Season 4 Finale: "Conquer Performance Anxiety," feat. Dr. Jon Skidmore, Performance Psychologist

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Welcome to the season finale of the PianoPod.
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I am your host, Yukimi Song.
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Hey, TPP friends.
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Thanks so much for sticking with us this season.
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It's been an incredible ride
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and we couldn't have done it
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without your support and listenership.
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We're especially grateful for those who recommended guests
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and donated through the show.
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The entire team at the PianoPod appreciates
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every single one of you for tuning in
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and being so supportive throughout the season.
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To wrap up season four and show our appreciation,
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we are bringing back a remarkable guest,
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Dr. John Skidmore,
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the renowned performance psychologist and author.
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Many of you might remember him
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from our very first episode back in September, 2020.
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It feels like the perfect way to close this chapter,
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especially considering how this all started.
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So I've wanted to start a piano-related podcast
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since my graduate school days at NYU in 2008.
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One of my professors suggested it,
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but it wasn't until the COVID lockdown
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that I finally took the plunge.
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Well, during that difficult time,
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my piano students began experiencing performance anxiety
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due to the sudden lifestyle changes.
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And I really wanted to find answers
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or at least some clues to help them.
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I started researching and discovered Dr. Skidmore,
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who has decades of experience as a performance psychologist.
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After an inspiring and exhilarating conversation with him,
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I knew it was time to launch the show.
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I wanted to bring these valuable insights
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to a platform where other pianists
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and music educators like you could benefit.
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And here we are.
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Reflecting on the past four years
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brings back memories of challenging times
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like the COVID-19 pandemic, Brexit, and economic uncertainty.
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We also saw rapid technological advancements
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and the powerful impact of the Black Lives Matter movement.
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Through it all, I am so proud and grateful
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for our community's resilience and adaptability
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within the classical music industry.
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Over the past four years, the Pianopod has grown
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and had a privilege of interviewing
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over 70 trailblazers in our industry,
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covering a wide range of piano-related topics.
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We've also achieved impressive milestones,
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including over 150,000 downloads on audio platforms
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and 2,700 subscribers on YouTube.
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All thanks to our dedicated listeners and viewers like you.
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But don't worry, we're just getting started on this journey.
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After a brief summer hiatus,
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the Pianopod will return for season five
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with an exciting lineup of guests.
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Oh, by the way, if you know someone
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in the classical music industry
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who would be a great fit for our content,
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please nominate them as a guest for the next season.
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You can find the guest nomination form in the show notes.
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Now, let's return to Dr. John Skidmore.
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Not only is he the first guest ever on the show,
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but also will he be the first guest ever
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to return to the show.
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It's the first time ever we are re-interviewing a past guest.
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Anyways, if you haven't listened to our inaugural episode
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with Dr. Skidmore from September, 2020,
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you can catch it on our YouTube channel
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or wherever you listen to podcasts.
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Before diving in, let me share his brief bio.
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Dr. John Skidmore is a dedicated performance coach
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who helps performing artists around the world
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find freedom on stage and in life.
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He's not only a psychologist,
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but also a singer, educator, speaker, and author.
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His mission is to help artists develop
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the psychological skills necessary for peak performance,
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enabling them to confidently share their gifts,
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tell their stories,
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and play their musical instruments with joy.
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So today, we will gain valuable insights
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into the topic of performance anxiety from Dr. Skidmore,
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focusing on his thought-provoking statement,
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quote,
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stage fright is not a pianist's number one enemy,
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nor a disease.
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It's a skill deficit, end quote.
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Before getting started with this special episode,
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I want to welcome all our first timers to the PianoPod.
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I am a classical pianist and educator from New York City.
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Whether you are diving deep into a piano career,
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working professionally in the classical music scene,
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or simply having a passion for piano tunes,
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this podcast is your backstage pass
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to the fascinating piano world.
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To our incredible TPP fans and loyal listeners,
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welcome back.
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Your continued support means a lot to us.
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If you enjoyed today's episode,
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please take a moment to rate and review the show
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on your favorite podcasting platform.
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Your feedback helps others discover the joy of the PianoPod.
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Now, without further ado,
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I am thrilled to welcome back Dr. John Skidmore
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and kick off our conversation.
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So sit back, relax, and please enjoy the show.
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["Piano Pod"]
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You are listening to the PianoPod,
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where we talk to the brightest minds in the industry
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about how they are bringing the piano into the 21st century.
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["Piano Pod"]
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Welcome back to the PianoPod, Dr. Skidmore.
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Thank you, thank you.
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It's a delight to be here again.
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Oh my goodness.
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It's such a pleasure to have you on our show again.
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And you were our very first guest on season one,
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episode one, back in September, 2020.
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I mean, can you imagine, it's been four years.
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Oh my goodness.
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It's surprising how quickly time flies, isn't it?
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I know.
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And then these four years have really flown by so fast.
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And when I think back to that initial interview,
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it feels like at the same time, a lifetime ago.
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So I remember back then, spring of 2020,
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just right after the lockdown happened and everything.
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And I think I discovered you through one of the articles,
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and that you were the featured guest in the article.
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Well, that was the Clavier article.
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I think so.
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I think so.
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And then I discovered your book,
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and I really love the book, Conquer Anxiety.
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For my listeners, if you haven't checked out Dr. Skidmore,
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co-authored book, Conquer Anxiety,
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please check it out on wherever you read books these days.
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Anyway, so, you know, afterwards I emailed you
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and then we started the conversation,
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but you are really the inspiration and driving force
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behind the launch of the PianoPod.
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So it's so meaningful that you are back with us today.
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And you know, guess what?
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You're also not only the first time ever guest on the show,
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but also first ever returning guest.
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So congratulations.
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Well, thank you.
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Thank you, thank you.
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So how have you been?
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Please just give us your update.
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You know, it's amazing to watch all the things
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that come and go with life, and life is always happening.
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And one of the most exciting things for me
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is that I have retired from my clinical practice
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as a psychologist.
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Wow.
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Yes, that's a very big step.
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It's something I've been wanting to do for a long time.
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And so now I'm in the full-time role
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of performance psychologist.
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And so whether I'm working with people individually
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or like last weekend,
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I was with the Classical Singer Convention in Washington, DC,
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got to work, did four presentations
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with some just amazing young up and coming singers,
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semi-professional, wanting to be professional singers.
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It was just a delight to be there
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and to share with them the tools and skills
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from the mental side of the game.
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So fun.
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Wow, that sounds like fun.
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And so looking back over the past four years,
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what are some of the most memorable moments
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or maybe significant developments in your work
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now that you successfully transfer your career
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from clinical practice to coaching, performance coach?
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So.
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You know, the one thing that I'm seeing now more than ever
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and it really is that the up and coming performers
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need these tools.
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What I'm really seeing is when the world of performing arts
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has always been a very competitive arena.
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It's always been competitive.
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And what I'm really seeing is that
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as there always will be in any situation,
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there will be some competitors that rise to the top.
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I mean, they just get there.
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Okay.
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But what I'm seeing is the pressure
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and the social media pressures,
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in some cases, the fewer opportunities to perform
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to make a living in this arena
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is creating an inordinate amount of stress and pressure
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that in some ways is for too many,
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certainly not for everybody,
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but it's crushing their talent.
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It really seems to be having a negative impact
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on the talent because they can't make it good enough.
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They can't make it big enough.
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They can't seem to succeed with it.
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And so it's really just amazing to watch that.
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The other thing I've noticed,
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which has been a really interesting surprise for me
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is I've referred to it as performance dread.
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I've been talking to a lot of people that just like,
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I dread this love hate relationship with performing.
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I wanna do this and I dread it.
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And so that's been interesting.
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That's not a new thing, but it's just interesting
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that it seemed to have shown up a little bit more frequently
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is that I'm driving to the venue
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and it's like, I'm just kind of dreading this,
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but I wanna do it.
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And anyway, it's delightful.
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It's really exciting to watch performers drop that dread
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and step into the excitement of let's share the gift.
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Let's express myself.
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Let's be open to the experience.
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Let's enjoy it.
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And that's really what I get excited about.
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Yes, and then as I got to know your practice and the books,
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and obviously, I interviewed you four years ago
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and since then I am becoming more aware
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of how important it is to equip yourself as an artist
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about performance, performing anxiety,
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conquer performance anxiety,
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but also as an educator to teach that.
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So let's talk about the importance
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of mental skill training.
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So you emphasize the importance
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of mental training for performers.
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And can you explain what mental training involves
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and why it's crucial for pianists,
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but also more than not only just the pianists,
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but performing artists.
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When we develop a craft,
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whether it's with the piano, with surgery, playing chess,
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whatever our craft is,
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we will spend a tremendous amount of time, energy,
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resource to develop that.
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There's no question about that.
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And one of the things that we assume
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is that our mental ability, our mental skills
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will just kind of come along the way
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and we'll just be able to kind of somehow have
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what we need to do this.
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And it's so common as I talk with people,
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when we talk about where did you get a solid understanding
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of the sense of stage fright, performance anxiety,
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most people go,
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I think that somebody mentioned that in a master class
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like five years ago,
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or where have you learned the tools and skills
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about attention, focus and control,
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how to direct and manage your attention,
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because if you're doing that,
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you're gonna be in a better place
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than if your attention is just being drawn wherever it goes.
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The question about negativity,
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how harsh should we be when we make a mistake?
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Now, this is kind of a cultural shift and a big picture,
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but yes, there's still plenty of people
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that are very, very negative about mistakes
267
00:12:32,300 --> 00:12:33,900
thinking that's gonna help them.
268
00:12:33,900 --> 00:12:36,600
But we also know that's not the most effective way
269
00:12:36,600 --> 00:12:39,720
to improve performance in terms of being negative.
270
00:12:39,720 --> 00:12:43,000
Now, being realistic, being constructive is certainly better,
271
00:12:43,000 --> 00:12:47,120
but the idea that we can in a sense shame or yell
272
00:12:47,120 --> 00:12:49,520
or threaten ourselves or punish ourselves
273
00:12:49,520 --> 00:12:54,320
into a better performance, that doesn't hold anymore.
274
00:12:54,320 --> 00:12:57,320
And so really it's the idea of developing the mental skills
275
00:12:57,320 --> 00:13:01,380
to support the expression of our musical craft,
276
00:13:01,380 --> 00:13:03,100
our musical skills.
277
00:13:03,100 --> 00:13:06,620
And it makes the journey so much more enjoyable.
278
00:13:06,620 --> 00:13:11,620
I've seen great artists that just dread and stress
279
00:13:11,620 --> 00:13:14,820
and fret as they go into their performance,
280
00:13:14,820 --> 00:13:18,260
they seem to do okay, they feel sometimes okay about it,
281
00:13:18,260 --> 00:13:20,300
but there's this deep anxiety about it
282
00:13:20,300 --> 00:13:23,040
rather than a joy and an excitement.
283
00:13:23,040 --> 00:13:25,420
One of the lines that I spent an hour and a half,
284
00:13:25,420 --> 00:13:26,660
it was just one of those interesting things,
285
00:13:26,660 --> 00:13:28,320
I'm trying to put together a little flyer
286
00:13:28,320 --> 00:13:31,500
from my experience in Washington, DC,
287
00:13:31,500 --> 00:13:34,080
and I called three or four different people,
288
00:13:34,080 --> 00:13:35,640
and I'm wrestling with this phrase
289
00:13:35,640 --> 00:13:37,460
for about an hour and a half, what do I wanna say?
290
00:13:37,460 --> 00:13:41,660
What do I wanna say in this five word kind of thing?
291
00:13:41,660 --> 00:13:44,500
And now that's too big, now that's not saying it.
292
00:13:44,500 --> 00:13:48,180
And finally it was like, your voice is ready,
293
00:13:48,180 --> 00:13:51,740
your song is ready, are you ready?
294
00:13:53,260 --> 00:13:55,580
It's like, am I ready?
295
00:13:55,580 --> 00:13:57,860
The idea that we're supposed to include,
296
00:13:57,860 --> 00:14:01,100
yes, we wanna train our ability with the piano,
297
00:14:01,100 --> 00:14:05,080
we wanna get that song, that beautiful piece of music
298
00:14:05,080 --> 00:14:07,180
in those fingers, in the mind, in the body,
299
00:14:07,180 --> 00:14:11,540
so we can just play that song, but am I ready?
300
00:14:11,540 --> 00:14:14,340
And so that's one of the things that I love to talk about
301
00:14:14,340 --> 00:14:15,380
because most artists would say,
302
00:14:15,380 --> 00:14:18,080
well, if my song is ready, then I am ready.
303
00:14:18,080 --> 00:14:20,380
But they also have a real challenge with the idea
304
00:14:20,380 --> 00:14:22,340
of is my song ready?
305
00:14:22,340 --> 00:14:24,880
Like, is my song really ready?
306
00:14:24,880 --> 00:14:26,340
But there's always more I could do,
307
00:14:26,340 --> 00:14:29,340
it could always be better, it could always be,
308
00:14:29,340 --> 00:14:30,940
so is it ready?
309
00:14:30,940 --> 00:14:32,680
And so to be able to look at this and say,
310
00:14:32,680 --> 00:14:35,840
okay, my song is ready, yes,
311
00:14:36,740 --> 00:14:39,700
and my skills, they're solid, they're ready,
312
00:14:39,700 --> 00:14:41,420
and am I ready?
313
00:14:41,420 --> 00:14:42,880
And we can bring that trio together,
314
00:14:42,880 --> 00:14:45,980
we can find an amazing experience on stage.
315
00:14:47,020 --> 00:14:52,020
So how am I going to be able to get myself ready then?
316
00:14:54,140 --> 00:14:57,260
Okay, so what's the secret?
317
00:14:57,260 --> 00:14:59,420
I know there are so many steps to take.
318
00:14:59,420 --> 00:15:00,540
I know the secret.
319
00:15:00,540 --> 00:15:05,540
Okay, what do you think the most important part of,
320
00:15:05,540 --> 00:15:07,580
like prep yourself?
321
00:15:07,580 --> 00:15:12,580
Well, to me, it's really about stepping out of,
322
00:15:12,700 --> 00:15:16,180
I'm getting ready for this big performance
323
00:15:16,180 --> 00:15:20,740
and putting it into the perspective of I am ready.
324
00:15:20,740 --> 00:15:21,780
And what does that mean?
325
00:15:21,780 --> 00:15:22,780
It means that this is something
326
00:15:22,780 --> 00:15:26,180
that I'm clearly invested in, I am choosing this,
327
00:15:26,180 --> 00:15:28,300
I'm wanting to do this.
328
00:15:28,300 --> 00:15:30,180
That's where it starts.
329
00:15:30,180 --> 00:15:32,660
And I'm also aware that this is gonna be a challenging
330
00:15:32,660 --> 00:15:35,820
journey, this challenging journey that we are on.
331
00:15:35,820 --> 00:15:39,260
So sometimes we're really in line with,
332
00:15:39,260 --> 00:15:42,940
yes, this is who I am and I'm ready to do this.
333
00:15:42,940 --> 00:15:47,120
And then sometimes we get knocked off base, so to speak,
334
00:15:48,020 --> 00:15:50,260
and we go into self doubt, we go into criticism,
335
00:15:50,260 --> 00:15:52,580
we go into anxiety.
336
00:15:52,580 --> 00:15:55,300
And so it really is important to be able to step back
337
00:15:55,300 --> 00:15:58,740
and say, it starts with, is this what I'm choosing to do?
338
00:15:58,740 --> 00:16:00,380
Do I choose to do this?
339
00:16:01,340 --> 00:16:03,300
When you think about it from that perspective,
340
00:16:03,300 --> 00:16:07,180
the student who was complaining about her senior recital
341
00:16:07,180 --> 00:16:10,020
and just how much stress she was experiencing,
342
00:16:10,020 --> 00:16:11,340
I said, well, why are you doing this?
343
00:16:11,340 --> 00:16:13,700
And it's like, they're making me.
344
00:16:13,700 --> 00:16:15,380
And it's like, whoa, slow down, slow down.
345
00:16:15,380 --> 00:16:18,020
Who signed you up for a degree in music?
346
00:16:18,020 --> 00:16:20,020
Oh, I guess I did.
347
00:16:20,940 --> 00:16:22,620
All right, so, and you'd heard about this thing
348
00:16:22,620 --> 00:16:24,220
called the senior recital, right?
349
00:16:24,220 --> 00:16:26,900
Oh yeah, I've heard about it for years.
350
00:16:26,900 --> 00:16:28,940
Oh, I'm choosing to do this.
