.1164273More 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 StageReferencesWatanabe, 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.2025.1544069Registration 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 TrustAdditional ResourcesGraham 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 PracticeHow to do interleaved practice: Why the Progress You Make in the Practice Room Seems to Disappear OvernightMore 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 resourcesRobert Duke: On the Value of Errors and How Learning Really WorksHow to Use Positive “Trigger Words” for More Expressive PerformancesIs There a “Best” Way to Teach Students to Play Expressively?ReferencesGaudreau, 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/pspp0000411Gaudreau, 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/10.1177/1745691618797940More 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

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 experience of performing overall. But when we get nervous and sound like just a shell of ourselves in performance, it could make us wonder why we keep putting ourselves up there...So I was intrigued by a 2025 study which looked to see if deliberate practice might play a role in this equation between performance anxiety and performance success and thoughts about quitting. Check out the episode to see what they discovered!Additional linksDeliberate practiceSelf-regulated learningPractice That Sticks (self-paced course)ReferencesHash, P. M. (2021). Student Retention in School Bands and Orchestras: A Literature Review. Update: Applications of Research in Music Education, 40(3), 11-19. https://doi.org/10.1177/87551233211042585Hatfield, J. L., & Williamon, A. (2025). Competitiveness and performance anxiety as predictors of performance success and intent to quit playing: deliberate practice as mediator and moderator. Music Education Research, 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1080/14613808.2025.2543376Hernández, S. O., Zarza-Alzugaray, F. J., & Casanova, O. (2018). Music performance anxiety. Substance use and career abandonment in Spanish music students. International Journal of Music Education, 36(3), 460–472. https://doi.org/10.1177/0255761418763903Zimmerman, B. J. (2002). Becoming a Self-Regulated Learner: An Overview. Theory Into Practice, 41(2), 64–70. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15430421tip4102_2More 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

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 roundabout around the Arc de Triomphe. I don’t know how long we drove around and around, but I do know that I fell asleep at some point, and when I woke up, we were still looping around. 🤣🥲So what causes these worry loops? And is there a way to stay in a better headspace in the leadup to performances?Additional LinksDavid Juncos & Elvire de Paiva e Pona: On ACT and a New Approach to Overcoming Performance AnxietyA Simple Strategy for Reducing Worries and Practicing With More FocusReferencesDavey, G. C., Eldridge, F., Drost, J., & MacDonald, B. A. (2006). What ends a worry bout? An analysis of changes in mood and stop rule use across the catastrophising interview task. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 45(6), 1231–1243. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2006.08.024Davey, G. C., & Meeten, F. (2016). The perseverative worry bout: A review of cognitive, affective and motivational factors that contribute to worry perseveration. Biological Psychology, 121, 233–243. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsycho.2016.04.003More 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

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 all the nerdy details about how long of a nap might be best and who perhaps should not try this.ReferencesMilner, C. E., Fogel, S. M., & Cote, K. A. (2006). Habitual napping moderates motor performance improvements following a short daytime nap. Biological Psychology, 73(2), 141–156. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsycho.2006.01.015Morita, Y., Ogawa, K., & Uchida, S. (2016). Napping after complex motor learning enhances juggling performance. Sleep Science, 9(2), 112–116. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.slsci.2016.04.002More 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