It’s no secret that you need to put in some work if you want to get better at music.
The good news is that you CAN make rapid progress whatever your current level. Even if you don’t have a huge amount of time to practice.
The bad news is that most musicians go about things in the wrong way. They waste their effort. Or decide that they just don’t have what it takes.
Music requires great skill. There’s no getting round the fact that it takes long hours of practice to hone your craft.
But music also needs confidence and focus.
I’m not going to claim that changing your thinking will magically transform you into one of the all-time greats. If your technique is flawed, then it’s still going to hold you back.
But technique is only half the story if you want to achieve the levels you’re capable of.
It’s your big moment. So much rests on the next few minutes. You can feel your heart pounding. Your palms sweating. Your legs shaking. Your thoughts racing.
Performance anxiety strikes once again. And it’s not helping…
Huge numbers of musicians find themselves in this situation. Far too many of them react in the wrong way.
Maybe you’ve heard me mention my Unlock Your Performance programme and thought: “What on earth’s that, then, Mark?”
Well, in this article I’m going to break down everything you need to know about Unlock Your Performance.
The one thing that’s brought me the most progress as a musician is not some clever technical tip.
It’s not about how I practice.
It’s my attitude towards new opportunities.
And I can boil it down to just one word…
Have you ever watched the interviews after a big sporting event?
You never hear the losers talking themselves down. Instead, they focus on “taking the positives”.
Then you’ll see interviews with the great musicians.
Most of them avoid saying that they’re anything special. They still talk about having masses to learn – even if they’re heading into their 70s after a lifetime of amazing work.
These two seemingly opposite approaches actually fit together perfectly. Let’s find out how you can get the best of both worlds…
Did you know that there’s a state of mind where you learn things much faster. Maybe up to five times faster.
And it’s more enjoyable as well.
That’s what happens when you get into the flow state. When you’re in the zone.
Just imagine what it would be like if you got into that space in every practice session.
Have you ever looked back after a gig and realize that you’d shot yourself in the foot, because you got the balance wrong in the practice room beforehand?
You’d focused so hard on one or two specific areas that you totally neglected other aspects that were really vital.
And it was a bit of a shock when the performance came around and those unexpected problems were revealed.
It doesn’t have to be like that ever again, though. There is a way to make sure your practice is constantly adapting to keep you focused on the most important topics.
Have you ever had that nagging feeling that you’re not getting everything you could out of your practice time?
There’s such an overwhelming quantity of material that you need to practice that you end up rushing to get through everything.
And you don’t do the best job on any of it.
It’s so easy to give into that temptation to cram more in – even if it means that quality and depth suffer as a result.
But you know that quality is important, right?
And it turns out that there are some simple and practical things you can do to increase the quality of your practice sessions.
Whatever you happen to be working on.
Every time you go to practice.
Did you know that there’s one simple tool which can massively speed up your musical progress?
But, although it’s easily available to everyone, most musicians simply don’t make use of it.
We’re talking about recording yourself, of course. Watch the video (or read on) to discover the many different ways you can use it to improve your playing.
It feels horrible to struggle with performance anxiety.
It can suck all the joy out of playing music.
The usual advice is that more practice will solve everything. But you’ve probably discovered that doesn’t always work.
Know that performance anxiety is common and perfectly normal. And that there are techniques which will improve things for you.
Here are 9 quick and simple tips that you can use straight away.
“You know the difference between the musicians who made it big and those who didn’t?”
Top jazz guitarist, Mike Moreno, was talking at an exclusive masterclass a few years back.
Lights from a crowd of effects pedals danced on Mike’s face as he paused for a moment.
There was a shuffling sound as, all around the semi-circle of chairs, people leaned forward expectantly. He continued:
“It’s not what you’d expect…”
I witnessed some incredible playing at that masterclass. I got great advice on a range of topics.
But the most important thing I learned came from the 12 words that Mike said next.