351
00:16:30,060 --> 00:16:32,260
Okay, so then it's a question of,
352
00:16:32,260 --> 00:16:34,260
yes, this is what I'm choosing.
353
00:16:34,260 --> 00:16:36,460
And then it's really the question of how to develop
354
00:16:36,460 --> 00:16:39,800
the mental skills and what are these mental skills?
355
00:16:39,800 --> 00:16:41,980
Now I like to put these mental skills,
356
00:16:43,060 --> 00:16:44,580
oh, somewhere around six or seven,
357
00:16:44,580 --> 00:16:46,040
maybe eight different skills.
358
00:16:46,040 --> 00:16:48,880
Let me just kind of go through these really quickly.
359
00:16:48,880 --> 00:16:51,680
I could do an entire presentation on each one of these,
360
00:16:51,680 --> 00:16:52,520
right?
361
00:16:52,520 --> 00:16:53,340
Right.
362
00:16:53,340 --> 00:16:55,220
Which we're not gonna do this morning.
363
00:16:55,220 --> 00:16:58,420
And so it's really like saying,
364
00:16:59,300 --> 00:17:02,580
okay, do I understand what's happening in my body?
365
00:17:02,580 --> 00:17:04,700
See, I call it activation.
366
00:17:04,700 --> 00:17:07,420
The sympathetic nervous system is activated.
367
00:17:07,420 --> 00:17:08,560
Do I understand this?
368
00:17:08,560 --> 00:17:10,100
Do I recognize this?
369
00:17:10,100 --> 00:17:12,320
And have I been taught specific tools and skills
370
00:17:12,320 --> 00:17:13,860
to manage it?
371
00:17:13,860 --> 00:17:15,980
Typically, in any group that I'm working with right now,
372
00:17:15,980 --> 00:17:19,060
less than 10% of the people will raise their hand
373
00:17:19,060 --> 00:17:22,640
when I say, who in here has a regular practice
374
00:17:22,640 --> 00:17:25,780
of daily meditation, relaxation exercises.
375
00:17:26,740 --> 00:17:29,840
About 10% or less will raise their hand.
376
00:17:29,840 --> 00:17:31,900
There was one time I did this, only one hand went up
377
00:17:31,900 --> 00:17:33,700
and she was a former student.
378
00:17:33,700 --> 00:17:35,940
And it was like, oh, hey, great.
379
00:17:35,940 --> 00:17:37,180
Nice to see you Dr. Skidmore.
380
00:17:37,180 --> 00:17:38,760
Yeah, Suzy.
381
00:17:38,760 --> 00:17:42,580
And so we need to understand this system
382
00:17:43,500 --> 00:17:45,740
and we need to be able to train this system.
383
00:17:45,740 --> 00:17:47,280
We can't train it out of ourselves.
384
00:17:47,280 --> 00:17:49,820
That's actually a question of my final exam.
385
00:17:49,820 --> 00:17:50,680
True or false?
386
00:17:50,680 --> 00:17:53,220
You can train your stress response out of you.
387
00:17:53,220 --> 00:17:54,060
False.
388
00:17:55,140 --> 00:17:57,660
It is so deeply ingrained in our brain.
389
00:17:57,660 --> 00:17:59,660
We can't train it out.
390
00:17:59,660 --> 00:18:01,940
But we can understand it and we can manage it.
391
00:18:01,940 --> 00:18:05,020
So there's a lot to recognize that.
392
00:18:05,020 --> 00:18:08,100
And simply by referring to it as activation
393
00:18:08,100 --> 00:18:11,760
rather than anxiety, changes so much for so many people.
394
00:18:11,760 --> 00:18:13,100
I'm activated.
395
00:18:13,100 --> 00:18:13,940
Well, I'm here to sing.
396
00:18:13,940 --> 00:18:15,860
I'm here to play the piano.
397
00:18:15,860 --> 00:18:17,200
So what, I'm activated.
398
00:18:18,420 --> 00:18:20,540
But if they have that energy of somehow being activated
399
00:18:20,540 --> 00:18:25,100
is bad or wrong, then it gets in their way.
400
00:18:25,100 --> 00:18:27,080
And it becomes more and more frustrating.
401
00:18:27,080 --> 00:18:29,620
I mean, one simple little fact here.
402
00:18:29,620 --> 00:18:32,200
It can take 20 minutes or longer
403
00:18:32,200 --> 00:18:34,220
for the energy of being activated,
404
00:18:34,220 --> 00:18:36,060
getting that stress response triggered,
405
00:18:36,060 --> 00:18:37,400
for it to fade away.
406
00:18:38,320 --> 00:18:39,580
So too many people are thinking like,
407
00:18:39,580 --> 00:18:42,340
well, I'm all stressed out and activated, stage fright.
408
00:18:42,340 --> 00:18:44,660
Well, I should do a breathing exercise.
409
00:18:44,660 --> 00:18:46,100
It didn't go away.
410
00:18:46,100 --> 00:18:48,660
No, it's gonna take 20 minutes for that to fade away.
411
00:18:48,660 --> 00:18:50,620
Well, how interesting.
412
00:18:50,620 --> 00:18:52,740
And so to be able to understand that
413
00:18:52,740 --> 00:18:55,740
and to be able to say, okay, it's gonna take some time.
414
00:18:55,740 --> 00:18:59,260
And if I focus on it as a problem, it's gonna get worse.
415
00:18:59,260 --> 00:19:01,000
If I focus on it as something that's here,
416
00:19:01,000 --> 00:19:03,780
I know what it is, it's not gonna trip me up
417
00:19:03,780 --> 00:19:06,100
and I can do a few breathing exercises
418
00:19:06,100 --> 00:19:08,740
so it will calm things down.
419
00:19:08,740 --> 00:19:12,940
And then I'm free to move on with this.
420
00:19:12,940 --> 00:19:16,000
I talked with one professional violin player
421
00:19:16,000 --> 00:19:17,700
and he had the idea that he was supposed
422
00:19:17,700 --> 00:19:19,260
to eliminate this activation.
423
00:19:20,180 --> 00:19:21,260
And he was talking about how you're still
424
00:19:21,260 --> 00:19:23,780
way too nervous on this performance.
425
00:19:23,780 --> 00:19:26,740
I said, okay, from a zero to 10, how activated were you?
426
00:19:26,740 --> 00:19:28,060
Six.
427
00:19:28,060 --> 00:19:31,020
Okay, zero to 10, 10 being just massive problems.
428
00:19:31,020 --> 00:19:32,700
It created so much energy for your performance.
429
00:19:32,700 --> 00:19:35,360
It really just interfered with your performance.
430
00:19:35,360 --> 00:19:37,140
Zero to 10, what would be your rating?
431
00:19:37,140 --> 00:19:39,800
10 being just, oh, just really devastating.
432
00:19:39,800 --> 00:19:41,020
Oh, it didn't bother my performance.
433
00:19:41,020 --> 00:19:42,700
It didn't impact me at all.
434
00:19:42,700 --> 00:19:46,400
It's like, okay, so you can comfortably perform great
435
00:19:46,400 --> 00:19:48,860
at a level six activation.
436
00:19:48,860 --> 00:19:50,160
Let's not worry about that.
437
00:19:51,180 --> 00:19:54,620
And the less you worry about it, the lower it's gonna get.
438
00:19:54,620 --> 00:19:56,820
So that is one really important key.
439
00:19:56,820 --> 00:19:58,460
Stage fright is not our enemy.
440
00:19:58,460 --> 00:19:59,620
It is not the number one enemy.
441
00:19:59,620 --> 00:20:01,540
It's a skill deficit.
442
00:20:01,540 --> 00:20:03,100
And we need the physical skills
443
00:20:03,100 --> 00:20:05,040
like the relaxation strategies.
444
00:20:05,040 --> 00:20:08,260
We also need the mental skills to manage that as well.
445
00:20:08,260 --> 00:20:10,340
So the whole idea behind activation management
446
00:20:10,340 --> 00:20:12,500
is one of the things I really focus on.
447
00:20:12,500 --> 00:20:14,640
Another thing I really focus on is the whole concept
448
00:20:14,640 --> 00:20:17,460
of storytelling or self-talk.
449
00:20:17,460 --> 00:20:20,500
What are the stories that we're telling ourselves?
450
00:20:20,500 --> 00:20:25,500
Are auditions humiliating, terrifying, embarrassing?
451
00:20:26,180 --> 00:20:31,100
Are auditions a source of defeat and disappointment?
452
00:20:31,100 --> 00:20:34,640
Or are auditions the gateway to opportunities?
453
00:20:35,620 --> 00:20:37,600
And suddenly that can shift.
454
00:20:37,600 --> 00:20:39,820
And so we have to really become aware
455
00:20:39,820 --> 00:20:43,220
of what we're telling ourselves and what's the story
456
00:20:43,220 --> 00:20:45,500
and what are the words we're using.
457
00:20:45,500 --> 00:20:48,540
I mean, the simple, I can do this
458
00:20:48,540 --> 00:20:51,260
versus I can't do this is huge.
459
00:20:51,260 --> 00:20:52,260
It is.
460
00:20:52,260 --> 00:20:53,340
It's just absolutely huge.
461
00:20:53,340 --> 00:20:54,940
And so say, okay, what are we telling ourselves?
462
00:20:54,940 --> 00:21:00,020
So we've really got to take on what is in our stories.
463
00:21:00,020 --> 00:21:01,180
And that's the word I like to describe.
464
00:21:01,180 --> 00:21:03,620
What's the narrative we're telling ourselves about it.
465
00:21:03,620 --> 00:21:07,140
And we need to understand what the present day narrative is
466
00:21:07,140 --> 00:21:08,140
in a sense, what are the words
467
00:21:08,140 --> 00:21:10,020
that actually came out of my mouth?
468
00:21:10,020 --> 00:21:13,900
But what is our historical narrative?
469
00:21:13,900 --> 00:21:15,260
For example, there was a young lady
470
00:21:15,260 --> 00:21:18,020
who was gonna play a Chopin piece
471
00:21:18,020 --> 00:21:20,140
at her sister's wedding reception.
472
00:21:20,140 --> 00:21:21,920
She was like 13 or 14.
473
00:21:21,920 --> 00:21:25,140
Well, she got ready to play and it was time.
474
00:21:25,140 --> 00:21:28,380
And so she started to play and she was so embarrassed
475
00:21:28,380 --> 00:21:30,780
and so upset about how she performed.
476
00:21:30,780 --> 00:21:32,660
It's like she just told herself right then and there,
477
00:21:32,660 --> 00:21:35,540
I'm never gonna play Chopin again.
478
00:21:35,540 --> 00:21:38,020
It's like, I'm just not gonna play Chopin.
479
00:21:38,020 --> 00:21:39,940
And it wasn't until her senior recital
480
00:21:39,940 --> 00:21:41,860
when her professor said, look,
481
00:21:41,860 --> 00:21:44,980
Chopin is gonna be on your program.
482
00:21:44,980 --> 00:21:46,240
He's gotta be there.
483
00:21:47,620 --> 00:21:49,260
And then she was in my office and said,
484
00:21:49,260 --> 00:21:50,860
I don't wanna play with Chopin.
485
00:21:50,860 --> 00:21:51,740
I don't wanna do this.
486
00:21:51,740 --> 00:21:53,380
I don't wanna do this.
487
00:21:53,380 --> 00:21:55,460
And we got her through that.
488
00:21:55,460 --> 00:21:57,020
So that's a piece of history
489
00:21:57,020 --> 00:22:00,460
that is absolutely impacting today.
490
00:22:01,260 --> 00:22:04,940
And this is a connection we don't often really find
491
00:22:04,940 --> 00:22:06,780
or see very quickly.
492
00:22:06,780 --> 00:22:09,780
And so, yes, looking at our historical perspectives
493
00:22:09,780 --> 00:22:12,580
and what kinds of experiences, what kinds of stories,
494
00:22:12,580 --> 00:22:15,180
what kinds of, in some cases, traumas we had
495
00:22:15,980 --> 00:22:17,300
and how they're impacting.
496
00:22:17,300 --> 00:22:21,180
So here we could say she had some trauma with Chopin
497
00:22:21,180 --> 00:22:24,500
and ever since then, she's been avoiding Chopin
498
00:22:24,500 --> 00:22:26,500
until she had to play with Chopin again.
499
00:22:26,500 --> 00:22:28,900
I joke on that play with Chopin.
500
00:22:30,900 --> 00:22:32,140
I don't wanna play with Chopin.
501
00:22:32,140 --> 00:22:32,980
I don't like him.
502
00:22:32,980 --> 00:22:34,700
He beat me up last time we played.
503
00:22:34,700 --> 00:22:37,500
It's like, no, no, no, I don't wanna do that.
504
00:22:37,500 --> 00:22:40,740
No, it's like, okay, this is just a beautiful composer.
505
00:22:40,740 --> 00:22:42,100
Why limit yourself?
506
00:22:42,100 --> 00:22:43,420
Right, yeah.
507
00:22:43,420 --> 00:22:46,740
I know, but you have several strategies
508
00:22:46,740 --> 00:22:49,100
to change the narrative, right?
509
00:22:49,100 --> 00:22:53,860
But first impression of, let's say, failure, quote unquote,
510
00:22:53,860 --> 00:22:58,860
and you experience, especially as a young student,
511
00:22:58,860 --> 00:23:02,860
experience the trauma of that mistake, failure,
512
00:23:02,860 --> 00:23:04,940
it's not as bad as you think.
513
00:23:04,940 --> 00:23:06,260
You know, you're trying to tell, yeah,
514
00:23:06,260 --> 00:23:08,820
but for the person who experienced,
515
00:23:08,820 --> 00:23:09,860
it's like, oh my gosh,
516
00:23:09,860 --> 00:23:13,700
because the certain part of the brain is activated,
517
00:23:13,700 --> 00:23:15,900
I think it's called amygdala or something.
518
00:23:15,900 --> 00:23:16,740
Yes.
519
00:23:16,740 --> 00:23:21,740
Old part of our brain, the part that we inherited from
520
00:23:23,260 --> 00:23:27,340
and then so that's the part is warning you, right?
521
00:23:27,340 --> 00:23:28,180
Yes.
522
00:23:28,180 --> 00:23:29,020
Basically.
523
00:23:29,020 --> 00:23:31,860
But how do you change that signal
524
00:23:31,860 --> 00:23:36,860
to something you don't have to be so scared about it
525
00:23:37,100 --> 00:23:42,100
or you can have a more, let's say, positive insight,
526
00:23:42,260 --> 00:23:45,420
positive memory of that?
527
00:23:45,420 --> 00:23:47,460
You know, sometimes changing these patterns
528
00:23:47,460 --> 00:23:48,900
is really, really difficult.
529
00:23:48,900 --> 00:23:50,940
I wish there was just a hypnotic trance
530
00:23:50,940 --> 00:23:53,060
I could put everybody into and it'd be gone.
531
00:23:53,060 --> 00:23:53,900
Yeah, right.
532
00:23:53,900 --> 00:23:55,980
And you know, I've had a lot of hypnosis training
533
00:23:55,980 --> 00:23:57,980
and I use it as a tool in many different ways
534
00:23:57,980 --> 00:23:59,220
when it's appropriate.
535
00:23:59,220 --> 00:24:00,060
Oh, wow.
536
00:24:00,060 --> 00:24:02,820
I haven't ever felt like it was magical.
537
00:24:02,820 --> 00:24:05,300
Like somehow doing that will just take this away.
538
00:24:05,300 --> 00:24:07,340
It's a tool in the toolbox.
539
00:24:07,340 --> 00:24:09,580
But anyway, what you're really talking about
540
00:24:09,580 --> 00:24:14,020
is an awareness that this pattern,
541
00:24:14,020 --> 00:24:16,100
one, it's not necessary.
542
00:24:16,100 --> 00:24:17,700
In fact, here's a simple way to describe this.
543
00:24:17,700 --> 00:24:19,980
I think this would be great for all of your teachers.
544
00:24:19,980 --> 00:24:20,900
Okay.
545
00:24:20,900 --> 00:24:24,700
Think of my hands as the two spheres of my brain,
546
00:24:24,700 --> 00:24:26,540
these two hemispheres of my brain.
547
00:24:26,540 --> 00:24:28,940
And so the thumb is the amygdala
548
00:24:28,940 --> 00:24:31,020
and the fingers are all the frontal cortex.
549
00:24:31,020 --> 00:24:34,580
So I have these two parts of the brain inside my hand.
550
00:24:35,460 --> 00:24:38,540
Well, based on survival,
551
00:24:38,540 --> 00:24:40,820
we want to be able to recognize very quickly
552
00:24:40,820 --> 00:24:43,860
those things that are gonna hurt us or harm us.
