As part of my PhD research project, I am currently running survey on music practice and am offering 5 x £50 Amazon vouchers in a raffle for participants (approx. $88 AUD or $60 USD). To be eligible, you need to: The survey is open to: It takes around 20-30 minutes to complete and consists mostly […]
Complete a survey on music practice for your chance to win a £50 voucher! Read More »
Over the last two decades, a bunch of researchers have looked at how professional musicians practise and prepare for performances.1–3 One of the findings of these studies is that musicians use performance cues in their practice sessions and performances. This article gives an overview of what performance cues are, how they can help musicians, and
Performance cues: What are they and how can they help musicians? Read More »
While the primary aim of Psyc for Musos is to help musicians perform their best, teaching usually forms a large part of musicians’ lives. Performance psychology research is not only applicable to performers, but also to teachers of future musicians – so here are a few tips for teachers that this field of research can
Tips from research for instrumental teachers (Part 1) Read More »
As musicians, we spend literally thousands of hours practising. We often measure our practice in quantity (e.g. “I practised for 2 hours today…”) but it is important that we practise effectively. Apart from being a waste of time, ineffective practice can actually hinder your performance. You are also likely to practise more to compensate for
5 things you can do to practise more effectively (Part 2) Read More »
I’m very excited to be able to say that I have had my first ever article published in a peer-reviewed journal!! The article is on findings from a study which looked at characteristics of tertiary piano students’ practice that lead to better performance quality. Since reading scientific papers is not everyone’s cup of tea (nor
Perfectionism can be both healthy and unhealthy. Healthy aspects of perfectionism include setting high personal standards, while unhealthy perfectionism include aspects like concerns about mistakes, doubts about own actions, fear of negative evaluation by others, and feelings of discrepancy between expected and actual achievement.1 Unhealthy perfectionism is linked to a wide range of negative outcomes
Managing unhealthy perfectionism: 5 thought patterns to watch out for Read More »
Music performance anxiety is a common issue amongst performing musicians and can have a range of negative consequences. Despite its prevalence and damaging effects, it’s not talked about very often nor addressed enough in music education. There is actually quite a lot of existing research on performance anxiety but sadly, this knowledge is rarely passed
10 things you can do to manage music performance anxiety (Part 2) Read More »
Music performance anxiety is a common issue amongst performing musicians and can have a range of negative consequences. Despite its prevalence and damaging effects, it’s rarely talked about or addressed in music education. Here are five important pieces of information about performance anxiety which will hopefully change your views about it and help you see
5 important things to understand about music performance anxiety Read More »
Music performance anxiety is a common issue amongst performing musicians and can have a range of negative consequences. Despite its prevalence and damaging effects, it’s rarely talked about or addressed in music education. There is actually quite a lot of existing research on performance anxiety – but sadly, this knowledge is rarely passed on to
10 things you can do to manage music performance anxiety (Part 1) Read More »
‘Burnout’ is a term which is often thrown around in conversations and personal anecdotes, and that was how the idea originally emerged. In research, it was first conceptualised in the context of health care and human service workers,1 then later adapted to other domains including athletes2 and academic learning.3 In music, burnout has not yet
Burnout in musicians Read More »