553
00:24:43,860 --> 00:24:45,620
We don't wanna have to relearn that rattlesnakes
554
00:24:45,620 --> 00:24:47,700
are dangerous every time we see one.
555
00:24:47,700 --> 00:24:49,460
We don't wanna learn that putting your hand on a hot stove
556
00:24:49,460 --> 00:24:52,340
is gonna burn us every time we see a hot stove.
557
00:24:52,340 --> 00:24:54,740
So those things are stuck in our brain
558
00:24:54,740 --> 00:24:57,740
that will automatically just fire off
559
00:24:57,740 --> 00:25:00,940
and send us into that fight or flight response.
560
00:25:00,940 --> 00:25:02,580
That's exactly what it's gonna do.
561
00:25:02,580 --> 00:25:06,220
So here I am walking down a beautiful trail
562
00:25:06,220 --> 00:25:08,700
in Zion National Park in Utah.
563
00:25:08,700 --> 00:25:11,260
And I hear that buzz of a rattlesnake,
564
00:25:11,260 --> 00:25:13,340
at which point my brain totally activates.
565
00:25:13,340 --> 00:25:14,180
Wah!
566
00:25:15,300 --> 00:25:16,140
Ah!
567
00:25:16,140 --> 00:25:17,100
Okay.
568
00:25:17,100 --> 00:25:20,540
Now, this is called the ABCDE of the brain.
569
00:25:22,180 --> 00:25:26,860
So you could say A is for the amygdala and activation.
570
00:25:26,860 --> 00:25:28,180
But are you in danger?
571
00:25:29,260 --> 00:25:30,380
The answer would be no.
572
00:25:30,380 --> 00:25:32,260
Okay, I don't need this.
573
00:25:32,260 --> 00:25:34,340
Well, the body has been supercharged.
574
00:25:35,420 --> 00:25:36,900
All kinds of adrenaline,
575
00:25:36,900 --> 00:25:39,220
hormones are coursing through the body.
576
00:25:39,220 --> 00:25:41,980
Well, can I start to do the breathing
577
00:25:41,980 --> 00:25:43,660
and find that balancing point,
578
00:25:43,660 --> 00:25:46,660
get the body restored to a sense of balance?
579
00:25:47,500 --> 00:25:48,580
Can I check my thinking?
580
00:25:48,580 --> 00:25:50,580
What's the story I'm telling myself?
581
00:25:51,460 --> 00:25:53,900
Let's check and correct our thinking.
582
00:25:53,900 --> 00:25:58,500
With correct thinking, then we can decide, that's the D.
583
00:25:58,500 --> 00:26:00,980
We can decide what we wanna believe here.
584
00:26:00,980 --> 00:26:03,220
And then we want to engage in that.
585
00:26:03,220 --> 00:26:05,900
So one of my favorite assignments
586
00:26:05,900 --> 00:26:07,460
in my performance psychology class
587
00:26:07,460 --> 00:26:09,300
is to have students write a description
588
00:26:09,300 --> 00:26:11,180
of their worst performance ever.
589
00:26:11,180 --> 00:26:12,540
And these are dramatic performances.
590
00:26:12,540 --> 00:26:17,340
These are dramatic stories, very painful stories.
591
00:26:17,340 --> 00:26:19,140
Well, you can see they got activated, yes.
592
00:26:19,140 --> 00:26:20,140
But were they in danger?
593
00:26:20,140 --> 00:26:21,580
No.
594
00:26:21,580 --> 00:26:23,180
Was their body completely out of control?
595
00:26:23,180 --> 00:26:24,020
Yes.
596
00:26:24,020 --> 00:26:24,860
Was their thinking out of control?
597
00:26:24,860 --> 00:26:25,860
Yes.
598
00:26:25,860 --> 00:26:26,940
Did they decide on where to go?
599
00:26:26,940 --> 00:26:28,140
No.
600
00:26:28,140 --> 00:26:29,100
And they wanted to run away.
601
00:26:29,100 --> 00:26:32,180
So it's just like, ah, they were stuck in this like, ah.
602
00:26:32,180 --> 00:26:34,260
But when we start to rewrite this story, it's like,
603
00:26:34,260 --> 00:26:36,100
oh, I wasn't in danger.
604
00:26:36,100 --> 00:26:38,220
Let's calm down the body.
605
00:26:38,220 --> 00:26:39,900
Let's correct the thinking.
606
00:26:39,900 --> 00:26:43,660
Let's decide what I want to do with this performance again.
607
00:26:44,580 --> 00:26:47,460
And let's go in that path.
608
00:26:47,460 --> 00:26:48,860
It's really interesting to look at it
609
00:26:48,860 --> 00:26:52,020
from the perspective that inside of every performance,
610
00:26:52,020 --> 00:26:53,860
there is a victory there.
611
00:26:53,860 --> 00:26:55,660
There is something of tremendous value.
612
00:26:55,660 --> 00:26:58,260
There's some gold in there.
613
00:26:58,260 --> 00:26:59,100
We got to find it.
614
00:26:59,100 --> 00:27:01,780
It may not always be what we expect it to be.
615
00:27:01,780 --> 00:27:05,300
But it's something that can really make a difference for us.
616
00:27:05,300 --> 00:27:07,340
But if all we're thinking about is the draw,
617
00:27:07,340 --> 00:27:09,620
so all we're thinking about is the waste,
618
00:27:09,620 --> 00:27:13,500
the horrible stuff that happened, we don't find the gold.
619
00:27:13,500 --> 00:27:14,780
I guess when I'm thinking about gold,
620
00:27:14,780 --> 00:27:16,820
I'm thinking about, this is what's going to help me shine.
621
00:27:16,820 --> 00:27:18,420
This is what's going to give me value.
622
00:27:18,420 --> 00:27:20,740
I can use this in my next performance.
623
00:27:20,740 --> 00:27:22,500
It's going to help me be that much stronger,
624
00:27:22,500 --> 00:27:24,700
that much more powerful, that much more sensitive,
625
00:27:24,700 --> 00:27:25,780
that more musical.
626
00:27:27,020 --> 00:27:31,300
So it's the value that this has.
627
00:27:31,300 --> 00:27:33,700
Most performers could come up with a list of performances,
628
00:27:33,700 --> 00:27:35,660
sometimes more than a few,
629
00:27:35,660 --> 00:27:37,660
where, okay, there was nothing good in that,
630
00:27:37,660 --> 00:27:40,180
and this was embarrassing, and this was bad,
631
00:27:40,180 --> 00:27:42,740
and they're still dragging that around with them.
632
00:27:42,740 --> 00:27:44,140
And it's like, okay, they haven't been able to find
633
00:27:44,140 --> 00:27:46,700
the good stuff in that performance that's allowing them
634
00:27:46,700 --> 00:27:49,140
that will support their next performance.
635
00:27:49,140 --> 00:27:52,100
And so we start to look at this, and again,
636
00:27:52,100 --> 00:27:54,060
our brain is designed to give meaning.
637
00:27:54,060 --> 00:27:56,820
It will give a meaning to everything.
638
00:27:56,820 --> 00:27:59,940
So it's going to give meaning to that performance too.
639
00:27:59,940 --> 00:28:02,820
And especially in the world of auditioning and competing,
640
00:28:02,820 --> 00:28:05,060
if people have winning means I'm great,
641
00:28:05,060 --> 00:28:08,460
and losing means I'm bad, they're on a roller coaster
642
00:28:08,460 --> 00:28:11,180
every time they are putting themselves out there.
643
00:28:12,500 --> 00:28:15,500
So here I am at this classical singer convention,
644
00:28:15,500 --> 00:28:19,220
and the idea, I mean, what are the odds of them really winning?
645
00:28:19,220 --> 00:28:21,180
Well, it'd be like one in,
646
00:28:21,180 --> 00:28:22,620
I don't know who took the grand prize.
647
00:28:22,620 --> 00:28:23,700
I think they'll find that out.
648
00:28:23,700 --> 00:28:24,700
Not that they found that out last night.
649
00:28:24,700 --> 00:28:26,340
I need to find out who that was.
650
00:28:26,340 --> 00:28:29,020
But it's like there were 600 singers there.
651
00:28:29,020 --> 00:28:30,460
So you have a chance of one in 600
652
00:28:30,460 --> 00:28:31,980
to be that ultimate winner.
653
00:28:33,740 --> 00:28:36,940
Well, you go to audition for a major symphony orchestra.
654
00:28:36,940 --> 00:28:38,100
There's going to be 150.
655
00:28:38,100 --> 00:28:42,740
There's going to be 300 people vying for that tuba place.
656
00:28:42,740 --> 00:28:46,740
Well, that means there's going to be at least 10% of that group,
657
00:28:46,740 --> 00:28:49,020
any one of them could do it great,
658
00:28:49,020 --> 00:28:51,140
at least 10% if not more than that.
659
00:28:52,380 --> 00:28:54,500
And so that sense of being good or bad
660
00:28:54,500 --> 00:28:56,940
is the roller coaster we don't want to get caught on.
661
00:28:56,940 --> 00:29:00,620
And again, it's our story that we're telling ourselves.
662
00:29:00,620 --> 00:29:02,620
But we start talking about activation management,
663
00:29:02,620 --> 00:29:05,740
our thought management is a real important thing,
664
00:29:05,740 --> 00:29:07,780
the story we're telling ourselves,
665
00:29:07,780 --> 00:29:09,500
our past and present stories.
666
00:29:09,500 --> 00:29:12,500
We got to look at how we manage our attention focus.
667
00:29:13,500 --> 00:29:15,020
See, we're not really trained,
668
00:29:15,020 --> 00:29:17,020
we're kind of told to concentrate and focus
669
00:29:17,020 --> 00:29:18,620
and pay attention a lot.
670
00:29:19,620 --> 00:29:21,660
But what are we supposed to pay attention to?
671
00:29:21,660 --> 00:29:24,020
And what happens if we're being distracted by what?
672
00:29:24,020 --> 00:29:25,420
What do we do?
673
00:29:25,420 --> 00:29:27,820
So that's another important skill and tool.
674
00:29:29,140 --> 00:29:30,660
In my performance psychology class one night,
675
00:29:30,660 --> 00:29:33,220
I thought I'm going to be a little bit crazy with this.
676
00:29:33,220 --> 00:29:37,060
And so I invited five or six performers
677
00:29:37,060 --> 00:29:39,580
to get ready to perform something,
678
00:29:39,580 --> 00:29:41,900
they went out in the hall, they came in one at a time.
679
00:29:41,900 --> 00:29:44,180
And then I intentionally had our class members
680
00:29:44,180 --> 00:29:46,460
try to distract them while they were performing.
681
00:29:48,460 --> 00:29:50,580
Like literally throwing paper airplanes at them
682
00:29:50,580 --> 00:29:53,980
while they were singing or asking them questions.
683
00:29:53,980 --> 00:29:56,460
Excuse me, where'd you grow up?
684
00:29:56,460 --> 00:29:58,980
Just really random kind of questions.
685
00:29:58,980 --> 00:30:00,300
And at some point they had to decide
686
00:30:00,300 --> 00:30:02,620
what is most important to write here right now.
687
00:30:02,620 --> 00:30:04,980
And I loved it as one singer was up there singing
688
00:30:04,980 --> 00:30:07,300
and she decided at first there was like,
689
00:30:07,300 --> 00:30:09,180
and also it's like, oh, I know what's going on.
690
00:30:09,180 --> 00:30:11,220
So she starts to move her hand
691
00:30:11,220 --> 00:30:12,660
and she's gesturing with her hands
692
00:30:12,660 --> 00:30:13,500
as she's singing her song,
693
00:30:13,500 --> 00:30:16,220
as she's knocking paper airplanes out of the air
694
00:30:16,220 --> 00:30:17,380
as they were coming toward her,
695
00:30:17,380 --> 00:30:18,820
as she was singing her song.
696
00:30:18,820 --> 00:30:20,660
Now, is that an ideal place to perform in?
697
00:30:20,660 --> 00:30:24,500
No, but it was a great exercise in her deciding
698
00:30:24,500 --> 00:30:25,860
what's most important.
699
00:30:25,860 --> 00:30:28,260
And so that's one of the challenges we have as performers
700
00:30:28,260 --> 00:30:29,820
to decide what's most important
701
00:30:29,820 --> 00:30:31,820
and to keep our attention there.
702
00:30:31,820 --> 00:30:35,260
I invited a delightful, wonderful pianist,
703
00:30:35,260 --> 00:30:37,300
Robin Hancock at Brigham Young University
704
00:30:37,300 --> 00:30:39,020
to perform for my class one night.
705
00:30:39,020 --> 00:30:42,100
And he played fantastic.
706
00:30:42,100 --> 00:30:43,140
It was a beautiful piece.
707
00:30:43,140 --> 00:30:46,060
And now we're kind of debriefing his experience.
708
00:30:46,060 --> 00:30:47,180
And I asked him at some point,
709
00:30:47,180 --> 00:30:50,340
did your attention shift anywhere during the performance?
710
00:30:50,340 --> 00:30:51,980
And he goes, oh, it certainly did.
711
00:30:51,980 --> 00:30:53,580
Well, tell us about that.
712
00:30:53,580 --> 00:30:54,860
Well, in the middle of his song,
713
00:30:54,860 --> 00:30:57,420
he heard the heavy metal doors of this green room
714
00:30:57,420 --> 00:30:59,020
open and clank shift.
715
00:30:59,020 --> 00:31:02,100
And his next thought was, did I reserve this room?
716
00:31:02,100 --> 00:31:04,300
What if somebody else needs this room right now?
717
00:31:04,300 --> 00:31:06,820
Well, that was a shift of attention focus.
718
00:31:06,820 --> 00:31:09,300
Now, he didn't stop and say, excuse me,
719
00:31:09,300 --> 00:31:10,620
do you need this room?
720
00:31:10,620 --> 00:31:13,180
It's like, well, he decided very quickly
721
00:31:13,180 --> 00:31:14,820
that playing his song was more important
722
00:31:14,820 --> 00:31:16,980
than whatever problem that could be.
723
00:31:16,980 --> 00:31:18,180
But his attention shifted.
724
00:31:18,180 --> 00:31:22,100
And so we've got to know we have just milliseconds sometimes
725
00:31:22,100 --> 00:31:25,340
if our attention takes us off track to get it back on track.
726
00:31:25,340 --> 00:31:26,940
He was able to bring it right back on track.
727
00:31:26,940 --> 00:31:29,060
He didn't spend the rest of his piece worrying about
728
00:31:29,060 --> 00:31:32,580
whether or not he had this room reserved or not.
729
00:31:32,580 --> 00:31:35,300
So that was an attention shift.
730
00:31:35,300 --> 00:31:38,980
Another skill I think that is just so important
731
00:31:38,980 --> 00:31:43,980
is the skill of properly debriefing a performance.
732
00:31:43,980 --> 00:31:45,860
In a sense, really looking at what worked
733
00:31:45,860 --> 00:31:49,300
and what didn't, not just on stage that night,
734
00:31:49,300 --> 00:31:52,700
but in the entire process from the decision to perform
735
00:31:52,700 --> 00:31:54,940
and motivation to the performance,
736
00:31:54,940 --> 00:31:56,900
the decision to perform and motivation
737
00:31:56,900 --> 00:31:58,580
to all the mental practice skills,
738
00:31:58,580 --> 00:32:00,940
to completing your musical preparation,
739
00:32:00,940 --> 00:32:03,100
to the pre-performance routines.
740
00:32:03,100 --> 00:32:06,260
See, these are a whole different set of skills
741
00:32:06,260 --> 00:32:08,580
that we don't often talk too much about.
742
00:32:08,580 --> 00:32:10,380
No, we often develop certain kind of rituals
743
00:32:10,380 --> 00:32:12,580
around some of these things,
744
00:32:12,580 --> 00:32:16,460
but to actually start to develop what I call a launch sequence.
745
00:32:16,460 --> 00:32:19,580
What am I going to do that I can have control over
746
00:32:19,580 --> 00:32:22,100
any time and every time I perform?
747
00:32:22,100 --> 00:32:25,060
What is that launch sequence going to be?
748
00:32:25,060 --> 00:32:26,860
What can it be?
749
00:32:26,860 --> 00:32:28,940
And it's often a breath or breathing
750
00:32:28,940 --> 00:32:31,580
or a visualization kind of thing.
751
00:32:31,580 --> 00:32:34,540
And so we develop the pre-performance routines
752
00:32:34,540 --> 00:32:39,420
and we develop the debriefing process.
753
00:32:39,420 --> 00:32:42,260
So again, we can find out what worked.
754
00:32:42,260 --> 00:32:44,860
And typically with most performing artists,
755
00:32:44,860 --> 00:32:48,300
the majority of what they want to do shows up on stage.
756
00:32:48,300 --> 00:32:49,460
It shows up that night.
757
00:32:49,460 --> 00:32:52,260
The majority of it does.
758
00:32:52,260 --> 00:32:55,980
And there may or may not be some things that didn't show up.
759
00:32:55,980 --> 00:32:58,820
Well, what would you do next time?
760
00:32:58,820 --> 00:33:01,620
Too many performers, and I've met many of them,
761
00:33:01,620 --> 00:33:04,620
who post-performance were so effective
762
00:33:04,620 --> 00:33:07,180
in their post-performance bashing
763
00:33:07,180 --> 00:33:10,780
that that thought of never doing that again felt better.
764
00:33:10,780 --> 00:33:12,820
So I said, OK, I'm never going to play with Chopin again.
765
00:33:12,820 --> 00:33:14,820
Nope. Oh, I feel so much better.
766
00:33:14,820 --> 00:33:16,740
OK, not doing Chopin.
767
00:33:16,740 --> 00:33:20,300
Yeah, that ultimatum, yeah,
768
00:33:20,300 --> 00:33:22,460
like makes you feel like you're in control, right?
769
00:33:22,460 --> 00:33:23,460
Right.
770
00:33:23,460 --> 00:33:25,740
And so that's just important to be able to recognize.
771
00:33:25,740 --> 00:33:28,980
And so just knowing that developing a mindset
772
00:33:28,980 --> 00:33:32,660
to equal your musical skill set is an important thing.
773
00:33:32,660 --> 00:33:34,420
And we don't just get it along.
774
00:33:34,420 --> 00:33:37,620
We get a toolbox of survival skills in the home
775
00:33:37,620 --> 00:33:39,060
that we grew up in.
776
00:33:39,060 --> 00:33:42,140
Whatever we had to deal with and experience there,
777
00:33:42,140 --> 00:33:44,420
we had to figure out how to survive.
778
00:33:44,420 --> 00:33:47,060
And many of those same tools will help us
779
00:33:47,060 --> 00:33:49,180
and support us throughout our entire lives.
780
00:33:49,180 --> 00:33:53,020
But some of those tools were learned by a five-year-old.
781
00:33:53,020 --> 00:33:54,500
And we don't want a five-year-old in charge
782
00:33:54,500 --> 00:33:56,740
of the decision-making process as a performer.
783
00:33:56,740 --> 00:33:57,980
Oh, Chopin's too scary.
784
00:33:57,980 --> 00:33:58,980
Nope, we're not doing Chopin.
785
00:33:58,980 --> 00:34:01,580
Nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, not doing Chopin.
786
00:34:01,580 --> 00:34:03,180
Right.
787
00:34:03,180 --> 00:34:08,700
You know, and so recognizing that we need a set of tools
788
00:34:08,700 --> 00:34:10,660
and what are these tools,
789
00:34:10,660 --> 00:34:13,980
then we can start to really refine them and develop them.
790
00:34:13,980 --> 00:34:16,220
And they can make such a difference for us
791
00:34:16,220 --> 00:34:18,420
in what we're doing as performers.
792
00:34:18,420 --> 00:34:21,020
So it's really about the idea first and foremost
793
00:34:21,020 --> 00:34:24,020
to reach brain is to start to claim the idea that,
794
00:34:24,020 --> 00:34:25,660
okay, I want to get mentally tough.
795
00:34:25,660 --> 00:34:26,860
I want to get mentally sharp.
796
00:34:26,860 --> 00:34:29,260
I want to develop a mental edge
797
00:34:29,260 --> 00:34:32,900
that's going to really support everything I do as a performer.
798
00:34:32,900 --> 00:34:34,740
And with that mental edge,
799
00:34:34,740 --> 00:34:37,540
I'm going to manage whatever shows up in a better way.
800
00:34:38,380 --> 00:34:41,900
Just like a sharp knife certainly can cut through a tomato
801
00:34:41,900 --> 00:34:46,180
a lot more efficiently and easily than a very dull knife.
802
00:34:46,180 --> 00:34:48,220
Let's get that edge really sharp.
803
00:34:48,220 --> 00:34:50,980
And so just knowing that there's tools and skills
804
00:34:50,980 --> 00:34:53,140
is the first thing, and then just developing them.
805
00:34:53,140 --> 00:34:56,180
And then we're always developing them because we...
806
00:34:56,180 --> 00:34:59,220
Life is such a dynamic, uncertain process
807
00:34:59,220 --> 00:35:02,260
that we get to deal with things in new ways all the time.
808
00:35:02,260 --> 00:35:06,220
And when we're often stuck in the idea of controlling everything
809
00:35:06,220 --> 00:35:08,300
in the context of perfection,
810
00:35:08,300 --> 00:35:12,420
a surprise can be really shocking if not difficult.
811
00:35:12,420 --> 00:35:14,340
And what we want to be able to do is step back and say,
812
00:35:14,340 --> 00:35:15,860
okay, I want to figure out how to manage this.
813
00:35:15,860 --> 00:35:18,740
So just knowing there's a whole set of musical tools,
814
00:35:18,740 --> 00:35:21,140
skills out there, mental skills out there.
815
00:35:21,140 --> 00:35:26,500
And as we start to develop those, they support us in amazing ways.
816
00:35:26,500 --> 00:35:28,540
And it takes practice.
817
00:35:28,540 --> 00:35:30,900
It really, really takes practice.
818
00:35:30,900 --> 00:35:31,980
Just like performance.
819
00:35:31,980 --> 00:35:35,860
So this mental skills also needs a daily practice.
820
00:35:35,860 --> 00:35:37,580
Yes. Yeah. Yeah.
821
00:35:37,580 --> 00:35:40,900
You know, two things that I like to talk to students about
822
00:35:40,900 --> 00:35:43,820
that are part of a mental skills practice.
823
00:35:43,820 --> 00:35:48,900
One is to explore or talk about one part of the performance process
824
00:35:48,900 --> 00:35:50,660
that you don't like.
825
00:35:50,660 --> 00:35:52,260
Okay, what would you have to let go of?
826
00:35:52,260 --> 00:35:55,660
What would you have to do to like that part?
827
00:35:55,660 --> 00:35:58,620
So again, the person who's driving to the concert venue
828
00:35:58,620 --> 00:36:00,860
is thinking, I dread this, I hate this.
829
00:36:00,860 --> 00:36:02,620
They're not enjoying that.
830
00:36:02,620 --> 00:36:08,100
Well, how could you create a meaningful experience here?
831
00:36:08,100 --> 00:36:11,980
One student talked about how, oh, I love performing.
832
00:36:11,980 --> 00:36:14,140
I hate my lessons.
833
00:36:14,140 --> 00:36:19,060
It's like, okay, well, what we found there was a lot of anxiety
834
00:36:19,060 --> 00:36:20,980
in her lessons.
835
00:36:20,980 --> 00:36:24,660
She felt like she wasn't doing things well enough.
836
00:36:24,660 --> 00:36:27,220
And as soon as she gave up the idea that she was supposed to do things
837
00:36:27,220 --> 00:36:30,580
perfect in her lesson, she started to enjoy her lessons
838
00:36:30,580 --> 00:36:34,540
and her progress just like just expanded
839
00:36:34,540 --> 00:36:37,660
because she was now able to enjoy the experience of discovering
840
00:36:37,660 --> 00:36:40,740
and learning rather than feeling like it was proving
841
00:36:40,740 --> 00:36:42,780
that there was something wrong with her.
842
00:36:42,780 --> 00:36:46,420
Now, again, those are changing old stories.
843
00:36:46,420 --> 00:36:51,660
You know, just a simple practice of making a decision for something.
844
00:36:51,660 --> 00:36:55,780
For example, what if you said for a 24-hour period,
845
00:36:55,780 --> 00:36:58,780
you weren't going to have any sugar?
846
00:36:58,780 --> 00:37:01,420
So that would be something you'd have to remind yourself of.
847
00:37:01,420 --> 00:37:03,660
I'm not going to eat any sugar today.
848
00:37:03,660 --> 00:37:05,740
Now, is that going to change your world or your life?
849
00:37:05,740 --> 00:37:08,540
It might help it a little bit.
850
00:37:08,540 --> 00:37:10,940
One thing that's kind of interesting, think about this.
851
00:37:10,940 --> 00:37:13,340
You're in the shower and you want to turn it on to cold.
852
00:37:13,340 --> 00:37:14,940
Who would want to do that?
853
00:37:14,940 --> 00:37:18,580
Well, it would take a conscious choice to be uncomfortable,
854
00:37:18,580 --> 00:37:21,500
to say, I can handle being uncomfortable for 15 seconds
855
00:37:21,500 --> 00:37:23,100
and turn it on to cold.
856
00:37:23,100 --> 00:37:28,020
It's like that, but that's like a mental training kind of thing.
857
00:37:28,020 --> 00:37:33,100
To look out for certain words, words that are like detrimental,
858
00:37:33,100 --> 00:37:36,300
words that are like, oh, I can't do that.
859
00:37:36,300 --> 00:37:40,620
My daughter's gymnastics club, if they said the word can't
860
00:37:40,620 --> 00:37:43,700
in the club while they were working out,
861
00:37:43,700 --> 00:37:45,660
they had to do like 30 push-ups.
862
00:37:45,660 --> 00:37:47,140
Oh.
863
00:37:47,140 --> 00:37:49,460
So.
864
00:37:49,460 --> 00:37:54,620
Maybe I should have my students do the scales 30 times, right?
865
00:37:54,620 --> 00:37:56,860
Scales 30 times and you say what I can't.
866
00:37:56,860 --> 00:37:58,620
Yeah.
867
00:37:58,620 --> 00:38:00,140
Let me know how that works if you try that.
868
00:38:00,140 --> 00:38:00,900
I'll be curious.
869
00:38:00,900 --> 00:38:03,060
OK.
870
00:38:03,060 --> 00:38:06,540
So again, we have to look at this and say, OK,
871
00:38:06,540 --> 00:38:10,980
this isn't about mastery as much as it is the continual practice.
872
00:38:10,980 --> 00:38:13,580
And just as we're practicing the musical skills,
873
00:38:13,580 --> 00:38:16,580
we get to practice refining those mental skills.
874
00:38:16,580 --> 00:38:18,780
And it becomes a practice.
875
00:38:18,780 --> 00:38:21,300
And so the thing there is, how do we teach our students
876
00:38:21,300 --> 00:38:25,380
to develop a practice of mental skills training?
877
00:38:25,380 --> 00:38:28,740
And so that might be as simple as starting every lesson
878
00:38:28,740 --> 00:38:33,060
with a breathing exercise or to have them start their practice
879
00:38:33,060 --> 00:38:36,420
sessions with a breathing exercise.
880
00:38:36,420 --> 00:38:39,940
And so they're actually practicing these skills along
881
00:38:39,940 --> 00:38:41,580
with what they're doing.
882
00:38:41,580 --> 00:38:48,380
Now, all the practical tips that you gave us right now,
883
00:38:48,380 --> 00:38:52,220
I heard a lot of mindset, the word mindset, quite often.
884
00:38:52,220 --> 00:38:52,980
Yes.
885
00:38:52,980 --> 00:38:54,980
Let's talk about the word mindset.
886
00:38:54,980 --> 00:38:58,540
It has become such a buzzword in recent years.
887
00:38:58,540 --> 00:39:02,660
And some might even say it's becoming a cliche.
888
00:39:02,660 --> 00:39:05,420
However, I believe that the essence of the word
889
00:39:05,420 --> 00:39:10,820
is often misunderstood or misused by those outside
890
00:39:10,820 --> 00:39:12,140
of your field.
891
00:39:12,140 --> 00:39:14,460
So can you share your extensive research
892
00:39:14,460 --> 00:39:18,540
on the power of designing a mindset?
893
00:39:18,540 --> 00:39:22,700
Growing up will give us a mindset about everything.
894
00:39:22,700 --> 00:39:24,620
We have attitudes about it.
895
00:39:24,620 --> 00:39:26,820
So in one of my presentations over the weekend,
896
00:39:26,820 --> 00:39:28,180
I have a big black bag.
897
00:39:28,180 --> 00:39:29,940
I don't have it handy or I'd show it.
898
00:39:29,940 --> 00:39:33,140
And I start to pull objects out of it.
899
00:39:33,140 --> 00:39:34,740
So I pull out a chocolate bar.
900
00:39:34,740 --> 00:39:35,540
Who'd like it?
901
00:39:35,540 --> 00:39:38,620
I had like 90% of the hands in the air like, give it to me.
902
00:39:38,620 --> 00:39:40,300
Give it to me.
903
00:39:40,300 --> 00:39:42,900
I pull out some roasted seaweed.
904
00:39:42,900 --> 00:39:44,340
One or two hands went up.
905
00:39:44,340 --> 00:39:46,100
So I gave out the roasted seaweed.
906
00:39:46,100 --> 00:39:48,180
So chocolate versus roasted seaweed,
907
00:39:48,180 --> 00:39:50,060
depending on who you are, some people
908
00:39:50,060 --> 00:39:52,900
might prefer the seaweed over the chocolate.
909
00:39:52,900 --> 00:39:57,300
And so just recognizing that we're going to have a mindset.
910
00:39:57,300 --> 00:39:59,460
And what is this mindset?
911
00:39:59,460 --> 00:40:04,180
And then to step back and say, did we design this mindset?
912
00:40:04,180 --> 00:40:06,380
The research that I did was a lot of fun with this,
913
00:40:06,380 --> 00:40:09,140
where we took 150 junior high school kids.
914
00:40:09,140 --> 00:40:11,620
We had them go into a musical practice room
915
00:40:11,620 --> 00:40:13,700
with a request to sing Happy Birthday as musically
916
00:40:13,700 --> 00:40:15,140
as they could.
917
00:40:15,140 --> 00:40:18,900
And then we had them go to the control group, which
918
00:40:18,900 --> 00:40:22,540
was back to choir, or with the treatment group, which
919
00:40:22,540 --> 00:40:24,660
was with me for 40 minutes.
920
00:40:24,660 --> 00:40:27,100
And in these 40 minutes, all we did
921
00:40:27,100 --> 00:40:28,780
was talk about designing a mindset.
922
00:40:28,780 --> 00:40:31,660
And we practiced designing a mindset.
923
00:40:31,660 --> 00:40:35,260
We practiced stepping into the mindset.
924
00:40:35,260 --> 00:40:41,940
And I've got so many stories, so many places where, oh, let's
925
00:40:41,940 --> 00:40:45,300
see, that was as big as I could be, huh?
926
00:40:45,300 --> 00:40:46,940
Well, could I be bigger?
927
00:40:46,940 --> 00:40:49,100
Could I be more expressive?
928
00:40:49,100 --> 00:40:50,980
Let me try.
929
00:40:50,980 --> 00:40:53,340
And then it gets bigger.
930
00:40:53,340 --> 00:40:56,500
And so we were able to find statistical evidence
931
00:40:56,500 --> 00:40:58,780
that when you start out with the intention of being bold,
932
00:40:58,780 --> 00:41:02,860
confident-free, or expressive, dynamic, creative,
933
00:41:02,860 --> 00:41:06,580
or whatever words work for you that inspire you for your song,
934
00:41:06,580 --> 00:41:10,100
if that becomes your mindset, you have a target.
935
00:41:10,100 --> 00:41:12,980
Am I aligned with that, or have I shifted from that?
936
00:41:12,980 --> 00:41:15,620
It's kind of like, OK, I can see this happening.
937
00:41:15,620 --> 00:41:21,980
Oh, OK, I want to be inspired and hopeful and excited.
938
00:41:21,980 --> 00:41:23,900
OK, let's talk about someone setting those three
939
00:41:23,900 --> 00:41:27,580
words as the intention for their senior recital.
940
00:41:27,580 --> 00:41:31,420
Inspired, excited, hopeful.
941
00:41:31,420 --> 00:41:33,420
And three weeks from the senior recital,
942
00:41:33,420 --> 00:41:36,260
they were feeling excited, hopeful.
943
00:41:36,260 --> 00:41:38,780
And they were really excited about this.
944
00:41:38,780 --> 00:41:42,340
Three days, they slipped into this place of,
945
00:41:42,340 --> 00:41:43,540
this isn't very good.
946
00:41:43,540 --> 00:41:44,420
I can't do this.
947
00:41:44,420 --> 00:41:45,580
I'm overwhelmed with this.
948
00:41:45,580 --> 00:41:47,660
It's not going to be good enough.
949
00:41:47,660 --> 00:41:49,740
So they went from a designed mindset
950
00:41:49,740 --> 00:41:53,300
into a negative mindset, which is really common for us.
951
00:41:53,300 --> 00:41:54,420
But what we've got to be able to do
952
00:41:54,420 --> 00:41:57,780
is get back into that positive mindset and say, OK,
953
00:41:57,780 --> 00:41:59,820
how can I let this go?
954
00:41:59,820 --> 00:42:03,980
And again, this is where we often need to talk to people,
955
00:42:03,980 --> 00:42:05,420
talk to teachers and coaches.
956
00:42:05,420 --> 00:42:10,740
We get to talk to friends, sometimes psychologists,
957
00:42:10,740 --> 00:42:11,780
coaches.
958
00:42:11,780 --> 00:42:18,220
But it's all about how do we get back on that stable platform
959
00:42:18,220 --> 00:42:19,780
that we designed?
960
00:42:19,780 --> 00:42:22,180
See, mindfulness is a term we often
961
00:42:22,180 --> 00:42:24,220
hear a lot about right now.
962
00:42:24,220 --> 00:42:27,140
And see, mindfulness is about being
963
00:42:27,140 --> 00:42:32,140
aware of what's in our mind and choosing what's in our mind
964
00:42:32,140 --> 00:42:35,100
and choosing to be present right now.
965
00:42:35,100 --> 00:42:41,220
And so the mindset for it to be supportive, creative, positive.
966
00:42:41,220 --> 00:42:42,780
And just knowing that that's going
967
00:42:42,780 --> 00:42:47,140
to help us every way it can when we're
968
00:42:47,140 --> 00:42:49,780
in a positive mindset versus a negative mindset.
969
00:42:49,780 --> 00:42:52,260
But it starts with designing that mindset.
970
00:42:52,260 --> 00:42:54,460
So that's just a lot of fun.
971
00:42:54,460 --> 00:42:55,860
I'll often in workshops I do, I'll
972
00:42:55,860 --> 00:42:59,540
have people write their words, these empowering words
973
00:42:59,540 --> 00:43:01,740
on a little name badge.
974
00:43:01,740 --> 00:43:04,020
And two stories about this that I
975
00:43:04,020 --> 00:43:05,020
thought are really interesting.
976
00:43:05,020 --> 00:43:09,180
One, I asked for volunteers, and not a single person in the room
977
00:43:09,180 --> 00:43:10,260
raised their hand.
978
00:43:10,260 --> 00:43:11,460
Like, pick me.
979
00:43:11,460 --> 00:43:12,380
No.
980
00:43:12,380 --> 00:43:14,460
I watched this guy in the front row look down,
981
00:43:14,460 --> 00:43:18,820
he goes, OK, I'm bold.
982
00:43:18,820 --> 00:43:20,940
So he was aware that he'd shifted away
983
00:43:20,940 --> 00:43:25,220
from this, the boldness, the excitement, the confidence.
984
00:43:25,220 --> 00:43:28,460
And he stepped back into it by putting his hand in the air.
985
00:43:28,460 --> 00:43:30,380
Another interesting story about mindset,
986
00:43:30,380 --> 00:43:31,900
which I thought was really fascinating,
987
00:43:31,900 --> 00:43:36,860
was I'm in my little spiel about I'm
988
00:43:36,860 --> 00:43:39,740
going to sign you up to volunteer for this.
989
00:43:39,740 --> 00:43:41,860
And I was in the process of doing this.
990
00:43:41,860 --> 00:43:45,100
I hadn't even asked for volunteers yet.
991
00:43:45,100 --> 00:43:47,500
Yes, I'll do it.
992
00:43:47,500 --> 00:43:48,940
I was like, wow.
993
00:43:48,940 --> 00:43:50,300
OK, come on up.
994
00:43:50,300 --> 00:43:52,860
And of course, when he did that, some other people volunteered.
995
00:43:52,860 --> 00:43:54,700
So now I had to skip that whole part.
996
00:43:54,700 --> 00:43:56,900
I said, what are the words on your name badge
997
00:43:56,900 --> 00:43:58,580
that you wrote down?
998
00:43:58,580 --> 00:44:00,980
The only word he had on there was hungry.
999
00:44:00,980 --> 00:44:02,100
And we're like, what?
1000
00:44:02,100 --> 00:44:03,460
Hungry.
1001
00:44:03,460 --> 00:44:06,900
He goes, I'm hungry to perform.
1002
00:44:06,900 --> 00:44:09,300
And was he totally in line with that by volunteering
1003
00:44:09,300 --> 00:44:11,020
before anybody else did?
1004
00:44:11,020 --> 00:44:13,660
Yes, he was.
1005
00:44:13,660 --> 00:44:17,140
So doing that mindset check is so important.
1006
00:44:17,140 --> 00:44:18,580
See, we can get activated, yes.
1007
00:44:18,580 --> 00:44:19,420
But are we in danger?
1008
00:44:19,420 --> 00:44:20,140
No.
1009
00:44:20,140 --> 00:44:21,820
Let's calm the body down.
1010
00:44:21,820 --> 00:44:25,660
Then we can check our thinking and what's in our mind.
1011
00:44:25,660 --> 00:44:27,180
Oh, let's correct that.
1012
00:44:27,180 --> 00:44:29,340
Let's decide what we want to put in there.
1013
00:44:29,340 --> 00:44:30,860
And then we can engage with that.
1014
00:44:30,860 --> 00:44:32,100
We can move forward with that.
1015
00:44:32,100 --> 00:44:36,660
So that's, again, the A, B, C, D, E of the brain.
1016
00:44:36,660 --> 00:44:38,220
That's just one way how that works.
1017
00:44:38,220 --> 00:44:40,100
But yeah, mindset is vital.
1018
00:44:40,100 --> 00:44:43,420
And we've got to recognize that when our mindset shifts
1019
00:44:43,420 --> 00:44:45,700
and we go to a negative space, we've
1020
00:44:45,700 --> 00:44:47,980
got to be compassionate first.
1021
00:44:47,980 --> 00:44:50,100
And then we can change that.
1022
00:44:50,100 --> 00:44:53,060
There was a young singer at Classical Singer Convention
1023
00:44:53,060 --> 00:44:55,380
last year in San Francisco.
1024
00:44:55,380 --> 00:44:58,620
And I asked her, OK, what are the empowering words
1025
00:44:58,620 --> 00:45:01,700
that you feel when you want to perform from an empowered
1026
00:45:01,700 --> 00:45:02,660
place?
1027
00:45:02,660 --> 00:45:05,700
And she had just incredibly great words.
1028
00:45:05,700 --> 00:45:08,740
Well, if your mindset shifts and you go to this negative place,
1029
00:45:08,740 --> 00:45:10,860
what word would you use to describe yourself
1030
00:45:10,860 --> 00:45:12,700
from this negative place?
1031
00:45:12,700 --> 00:45:18,500
And she just goes, talentless, which is just like, oh.
1032
00:45:18,500 --> 00:45:20,140
Oh, so painful.
1033
00:45:20,140 --> 00:45:22,020
Somehow all your talent just disappears.
1034
00:45:22,020 --> 00:45:24,020
Poof, it's gone.
1035
00:45:24,020 --> 00:45:27,340
So that's really the power of mindset right there
1036
00:45:27,340 --> 00:45:30,140
in recognizing once we can establish a mindset,
1037
00:45:30,140 --> 00:45:31,540
that now becomes the goal.
1038
00:45:31,540 --> 00:45:33,860
So any time you perform, in a sense,
1039
00:45:33,860 --> 00:45:37,300
you could say I have a goal to perform the music beautifully
1040
00:45:37,300 --> 00:45:38,500
and musically.
1041
00:45:38,500 --> 00:45:40,460
I also have a goal to maintain a mindset that's
1042
00:45:40,460 --> 00:45:45,020
powerful and supportive and uplifting.
1043
00:45:45,020 --> 00:45:47,260
Mindset's very, very important.
1044
00:45:47,260 --> 00:45:48,300
Yeah.
1045
00:45:48,300 --> 00:45:52,540
And then I love the fact that you said stage fright is not
1046
00:45:52,540 --> 00:45:54,580
a pianist's number one enemy.
1047
00:45:54,580 --> 00:45:57,100
Stage fright is not a disease.
1048
00:45:57,100 --> 00:45:59,140
It's the skill deficit.
1049
00:45:59,140 --> 00:45:59,660
Oh.
1050
00:45:59,660 --> 00:46:00,140
Yes.
1051
00:46:00,140 --> 00:46:01,500
So cool.
1052
00:46:01,500 --> 00:46:03,420
Yeah, makes sense.
1053
00:46:03,420 --> 00:46:05,180
Well, when you start to learn these skills,
1054
00:46:05,180 --> 00:46:07,060
you're going to start to say, oh, I need this.
1055
00:46:07,060 --> 00:46:09,620
It's really fun when I will talk to people
1056
00:46:09,620 --> 00:46:11,020
and debrief their performances.
1057
00:46:11,020 --> 00:46:14,100
And it's like, OK, so you got really activated, didn't you?
1058
00:46:14,100 --> 00:46:15,420
Yeah.
1059
00:46:15,420 --> 00:46:18,780
And if you practice any kind of strategies in the last few
1060
00:46:18,780 --> 00:46:20,860
weeks to help you with that, no.
1061
00:46:20,860 --> 00:46:22,420
OK, so there's some skills you're not
1062
00:46:22,420 --> 00:46:24,380
using that can make a difference for you.
1063
00:46:24,380 --> 00:46:25,540
Let's get you those skills.
1064
00:46:25,540 --> 00:46:28,220
And it's like, oh, OK.
1065
00:46:28,220 --> 00:46:29,980
And they just feel so much better about it.
1066
00:46:29,980 --> 00:46:32,340
Also, I want to talk about this old school
1067
00:46:32,340 --> 00:46:34,940
way of approach to peak performance.
1068
00:46:34,940 --> 00:46:39,620
So traditional way would be focusing only
1069
00:46:39,620 --> 00:46:43,180
on relentless practice.
1070
00:46:43,180 --> 00:46:44,740
I mean, relentless.
1071
00:46:44,740 --> 00:46:46,020
Relentless.
1072
00:46:46,020 --> 00:46:48,420
That's the perfect word for that.
1073
00:46:48,420 --> 00:46:51,740
And however, both research and the experiences
1074
00:46:51,740 --> 00:46:55,940
of pianists and educators have shown this to be insufficient
1075
00:46:55,940 --> 00:46:58,020
or rather to be wrong.
1076
00:46:58,020 --> 00:47:00,700
How does the modern understanding of brain
1077
00:47:00,700 --> 00:47:03,220
science, neuroscience change our approach
1078
00:47:03,220 --> 00:47:06,100
to achieving peak performance?
1079
00:47:06,100 --> 00:47:10,500
Well, I joke about being trained in the old school approach.
1080
00:47:10,500 --> 00:47:12,540
And I can refer to it as the old school approach
1081
00:47:12,540 --> 00:47:15,260
because that's what I was taught over 50 years ago.
1082
00:47:15,260 --> 00:47:16,500
It was all about the practice.
1083
00:47:16,500 --> 00:47:19,940
You practice, you practice more, and you hope.
1084
00:47:19,940 --> 00:47:21,860
That's just what it was.
1085
00:47:21,860 --> 00:47:24,540
And with that, what was I told to do?
1086
00:47:24,540 --> 00:47:26,660
Well, OK, we have a recital coming up.
1087
00:47:26,660 --> 00:47:27,700
So go play for the neighbor.
1088
00:47:27,700 --> 00:47:29,060
Go play for grandma.
1089
00:47:29,060 --> 00:47:30,420
Play it for your mom and your dad,
1090
00:47:30,420 --> 00:47:32,540
your brothers and sisters, your dog.
1091
00:47:32,540 --> 00:47:34,500
And you just play it so much that you don't
1092
00:47:34,500 --> 00:47:36,220
have to worry about it anymore.
1093
00:47:36,220 --> 00:47:38,860
But there's also a piece of this that's kind of interesting
1094
00:47:38,860 --> 00:47:41,900
is because every person you'd go play it for,
1095
00:47:41,900 --> 00:47:46,180
you'd unconsciously give them a rating.
1096
00:47:46,180 --> 00:47:47,940
High stress, low stress.
1097
00:47:47,940 --> 00:47:48,980
Oh, grandma loves me.
1098
00:47:48,980 --> 00:47:50,460
No stress here.
1099
00:47:50,460 --> 00:47:51,380
My dog loves me.
1100
00:47:51,380 --> 00:47:52,900
No stress here.
1101
00:47:52,900 --> 00:47:53,780
My mom.
1102
00:47:53,780 --> 00:47:57,020
Oh, I know she loves me, but there's some stress here.
1103
00:47:57,020 --> 00:47:59,540
We would give them a rating.
1104
00:47:59,540 --> 00:48:02,140
And so the idea that somehow we could practice enough
1105
00:48:02,140 --> 00:48:05,300
to make stage fright go away and that we would perform at our
1106
00:48:05,300 --> 00:48:08,620
best and have that peak performance experience just
1107
00:48:08,620 --> 00:48:12,420
does not hold in terms of brain science.
1108
00:48:12,420 --> 00:48:15,220
So when you start to look at the brain science approach,
1109
00:48:15,220 --> 00:48:16,860
when I did my doctoral dissertation
1110
00:48:16,860 --> 00:48:19,140
on the experience of the peak performance with musicians
1111
00:48:19,140 --> 00:48:25,660
35 years ago, we didn't have the brain technology we do now.
1112
00:48:25,660 --> 00:48:28,700
We basically had all kinds of anecdotal stories.
1113
00:48:28,700 --> 00:48:32,420
And we had all kinds of beautiful little examples
1114
00:48:32,420 --> 00:48:35,340
and stories of what this peak performance,
1115
00:48:35,340 --> 00:48:38,860
this incredible experience was like.
1116
00:48:38,860 --> 00:48:41,900
Well, now we can actually see how it impacts the brain.
1117
00:48:41,900 --> 00:48:43,340
And we discover there's things that we
1118
00:48:43,340 --> 00:48:48,740
can do to create and set up these peak performances.
1119
00:48:48,740 --> 00:48:50,900
Now, obviously, there's going to be a point in terms
1120
00:48:50,900 --> 00:48:53,900
of our preparation and our skills that have to meet.
1121
00:48:53,900 --> 00:48:56,020
It's like preparation skills that where they meet,
1122
00:48:56,020 --> 00:48:58,740
that's when we're able to really have a peak performance.
1123
00:48:58,740 --> 00:49:01,300
That can happen at any level.
1124
00:49:01,300 --> 00:49:04,940
The first real peak performance experience I recall ever having,
1125
00:49:04,940 --> 00:49:08,140
I was like 12 years old at a trumpet recital.
1126
00:49:08,140 --> 00:49:10,860
And I've been working on my song really hard.
1127
00:49:10,860 --> 00:49:12,340
It was coming together pretty good.
1128
00:49:12,340 --> 00:49:14,900
I'd never really just nailed it yet.
1129
00:49:14,900 --> 00:49:16,260
But I got up there that afternoon,
1130
00:49:16,260 --> 00:49:17,140
and I started to play.
1131
00:49:17,140 --> 00:49:18,180
And it just like sang.
1132
00:49:18,180 --> 00:49:20,580
It flowed right out of my trumpet.
1133
00:49:20,580 --> 00:49:22,300
And I was like, well, I must be really good.
1134
00:49:22,300 --> 00:49:23,140
I must be really good.
1135
00:49:23,140 --> 00:49:24,060
This was really much.
1136
00:49:24,060 --> 00:49:25,660
My teacher goes, John, how did you do that?
1137
00:49:25,660 --> 00:49:27,420
I have no idea.
1138
00:49:27,420 --> 00:49:27,940
It's Bruce.
1139
00:49:27,940 --> 00:49:29,980
I don't know how I did that.
1140
00:49:29,980 --> 00:49:32,660
Well, he was thinking I was really good too.
1141
00:49:32,660 --> 00:49:35,020
So the next recital, he gives me a piece
1142
00:49:35,020 --> 00:49:36,700
that really was too hard.
1143
00:49:36,700 --> 00:49:40,100
It was too difficult. And the week before the recital,
1144
00:49:40,100 --> 00:49:42,700
we both concluded that I just don't have this.
1145
00:49:42,700 --> 00:49:43,580
I can't play this.
1146
00:49:43,580 --> 00:49:46,700
And he apologized for giving me a piece that was too hard.
1147
00:49:46,700 --> 00:49:48,740
But there's also the mental skills
1148
00:49:48,740 --> 00:49:52,380
that we need to help set up this flow experience.
1149
00:49:52,380 --> 00:49:56,380
Anytime someone has jumped into a pool to go swimming,
1150
00:49:56,380 --> 00:50:00,300
they've had to give themselves the command to jump
1151
00:50:00,300 --> 00:50:05,220
and to be able to say, I'm going to jump into flow.
1152
00:50:05,220 --> 00:50:08,420
Well, we can do that too if we understand that.
1153
00:50:08,420 --> 00:50:12,580
I'm going to give myself permission to jump into flow.
1154
00:50:12,580 --> 00:50:16,460
And that's where we get to see all the mental skills
1155
00:50:16,460 --> 00:50:18,500
and the relaxation visualization skills,
1156
00:50:18,500 --> 00:50:21,420
the cleaning up some bad performances
1157
00:50:21,420 --> 00:50:24,220
so they don't come back out there on stage with us,
1158
00:50:24,220 --> 00:50:26,300
managing the mindset, the attention focus.
1159
00:50:26,300 --> 00:50:27,900
These are all tools and skills that we
1160
00:50:27,900 --> 00:50:31,340
use to really stay focused.
1161
00:50:31,340 --> 00:50:33,660
And if we get distracted for whatever reason,
1162
00:50:33,660 --> 00:50:35,260
we want to get back.
1163
00:50:35,260 --> 00:50:38,460
I mentioned my friend Robin Hancock where, OK,
1164
00:50:38,460 --> 00:50:40,740
he was wondering if he had reserved this room.
1165
00:50:40,740 --> 00:50:41,780
Is he going to be in trouble?
1166
00:50:41,780 --> 00:50:43,100
Is there going to be a problem?
1167
00:50:43,100 --> 00:50:44,540
Well, he's like, letting that go,
1168
00:50:44,540 --> 00:50:46,220
I'm going to bring my attention back here.
1169
00:50:46,220 --> 00:50:48,540
And it didn't bother him anymore for the rest
1170
00:50:48,540 --> 00:50:51,060
of the performance.
1171
00:50:51,060 --> 00:50:55,020
So speaking of flow, this is a very important word
1172
00:50:55,020 --> 00:50:59,100
of what you do and what I do as a performer,
1173
00:50:59,100 --> 00:51:02,580
but what I do as a music educator to teach.
1174
00:51:02,580 --> 00:51:08,380
So I was interviewing someone a couple episodes ago,
1175
00:51:08,380 --> 00:51:11,460
and we talked about the peak performance, the flow,
1176
00:51:11,460 --> 00:51:14,660
in the zone, in the flow, however you describe it.
1177
00:51:14,660 --> 00:51:16,500
Yeah, the groove, whatever you want to call it.
1178
00:51:16,500 --> 00:51:17,740
Yeah, exactly.
1179
00:51:17,740 --> 00:51:22,660
So do these flow fluctuate?
1180
00:51:22,660 --> 00:51:26,780
Meaning it's not all, but this pianist particularly
1181
00:51:26,780 --> 00:51:31,100
mentioned that they could only have this perfect performance
1182
00:51:31,100 --> 00:51:33,260
maybe several times a year.
1183
00:51:33,260 --> 00:51:36,340
They perform quite often.
1184
00:51:36,340 --> 00:51:40,620
But that peak performance where they were in the flow
1185
00:51:40,620 --> 00:51:45,340
like 100%, like so focused and so expressive,
1186
00:51:45,340 --> 00:51:51,020
and it just happened only a few times a year.
1187
00:51:51,020 --> 00:51:52,380
Good question.
1188
00:51:52,380 --> 00:51:55,300
Are we always going to have this peak performance flow state?
1189
00:51:55,300 --> 00:51:56,060
No.
1190
00:51:56,060 --> 00:51:58,980
OK, good to know.
1191
00:51:58,980 --> 00:52:01,580
Are there things we can do to set it up, to encourage it,
1192
00:52:01,580 --> 00:52:03,180
to increase the frequency?
1193
00:52:03,180 --> 00:52:04,460
Absolutely.
1194
00:52:04,460 --> 00:52:06,980
There are so many variables on a personal level,
1195
00:52:06,980 --> 00:52:09,420
on an environmental, on a social cultural level,
1196
00:52:09,420 --> 00:52:12,180
on the temperature in the concert hall,
1197
00:52:12,180 --> 00:52:13,620
the touch of the piano.
1198
00:52:13,620 --> 00:52:15,740
There's so many variables that we can't control.
1199
00:52:15,740 --> 00:52:16,420
Right, right, right.
1200
00:52:16,420 --> 00:52:17,100
Absolutely.
1201
00:52:17,100 --> 00:52:18,020
OK.
1202
00:52:18,020 --> 00:52:19,660
And even within a performance, I think
1203
00:52:19,660 --> 00:52:20,740
it's important to recognize there'll
1204
00:52:20,740 --> 00:52:23,180
be times we're going to be really in the flow of it
1205
00:52:23,180 --> 00:52:25,580
that we're going to be able to back off a little bit,
1206
00:52:25,580 --> 00:52:28,540
or we're going to be not quite in the flow the way we were,
1207
00:52:28,540 --> 00:52:29,900
and we'll get back into it.
1208
00:52:29,900 --> 00:52:31,380
So it's really a dynamic process.
1209
00:52:31,380 --> 00:52:33,620
It's not like just locking a laser on, and there we are,
1210
00:52:33,620 --> 00:52:35,220
and it's over.
1211
00:52:35,220 --> 00:52:37,900
But that's quite rare.
1212
00:52:37,900 --> 00:52:41,700
But it's kind of like, I mean, I'm sure my Robin Hancock
1213
00:52:41,700 --> 00:52:43,100
was in the flow of his performance.
1214
00:52:43,100 --> 00:52:45,740
He had this big interruption, like playing the door shuts.
1215
00:52:45,740 --> 00:52:48,340
Took him out of that flow experience.
1216
00:52:48,340 --> 00:52:51,060
He was able to get back into it.
1217
00:52:51,060 --> 00:52:53,300
And so that's really one of the hallmarks
1218
00:52:53,300 --> 00:52:54,700
of the great performance.
1219
00:52:54,700 --> 00:52:56,500
You can see another thing you're talking about
1220
00:52:56,500 --> 00:52:58,860
is what I like to refer to as the gap.
1221
00:52:58,860 --> 00:53:02,180
See, as artists, we have an ideal, an expectation,
1222
00:53:02,180 --> 00:53:04,740
and knowledge of what it should sound like.
1223
00:53:04,740 --> 00:53:08,140
And so many people think that that peak performance means
1224
00:53:08,140 --> 00:53:08,900
I nailed it.
1225
00:53:08,900 --> 00:53:10,180
I mean, there was no gap.
1226
00:53:10,180 --> 00:53:11,740
There was like, I was there.
1227
00:53:11,740 --> 00:53:14,700
It was amazing.
1228
00:53:14,700 --> 00:53:18,620
Well, if there's a gap, there's a gap.
1229
00:53:18,620 --> 00:53:21,540
But we're still at an amazing level.
1230
00:53:21,540 --> 00:53:23,260
The number of times when people have said,
1231
00:53:23,260 --> 00:53:25,340
oh, I made a bunch of mistakes in that, it's like,
1232
00:53:25,340 --> 00:53:26,660
did anybody hear a mistake?
1233
00:53:26,660 --> 00:53:27,500
No.
1234
00:53:27,500 --> 00:53:29,420
Well, I didn't sing it quite the way I wanted to.
1235
00:53:29,420 --> 00:53:31,180
I didn't play it the way I wanted it to.
1236
00:53:31,180 --> 00:53:33,020
Sounds, you know, that kind of thing.
1237
00:53:33,020 --> 00:53:37,340
So recognizing we're dealing with that flow state,
1238
00:53:37,340 --> 00:53:41,060
how to set it up, how to step into it and enjoy it.
1239
00:53:41,060 --> 00:53:43,380
And sometimes how to get back into it or manage
1240
00:53:43,380 --> 00:53:46,660
if we get kind of brought out of that flow.
1241
00:53:46,660 --> 00:53:52,340
But we also need to be able to give ourselves some compassion,
1242
00:53:52,340 --> 00:53:54,940
some grace that, OK, we may not be at that peak level
1243
00:53:54,940 --> 00:53:58,060
all the time, but it's still going to be amazing.
1244
00:53:58,060 --> 00:54:00,820
The audience is going to love it.
1245
00:54:00,820 --> 00:54:03,180
And they typically do.
1246
00:54:03,180 --> 00:54:05,220
So just recognizing that gap is something
1247
00:54:05,220 --> 00:54:07,580
that we're the only one that we've
1248
00:54:07,580 --> 00:54:09,780
got to be careful not to be too harsh with ourselves
1249
00:54:09,780 --> 00:54:11,180
if we discover there's a gap.
1250
00:54:11,180 --> 00:54:12,820
Absolutely.
1251
00:54:12,820 --> 00:54:14,740
Hey there, TPP family.
1252
00:54:14,740 --> 00:54:17,940
The PianoPod is now into our fourth season.
1253
00:54:17,940 --> 00:54:20,220
And it's all thanks to you.
1254
00:54:20,220 --> 00:54:23,980
Since 2020, you've been with my journey with the TPP,
1255
00:54:23,980 --> 00:54:26,260
exploring this burning question.
1256
00:54:26,260 --> 00:54:29,780
How do we make classical music resonate with today's audience
1257
00:54:29,780 --> 00:54:32,380
in fresh and captivating ways?
1258
00:54:32,380 --> 00:54:34,300
Four years in, and the journey has
1259
00:54:34,300 --> 00:54:36,340
been nothing short of magical.
1260
00:54:36,340 --> 00:54:38,580
The PianoPod isn't just a podcast.
1261
00:54:38,580 --> 00:54:42,380
It's a movement, a space where pianists, composers,
1262
00:54:42,380 --> 00:54:45,980
and educators brainstorm, debate, and reimagine
1263
00:54:45,980 --> 00:54:49,380
classical music's place in our fast-paced world.
1264
00:54:49,380 --> 00:54:53,380
We're together on a mission to ensure classical music doesn't
1265
00:54:53,380 --> 00:54:56,380
just survive, but thrives in our modern age.
1266
00:54:56,380 --> 00:54:57,740
But here's the thing.
1267
00:54:57,740 --> 00:55:01,660
To keep bringing you these insightful biweekly episodes,
1268
00:55:01,660 --> 00:55:02,820
I need your help.
1269
00:55:02,820 --> 00:55:06,380
Every bit of support goes into the podcast Essentials,
1270
00:55:06,380 --> 00:55:09,620
from hosting to high-quality recording tech,
1271
00:55:09,620 --> 00:55:12,580
and the countless hours behind the scenes.
1272
00:55:12,580 --> 00:55:14,740
So do you want to be part of this journey?
1273
00:55:14,740 --> 00:55:16,980
Click the PayPal link in the show notes,
1274
00:55:16,980 --> 00:55:19,860
or head to thepianopod.com to donate.
1275
00:55:19,860 --> 00:55:23,740
And as a token of appreciation, I will personally
1276
00:55:23,740 --> 00:55:27,940
mail you the PianoPod's snazzy logo sticker.
1277
00:55:27,940 --> 00:55:31,300
So hit the Subscribe button, spread the word,
1278
00:55:31,300 --> 00:55:33,540
and let's continue our mission and journey
1279
00:55:33,540 --> 00:55:35,580
as classical musicians.
1280
00:55:35,580 --> 00:55:38,140
Now let's continue with the show.
1281
00:55:38,140 --> 00:55:41,860
I want to talk about you, Dr. Skidmore.
1282
00:55:41,860 --> 00:55:45,460
You've had a long and really exciting career
1283
00:55:45,460 --> 00:55:47,820
working with performing artists.
1284
00:55:47,820 --> 00:55:50,860
Of course, you had a career as a psychotherapist.
1285
00:55:50,860 --> 00:55:52,060
That's a different story.
1286
00:55:52,060 --> 00:55:56,780
But also, that influenced, obviously,
1287
00:55:56,780 --> 00:55:59,340
you to be who you are today.
1288
00:55:59,340 --> 00:56:01,500
So can you share with us how you first
1289
00:56:01,500 --> 00:56:04,300
became interested in the field of performance psychology?
1290
00:56:04,300 --> 00:56:09,420
And I know you yourself are a singer.
1291
00:56:09,420 --> 00:56:13,900
And so how does that part of you influenced your work
1292
00:56:13,900 --> 00:56:16,500
as a performance psychologist?
1293
00:56:16,500 --> 00:56:18,460
Well, I relate to people pretty well
1294
00:56:18,460 --> 00:56:22,500
in terms of feeling confident or unprepared for a performance.
1295
00:56:22,500 --> 00:56:24,500
I relate to mistakes on stage.
1296
00:56:24,500 --> 00:56:28,540
I relate to preparing for something.
1297
00:56:28,540 --> 00:56:31,660
And so that's been my own personal experience.
1298
00:56:31,660 --> 00:56:34,900
When I was working on my master's degree in counseling,
1299
00:56:34,900 --> 00:56:36,900
and I was singing with a premier college choir,
1300
00:56:36,900 --> 00:56:40,180
it's like, whoa, these are the tools and skills
1301
00:56:40,180 --> 00:56:44,420
that I wish I'd had years ago.
1302
00:56:44,420 --> 00:56:48,220
And one of the phrases I can hear from my dad so many times
1303
00:56:48,220 --> 00:56:50,700
was, the right tool for the job makes all the difference.
1304
00:56:50,700 --> 00:56:53,100
I don't know how many times I heard that growing up.
1305
00:56:53,100 --> 00:56:55,660
And so to me, it's about, hey, there's a tool here
1306
00:56:55,660 --> 00:56:56,340
and a tool here.
1307
00:56:56,340 --> 00:56:58,700
And look at all these tools that we can give you.
1308
00:56:58,700 --> 00:57:00,460
And they are the right tools for this job
1309
00:57:00,460 --> 00:57:02,300
without getting ready for a performance
1310
00:57:02,300 --> 00:57:04,060
and enjoying a performance.
1311
00:57:04,060 --> 00:57:06,300
And it's not just about practice.
1312
00:57:06,300 --> 00:57:08,500
Practicing is one of the tools.
1313
00:57:08,500 --> 00:57:10,140
There's a lot of other tools out there.
1314
00:57:10,140 --> 00:57:11,780
Let's get those in that toolbox.
1315
00:57:11,780 --> 00:57:13,780
Let's get you using those.
1316
00:57:13,780 --> 00:57:16,300
And I've really enjoyed it.
1317
00:57:16,300 --> 00:57:18,820
I've had a lot of fun from a clinical side.
1318
00:57:18,820 --> 00:57:20,780
The two sides have melded really well
1319
00:57:20,780 --> 00:57:23,620
because I bring a lot of my clinical experience
1320
00:57:23,620 --> 00:57:25,780
into my coaching.
1321
00:57:25,780 --> 00:57:27,460
And I brought a lot of coaching experience
1322
00:57:27,460 --> 00:57:28,860
into my clinical work.
1323
00:57:28,860 --> 00:57:33,020
I actually have people singing and dancing in my parking lot.
1324
00:57:33,020 --> 00:57:35,660
And I love one guy goes, John, if you'd have told me
1325
00:57:35,660 --> 00:57:36,820
I was going to be doing this today,
1326
00:57:36,820 --> 00:57:38,220
I'd have paid my missed appointment fee
1327
00:57:38,220 --> 00:57:40,020
and not shown up.
1328
00:57:40,020 --> 00:57:42,660
He was happy he did that.
1329
00:57:42,660 --> 00:57:46,460
It's like, oh, I stepped out of my comfort zone.
1330
00:57:46,460 --> 00:57:49,780
And so I love to see how these tools really work together
1331
00:57:49,780 --> 00:57:53,300
to expand that comfort zone, to create
1332
00:57:53,300 --> 00:57:55,540
that sense of excitement and intention about what we're
1333
00:57:55,540 --> 00:58:00,420
doing, and then be able to give us tools we can use as we face
1334
00:58:00,420 --> 00:58:03,900
the different challenges of the growth that we have personally
1335
00:58:03,900 --> 00:58:07,260
and professionally and musically.
1336
00:58:07,260 --> 00:58:09,940
It just makes things so much more effective, so much easier,
1337
00:58:09,940 --> 00:58:13,140
so much more enjoyable.
1338
00:58:13,140 --> 00:58:14,460
You mentioned about tools.
1339
00:58:14,460 --> 00:58:18,500
And I know there are several practical tools
1340
00:58:18,500 --> 00:58:22,380
that you mentioned four years ago during our interview
1341
00:58:22,380 --> 00:58:28,060
session, too, but also learning more about your work.
1342
00:58:28,060 --> 00:58:31,180
And then also, you mentioned something about juggling.
1343
00:58:31,180 --> 00:58:33,620
Yes.
1344
00:58:33,620 --> 00:58:35,340
I love the metaphor of juggling.
1345
00:58:35,340 --> 00:58:39,140
And in fact, I was talking to somebody recently
1346
00:58:39,140 --> 00:58:43,260
who I'd met at the Tauss Opera Institute about seven years
1347
00:58:43,260 --> 00:58:44,420
ago.
1348
00:58:44,420 --> 00:58:47,180
And he goes, I still remember how to juggle Dr. Skidmore.
1349
00:58:47,180 --> 00:58:48,540
I was like, awesome.
1350
00:58:48,540 --> 00:58:51,460
And what's so interesting about that
1351
00:58:51,460 --> 00:58:54,220
is a beautiful example of three important things.
1352
00:58:54,220 --> 00:58:57,620
One is an example of how we develop motor skills, how
1353
00:58:57,620 --> 00:59:01,140
we actually develop the skills to know I didn't have
1354
00:59:01,140 --> 00:59:03,420
the skill of doing three balls.
1355
00:59:03,420 --> 00:59:04,580
Oh, now I do.
1356
00:59:04,580 --> 00:59:06,540
Well, that's the same thing as a very difficult
1357
00:59:06,540 --> 00:59:08,340
fingering on a new piece.
1358
00:59:08,340 --> 00:59:10,660
At first, you don't have the motor skills.
1359
00:59:10,660 --> 00:59:14,420
You don't have the, it really takes some time
1360
00:59:14,420 --> 00:59:17,580
before it gets locked into those fingers and it's just there.
1361
00:59:17,580 --> 00:59:20,060
So that's the motor skill development.
1362
00:59:20,060 --> 00:59:23,460
Secondly, any time someone drops the ball,
1363
00:59:23,460 --> 00:59:28,580
I get to see how they respond to the literal dropping of a ball
1364
00:59:28,580 --> 00:59:31,220
and looking at how that applies to when they musically
1365
00:59:31,220 --> 00:59:32,620
drop the ball.
1366
00:59:32,620 --> 00:59:34,460
Oh, I'm so stupid.
1367
00:59:34,460 --> 00:59:36,140
Well, wait a minute.
1368
00:59:36,140 --> 00:59:37,900
You're learning how to juggle.
1369
00:59:37,900 --> 00:59:40,020
And so the phrase of woohoo, I'm learning to juggle
1370
00:59:40,020 --> 00:59:41,340
is one of my favorite things to do.
1371
00:59:41,340 --> 00:59:42,940
So usually when I'm working with a group,
1372
00:59:42,940 --> 00:59:45,540
at some point I'm teaching them how to juggle.
1373
00:59:45,540 --> 00:59:48,340
And I'll say, OK, the next time you drop the ball,
1374
00:59:48,340 --> 00:59:51,340
I want to hear a shout out like woohoo, I'm learning to juggle.
1375
00:59:51,340 --> 00:59:52,940
I'm learning to juggle.
1376
00:59:52,940 --> 00:59:55,300
And so as I coach people, I actually send them juggling
1377
00:59:55,300 --> 00:59:57,540
balls and they're like, what are you doing this for?
1378
00:59:57,540 --> 01:00:01,580
So I want you to, one, develop a familiarity with how
1379
01:00:01,580 --> 01:00:03,500
we develop new neural pathways.
1380
01:00:03,500 --> 01:00:06,220
Two, how you react to dropping the ball.
1381
01:00:06,220 --> 01:00:08,820
Can you react in a positive way?
1382
01:00:08,820 --> 01:00:11,300
And the third thing that's really fun about juggling,
1383
01:00:11,300 --> 01:00:13,380
it actually gives us a great example
1384
01:00:13,380 --> 01:00:16,700
of the struggle into flow.
1385
01:00:16,700 --> 01:00:19,300
This is really kind of intriguing because to get
1386
01:00:19,300 --> 01:00:22,660
into that flow state, there's a struggle space.
1387
01:00:22,660 --> 01:00:24,860
We've got to stay in there long enough.
1388
01:00:24,860 --> 01:00:27,300
And suddenly we're like, oh, there it is.
1389
01:00:27,300 --> 01:00:29,300
And it's just like the person who's struggling
1390
01:00:29,300 --> 01:00:30,500
to do three balls in the air.
1391
01:00:30,500 --> 01:00:31,820
They got two figured out.
1392
01:00:31,820 --> 01:00:33,540
They're struggling, struggling, struggling.
1393
01:00:33,540 --> 01:00:35,500
Whoa, yeah.
1394
01:00:35,500 --> 01:00:36,900
You know, it's like, I just did it.
1395
01:00:36,900 --> 01:00:38,300
I just did it.
1396
01:00:38,300 --> 01:00:40,740
And so it has a lot of power to it.
1397
01:00:40,740 --> 01:00:41,820
It's a lot of fun.
1398
01:00:41,820 --> 01:00:42,700
Oh, yeah.
1399
01:00:42,700 --> 01:00:47,380
You have so many creative ways to teach your clients
1400
01:00:47,380 --> 01:00:51,900
and students how to or develop the skills of conquering
1401
01:00:51,900 --> 01:00:53,180
anxiety.
1402
01:00:53,180 --> 01:00:59,860
So anyway, as you might recall, I reached out to you in 2020.
1403
01:00:59,860 --> 01:01:04,020
And then that's when I started reading Conquer Anxiety,
1404
01:01:04,020 --> 01:01:05,700
the book that you co-wrote.
1405
01:01:05,700 --> 01:01:09,260
So I came to understand that that book was actually
1406
01:01:09,260 --> 01:01:10,940
written in 2020?
1407
01:01:10,940 --> 01:01:11,660
Yes.
1408
01:01:11,660 --> 01:01:14,780
Yeah, it's such a practical book.
1409
01:01:14,780 --> 01:01:19,180
And also, but it starts from how our brain functions.
1410
01:01:19,180 --> 01:01:23,660
And it's really, it's a transformative book for me.
1411
01:01:23,660 --> 01:01:24,620
Thank you so much.
1412
01:01:24,620 --> 01:01:25,420
I appreciate that.
1413
01:01:25,420 --> 01:01:25,900
Yeah.
1414
01:01:25,900 --> 01:01:28,140
So for those who are listening, I really
1415
01:01:28,140 --> 01:01:31,540
recommend you to get this book, Conquer Anxiety,
1416
01:01:31,540 --> 01:01:35,420
that Dr. Skidmore co-authored.
1417
01:01:35,420 --> 01:01:38,740
So we live in such a complex world
1418
01:01:38,740 --> 01:01:42,540
with vast amounts of accessible information.
1419
01:01:42,540 --> 01:01:46,820
And then it's clear that just practicing for hours on
1420
01:01:46,820 --> 01:01:49,020
isn't enough to overcome anxiety.
1421
01:01:49,020 --> 01:01:53,420
So how important is it for music educators, like myself,
1422
01:01:53,420 --> 01:01:57,260
in this new era to have the skills to help their students
1423
01:01:57,260 --> 01:02:00,620
conquer performance anxiety?
1424
01:02:00,620 --> 01:02:01,740
How important is it?
1425
01:02:01,740 --> 01:02:03,340
I think it's essential.
1426
01:02:03,340 --> 01:02:05,500
Once you as a teacher embrace that I
1427
01:02:05,500 --> 01:02:07,580
get to teach two sets of skills, I
1428
01:02:07,580 --> 01:02:09,300
get to teach everything I know musically.
1429
01:02:09,300 --> 01:02:11,260
And that's certainly your domain.
1430
01:02:11,260 --> 01:02:12,700
But I also want to teach the skills
1431
01:02:12,700 --> 01:02:15,620
to express their musicality.
1432
01:02:15,620 --> 01:02:17,620
So it's no longer an expectation.
1433
01:02:17,620 --> 01:02:20,300
When it's caught in the domain of expectation,
1434
01:02:20,300 --> 01:02:22,500
what we end up feeling is disappointed, and angry,
1435
01:02:22,500 --> 01:02:23,860
and frustrated.
1436
01:02:23,860 --> 01:02:25,460
I did not meet that expectation.
1437
01:02:25,460 --> 01:02:27,140
But when we start to look at this and say,
1438
01:02:27,140 --> 01:02:29,700
I want to teach performance skills.
1439
01:02:29,700 --> 01:02:34,220
I love the story of a string studio that was getting
1440
01:02:34,220 --> 01:02:36,740
ready for a violin recital.
1441
01:02:36,740 --> 01:02:39,420
And I watched a young lady intercept the teacher
1442
01:02:39,420 --> 01:02:41,420
as the teacher was walking to the front of the room
1443
01:02:41,420 --> 01:02:43,500
to start the recital.
1444
01:02:43,500 --> 01:02:46,380
This student intercepts her and stops her and looking at her
1445
01:02:46,380 --> 01:02:49,180
and goes, I'm nervous.
1446
01:02:49,180 --> 01:02:54,380
And the teacher's going, you'll do fine.
1447
01:02:54,380 --> 01:02:56,300
And let's just say that young lady did not
1448
01:02:56,300 --> 01:02:59,300
look reassured as she went back to her seat.
1449
01:02:59,300 --> 01:03:02,420
But see, what if that teacher could have said, hey,
1450
01:03:02,420 --> 01:03:04,460
Ukemi, you're activated, aren't you?
1451
01:03:04,460 --> 01:03:05,740
Yeah?
1452
01:03:05,740 --> 01:03:06,220
OK.
1453
01:03:06,220 --> 01:03:08,060
Look, we've talked about three different tools.
1454
01:03:08,060 --> 01:03:09,640
Which one could you practice right now
1455
01:03:09,640 --> 01:03:11,260
to help you with activation?
1456
01:03:11,260 --> 01:03:12,780
Oh, the breathing exercises?
1457
01:03:12,780 --> 01:03:13,500
Yeah.
1458
01:03:13,500 --> 01:03:15,060
Hey, go try that.
1459
01:03:15,060 --> 01:03:17,260
We'll talk about how that works in your lesson on Friday.
1460
01:03:17,260 --> 01:03:18,820
You'll do fine.
1461
01:03:18,820 --> 01:03:21,660
So that's one of the ways in which I see educators really
1462
01:03:21,660 --> 01:03:27,100
needing this, because we'll always teach what we know.
1463
01:03:27,100 --> 01:03:30,100
And most of the time, that works out pretty well.
1464
01:03:30,100 --> 01:03:34,420
When we can have more tools, we can share more of what we know.
1465
01:03:34,420 --> 01:03:37,820
Now, the other thing, too, that we want to recognize
1466
01:03:37,820 --> 01:03:41,700
as educators, that this is not about the perfect performance.
1467
01:03:41,700 --> 01:03:45,500
This is about, in a sense, the perfect lesson.
1468
01:03:45,500 --> 01:03:48,500
So how do we teach the perspective that, yes, we
1469
01:03:48,500 --> 01:03:49,700
want excellence.
1470
01:03:49,700 --> 01:03:50,900
Yes, we want beautiful.
1471
01:03:50,900 --> 01:03:53,020
Yes, we want amazing stuff out there.
1472
01:03:53,020 --> 01:03:54,420
That's what our top goal is.
1473
01:03:54,420 --> 01:03:56,060
That's what we want to do.
1474
01:03:56,060 --> 01:03:58,420
And so everything is just going to help you get better.
1475
01:03:58,420 --> 01:04:00,780
Everything is just going to help you get better.
1476
01:04:00,780 --> 01:04:02,700
If we can look at that as a positive thing,
1477
01:04:02,700 --> 01:04:05,500
if we can use that in a positive way.
1478
01:04:05,500 --> 01:04:09,020
And so to bring a sense of compassion,
1479
01:04:09,020 --> 01:04:14,940
to bring a sense of enjoying the journey, enjoying the struggles,
1480
01:04:14,940 --> 01:04:18,860
that these are part of it, these paths that will take what we learn from this.
1481
01:04:18,860 --> 01:04:20,700
Yes, we get to look at this, and we get to learn from it.
1482
01:04:20,700 --> 01:04:22,540
And we're going to go on from this, and we're
1483
01:04:22,540 --> 01:04:25,140
going to keep building with this.
1484
01:04:25,140 --> 01:04:28,340
And then teachers have a whole different relationship
1485
01:04:28,340 --> 01:04:31,380
with the students than if it's just all about, this is right
1486
01:04:31,380 --> 01:04:32,940
and this is wrong.
1487
01:04:32,940 --> 01:04:35,500
The other thing I love to talk to music educators about,
1488
01:04:35,500 --> 01:04:38,420
and virtually every music educator I've ever talked to
1489
01:04:38,420 --> 01:04:41,980
understands the very beautiful privilege
1490
01:04:41,980 --> 01:04:47,020
it is to work so intimately and so closely with somebody.
1491
01:04:47,020 --> 01:04:50,860
And to see them in this struggle and this process of growing up
1492
01:04:50,860 --> 01:04:53,260
and growing through their experiences and growing
1493
01:04:53,260 --> 01:04:55,620
into their musical abilities.
1494
01:04:55,620 --> 01:04:58,940
And what a beautiful thing to be able to share and to do.
1495
01:04:58,940 --> 01:05:00,860
It's just really wonderful.
1496
01:05:00,860 --> 01:05:04,500
And so again, it's about just having more tools to share.
1497
01:05:04,500 --> 01:05:08,500
And you'll get to see them move forward in new ways.
1498
01:05:08,500 --> 01:05:15,460
And again, it's really about embracing that mindset of you're
1499
01:05:15,460 --> 01:05:20,020
the student as well, and that you are teaching them
1500
01:05:20,020 --> 01:05:22,500
the new things you're learning and discovering,
1501
01:05:22,500 --> 01:05:28,180
and making it a powerful and meaningful experience.
1502
01:05:28,180 --> 01:05:33,460
Teaching resilience is one of those things that I have to,
1503
01:05:33,460 --> 01:05:36,780
I guess, incorporate in lessons.
1504
01:05:36,780 --> 01:05:41,220
Not by force, but performing in front of people
1505
01:05:41,220 --> 01:05:45,580
takes certain mindset, but also courage too.
1506
01:05:45,580 --> 01:05:46,940
Yes.
1507
01:05:46,940 --> 01:05:49,940
So how do we do that?
1508
01:05:49,940 --> 01:05:51,260
How do we teach us?
1509
01:05:51,260 --> 01:05:53,060
Maybe it's not just my job.
1510
01:05:53,060 --> 01:05:58,260
It's the parents' job too, where most of the time,
1511
01:05:58,260 --> 01:06:02,980
I see a lot of helicopter parenting style,
1512
01:06:02,980 --> 01:06:09,220
and which prevents from teaching young students of resilience
1513
01:06:09,220 --> 01:06:11,580
sometimes, unfortunately.
1514
01:06:11,580 --> 01:06:14,100
And then so it just becomes my job.
1515
01:06:14,100 --> 01:06:17,780
But I'm like, I think this is way above my pay grade.
1516
01:06:17,780 --> 01:06:21,660
Well, I think it's important to recognize that anything you
1517
01:06:21,660 --> 01:06:24,380
teach a student, anything they experience,
1518
01:06:24,380 --> 01:06:27,100
is going to be landing on their experience
1519
01:06:27,100 --> 01:06:30,980
with their parents, their early childhood environment.
1520
01:06:30,980 --> 01:06:33,420
And so what you want to make sure you're doing
1521
01:06:33,420 --> 01:06:36,100
is really reinforcing the positive, the compassionate,
1522
01:06:36,100 --> 01:06:39,900
the creative, the discovery kind of thing.
1523
01:06:39,900 --> 01:06:42,380
When I coach a parent, I'll say, OK, we're now
1524
01:06:42,380 --> 01:06:43,940
talking about parenting.
1525
01:06:43,940 --> 01:06:46,100
Can you view your child's experience
1526
01:06:46,100 --> 01:06:48,340
through the lens of discovery?
1527
01:06:48,340 --> 01:06:51,140
And they're in the process of mastery.
1528
01:06:51,140 --> 01:06:53,380
And what is the relationship you want
1529
01:06:53,380 --> 01:06:56,940
them to develop with themselves and their world
1530
01:06:56,940 --> 01:06:59,620
as they're discovering and mastering?
1531
01:06:59,620 --> 01:07:01,540
And so when you start to look at that and say, OK,
1532
01:07:01,540 --> 01:07:06,500
how do I help them develop a relationship with themselves
1533
01:07:06,500 --> 01:07:08,660
as they're seen as someone who's growing, learning,
1534
01:07:08,660 --> 01:07:11,620
discovering, rather than failing, being stupid,
1535
01:07:11,620 --> 01:07:13,820
wrong, and bad?
1536
01:07:13,820 --> 01:07:16,460
And with expectations, with culture,
1537
01:07:16,460 --> 01:07:20,420
there's a lot of things that are going to be already in place.
1538
01:07:20,420 --> 01:07:24,780
And so again, you're in a very privileged place
1539
01:07:24,780 --> 01:07:28,660
to be able to have such a positive impact
1540
01:07:28,660 --> 01:07:32,700
and such a growth-oriented experience with this child
1541
01:07:32,700 --> 01:07:34,220
because you become a mentor for them.
1542
01:07:34,220 --> 01:07:36,940
I've talked to so many people that their teachers have
1543
01:07:36,940 --> 01:07:38,500
become wonderful mentors.
1544
01:07:38,500 --> 01:07:41,300
And I've talked to a few that have been really
1545
01:07:41,300 --> 01:07:45,420
unhappy with how they were mentored by their teachers.
1546
01:07:45,420 --> 01:07:47,980
Not every teacher works for every student.
1547
01:07:47,980 --> 01:07:50,500
Right.
1548
01:07:50,500 --> 01:07:53,260
But the main challenge here is to take on
1549
01:07:53,260 --> 01:07:55,060
that this is a privilege and that you
1550
01:07:55,060 --> 01:07:58,580
want to help them enjoy this discovery mastery process
1551
01:07:58,580 --> 01:08:00,980
and create a great experience with music,
1552
01:08:00,980 --> 01:08:02,940
a great experience within themselves,
1553
01:08:02,940 --> 01:08:08,420
with those around them as they are moving forward.
1554
01:08:08,420 --> 01:08:11,780
Our real confidence, our real resilience, is not built
1555
01:08:11,780 --> 01:08:15,100
by always hitting home runs or winning competitions
1556
01:08:15,100 --> 01:08:16,780
or succeeding.
1557
01:08:16,780 --> 01:08:20,020
It's really how we manage those difficult moments.
1558
01:08:20,020 --> 01:08:22,260
Absolutely.
1559
01:08:22,260 --> 01:08:23,620
Absolutely.
1560
01:08:23,620 --> 01:08:25,620
And so again, to drop the expectation
1561
01:08:25,620 --> 01:08:27,460
that there aren't going to be any difficult moments
1562
01:08:27,460 --> 01:08:28,460
is important.
1563
01:08:28,460 --> 01:08:30,220
And to keep working with students that, OK,
1564
01:08:30,220 --> 01:08:32,580
this is something we're going to grow through, go through.
1565
01:08:32,580 --> 01:08:33,500
We're going to go through.
1566
01:08:33,500 --> 01:08:34,700
We're going to grow through.
1567
01:08:34,700 --> 01:08:36,220
Mm-hmm.
1568
01:08:36,220 --> 01:08:38,740
And if we get to the other side of this,
1569
01:08:38,740 --> 01:08:39,940
we're going to be better off.
1570
01:08:39,940 --> 01:08:42,060
So let's just go through and grow through
1571
01:08:42,060 --> 01:08:44,020
and let's get to the other side and let's figure out
1572
01:08:44,020 --> 01:08:45,500
what we've got to learn.
1573
01:08:45,500 --> 01:08:47,980
And we don't want to be carrying with those things that
1574
01:08:47,980 --> 01:08:54,060
are going to be, let's just say, a burden later down the road.
1575
01:08:54,060 --> 01:08:54,580
Thank you.
1576
01:08:54,580 --> 01:08:59,620
So we talked about your book that came out four years ago.
1577
01:08:59,620 --> 01:09:03,100
But I believe there is a new book coming out,
1578
01:09:03,100 --> 01:09:07,300
Coping with Anxiety from a Cow's Perspective.
1579
01:09:07,300 --> 01:09:07,820
Yes.
1580
01:09:07,820 --> 01:09:09,540
Ha, ha, ha, ha.
1581
01:09:09,540 --> 01:09:13,260
Now tell us what that is all about.
1582
01:09:13,260 --> 01:09:15,940
Oh, it's a beautiful story.
1583
01:09:15,940 --> 01:09:19,020
Kristin J. Lloyd is my co-author,
1584
01:09:19,020 --> 01:09:20,580
and she's the illustrator.
1585
01:09:20,580 --> 01:09:24,020
And she's a former student from my class
1586
01:09:24,020 --> 01:09:25,540
at Brigham Young University.
1587
01:09:25,540 --> 01:09:28,300
And we have been collaborating for the last year,
1588
01:09:28,300 --> 01:09:30,660
and we're just about done with two books.
1589
01:09:30,660 --> 01:09:33,100
But it's really about her story of growing up
1590
01:09:33,100 --> 01:09:35,940
on a farm with a befriended cow.
1591
01:09:35,940 --> 01:09:38,780
And her cow became her best friend.
1592
01:09:38,780 --> 01:09:41,340
And it's really conversations between her and her cow
1593
01:09:41,340 --> 01:09:45,100
about having, she broke a bunch of eggs
1594
01:09:45,100 --> 01:09:46,180
when she shouldn't have.
1595
01:09:46,180 --> 01:09:48,700
So she's really scared.
1596
01:09:48,700 --> 01:09:51,700
And so how her cow talks her through the process
1597
01:09:51,700 --> 01:09:55,700
of being able to get clear in her mind
1598
01:09:55,700 --> 01:09:58,740
and really help her with her problems.
1599
01:09:58,740 --> 01:10:02,140
And how she's able to get back into her mind
1600
01:10:02,140 --> 01:10:05,620
and really help her talk to her grandma
1601
01:10:05,620 --> 01:10:09,580
and to get back into, yes, I can gather eggs.
1602
01:10:09,580 --> 01:10:13,140
And it's just a very wonderful story metaphor.
1603
01:10:13,140 --> 01:10:17,380
I'd encourage anybody to look at Kristin J. Lloyd.
1604
01:10:17,380 --> 01:10:19,980
She has a beautiful song called Find My Brave.
1605
01:10:19,980 --> 01:10:21,860
My Brave is her song.
1606
01:10:21,860 --> 01:10:24,620
And she's written an original song for this book
1607
01:10:24,620 --> 01:10:26,540
as well called Butterfly Forward.
1608
01:10:26,540 --> 01:10:29,380
Basically a metaphor for how thoughts can change.
1609
01:10:29,380 --> 01:10:31,300
They can butterfly forward.
1610
01:10:31,300 --> 01:10:34,660
And so, oh, it's just been a wonderful project.
1611
01:10:34,660 --> 01:10:37,180
And I've also got other projects I'm working with.
1612
01:10:37,180 --> 01:10:40,140
But yeah, this is really a fun thing.
1613
01:10:40,140 --> 01:10:44,180
Yes, and another book is the 30 Days to Peak Performance.
1614
01:10:44,180 --> 01:10:45,700
It's the workbook, right?
1615
01:10:45,700 --> 01:10:46,420
Yes.
1616
01:10:46,420 --> 01:10:47,860
Yeah, tell us.
1617
01:10:47,860 --> 01:10:51,660
Does this workbook go along with your original, which
1618
01:10:51,660 --> 01:10:54,380
came out four years ago, Conquer Anxiety?
1619
01:10:54,380 --> 01:10:55,300
It certainly does.
1620
01:10:55,300 --> 01:10:57,220
What it really is is just a great reminder
1621
01:10:57,220 --> 01:10:58,300
of what do I need to do.
1622
01:10:58,300 --> 01:11:00,780
If I had 30 days to get ready for a peak performance,
1623
01:11:00,780 --> 01:11:02,380
what would I want to do?
1624
01:11:02,380 --> 01:11:05,820
What are those key things I would want to do in this journey?
1625
01:11:05,820 --> 01:11:07,620
So certainly there'd be practice,
1626
01:11:07,620 --> 01:11:09,060
there'd be mental practice.
1627
01:11:09,060 --> 01:11:11,900
There's reminders about daily mental practice skills.
1628
01:11:11,900 --> 01:11:16,100
It's about recognizing that this process of the five stages
1629
01:11:16,100 --> 01:11:17,620
of peak performance, which is definitely
1630
01:11:17,620 --> 01:11:20,340
what my book is all about, it walks a person
1631
01:11:20,340 --> 01:11:24,700
through those five stages within that 30-day context.
1632
01:11:24,700 --> 01:11:25,700
What are you doing and why?
1633
01:11:25,700 --> 01:11:28,340
What's the mindset you designed for this?
1634
01:11:28,340 --> 01:11:30,980
You're preparing musically and mentally.
1635
01:11:30,980 --> 01:11:33,380
When are you declaring that preparation complete?
1636
01:11:33,380 --> 01:11:35,100
What kind of pre-performance routines
1637
01:11:35,100 --> 01:11:37,220
are you going to incorporate in this?
1638
01:11:37,220 --> 01:11:38,740
You performed.
1639
01:11:38,740 --> 01:11:40,540
How are you going to debrief this?
1640
01:11:40,540 --> 01:11:44,100
So in that 30-day experience, you can keep moving forward.
1641
01:11:44,100 --> 01:11:48,300
Wow, that's going to be helpful because I really love the book.
1642
01:11:48,300 --> 01:11:50,620
And I always refer back to your book
1643
01:11:50,620 --> 01:11:54,500
because sometimes I need it for myself and for my students
1644
01:11:54,500 --> 01:11:58,180
and having to have the 30-day Days to Peak Performance workbook
1645
01:11:58,180 --> 01:11:59,060
will help.
1646
01:11:59,060 --> 01:12:00,540
It's more practical.
1647
01:12:00,540 --> 01:12:01,020
Yeah.
1648
01:12:01,020 --> 01:12:01,540
Yeah, right?
1649
01:12:01,540 --> 01:12:02,620
It's very hands-on.
1650
01:12:02,620 --> 01:12:04,740
I will send you a copy here when we get done.
1651
01:12:04,740 --> 01:12:08,300
And yeah, I'll be happy to get you a copy of that.
1652
01:12:08,300 --> 01:12:08,820
Thank you.
1653
01:12:08,820 --> 01:12:13,020
And it's just a great reminder of, OK,
1654
01:12:13,020 --> 01:12:16,100
what am I doing every day that's going to advance, promote,
1655
01:12:16,100 --> 01:12:17,660
move me forward?
1656
01:12:17,660 --> 01:12:21,100
Or somehow I'm doing something that might be like a retreat,
1657
01:12:21,100 --> 01:12:22,980
stop, a pause.
1658
01:12:22,980 --> 01:12:27,540
OK, even like slide downhill kind of thing.
1659
01:12:27,540 --> 01:12:29,620
And so it's just a great reminder.
1660
01:12:29,620 --> 01:12:31,340
It's really especially good for helping
1661
01:12:31,340 --> 01:12:33,780
you look at your mindset.
1662
01:12:33,780 --> 01:12:35,140
Yeah.
1663
01:12:35,140 --> 01:12:38,620
Dr. Skidmore, what a journey it's been, right?
1664
01:12:38,620 --> 01:12:43,020
I mean, four years, and you've accomplished so much.
1665
01:12:43,020 --> 01:12:44,340
Congratulations.
1666
01:12:44,340 --> 01:12:44,940
Thank you.
1667
01:12:44,940 --> 01:12:45,900
It's a delight.
1668
01:12:45,900 --> 01:12:47,380
It's such a privilege.
1669
01:12:47,380 --> 01:12:50,940
And it's so amazing to be able to see
1670
01:12:50,940 --> 01:12:53,500
how these tools and skills open doors.
1671
01:12:53,500 --> 01:12:55,700
They open the doors to the stage.
1672
01:12:55,700 --> 01:12:57,380
And in some cases, they've opened doors
1673
01:12:57,380 --> 01:12:58,980
that have been shut.
1674
01:12:58,980 --> 01:13:00,980
And now they can get back out there on stage.
1675
01:13:00,980 --> 01:13:04,940
And it's just exciting to see the difference that
1676
01:13:04,940 --> 01:13:06,780
makes for people and performers.
1677
01:13:06,780 --> 01:13:09,580
And really one of my primary goals
1678
01:13:09,580 --> 01:13:13,420
is I'm privileged to be able to help people create freedom
1679
01:13:13,420 --> 01:13:15,860
on their stage and in their life.
1680
01:13:15,860 --> 01:13:18,580
I just love that idea that, yeah, that's what I get to do,
1681
01:13:18,580 --> 01:13:21,140
help people create freedom on stage and in life.
1682
01:13:21,140 --> 01:13:25,100
You're connecting the performance art and music
1683
01:13:25,100 --> 01:13:27,060
and the life itself together.
1684
01:13:27,060 --> 01:13:28,900
That's beautiful.
1685
01:13:28,900 --> 01:13:30,620
Thank you.
1686
01:13:30,620 --> 01:13:33,340
So how can we sign up?
1687
01:13:33,340 --> 01:13:38,340
I would love for my audience to sign up for your master classes
1688
01:13:38,340 --> 01:13:39,820
maybe if you're hosting.
1689
01:13:39,820 --> 01:13:45,980
Or so I know we can get in touch with you through your website
1690
01:13:45,980 --> 01:13:48,300
at johnskidmore.com.
1691
01:13:48,300 --> 01:13:49,380
What else?
1692
01:13:49,380 --> 01:13:50,660
OK.
1693
01:13:50,660 --> 01:13:53,900
I'm also on Facebook and social media things.
1694
01:13:53,900 --> 01:13:56,300
But my website is probably the best place to get hold of me.
1695
01:13:56,300 --> 01:13:57,300
And just email me.
1696
01:13:57,300 --> 01:13:58,780
I'd be happy to talk to you.
1697
01:13:58,780 --> 01:14:00,460
One of my favorite things to do is
1698
01:14:00,460 --> 01:14:04,460
to do workshops specifically for studios.
1699
01:14:04,460 --> 01:14:07,980
So whether in person or on Zoom, we'll
1700
01:14:07,980 --> 01:14:10,180
just spend some time with the studio.
1701
01:14:10,180 --> 01:14:12,220
And we're just working with that studio together.
1702
01:14:12,220 --> 01:14:14,900
That's one way we can do things.
1703
01:14:14,900 --> 01:14:16,580
I have a course called The Musician's Path
1704
01:14:16,580 --> 01:14:19,340
to Peak Performance, which is a five-week course.
1705
01:14:19,340 --> 01:14:22,020
My next one for that is scheduled in November.
1706
01:14:22,020 --> 01:14:23,300
And again, that's on my website.
1707
01:14:23,300 --> 01:14:26,180
I'm going through another studio in Denver
1708
01:14:26,180 --> 01:14:28,420
that I'm working with that's sponsoring that.
1709
01:14:28,420 --> 01:14:32,380
And I've got stuff happening all the time.
1710
01:14:32,380 --> 01:14:34,540
Two things that are really interesting.
1711
01:14:34,540 --> 01:14:38,780
Every month I do a Peak Performance Master Class.
1712
01:14:38,780 --> 01:14:40,860
And this is a free opportunity.
1713
01:14:40,860 --> 01:14:42,660
I don't charge for this.
1714
01:14:42,660 --> 01:14:45,540
A teacher will contact me and say, hey, I have a student
1715
01:14:45,540 --> 01:14:47,860
I'd like to have participate in your master class.
1716
01:14:47,860 --> 01:14:49,420
And it's like, great.
1717
01:14:49,420 --> 01:14:50,900
And so they perform.
1718
01:14:50,900 --> 01:14:53,900
And whether they're playing the piano or singing
1719
01:14:53,900 --> 01:14:56,900
or playing the tuba, it doesn't really matter to me.
1720
01:14:56,900 --> 01:15:00,580
But we master class this from the psychological perspective.
1721
01:15:00,580 --> 01:15:01,700
What were you thinking?
1722
01:15:01,700 --> 01:15:02,660
What were you seeing?
1723
01:15:02,660 --> 01:15:03,740
What did you experience?
1724
01:15:03,740 --> 01:15:05,900
How did you handle the fact that there
1725
01:15:05,900 --> 01:15:07,980
was a problem with the internet?
1726
01:15:07,980 --> 01:15:09,020
All these kinds of things.
1727
01:15:09,020 --> 01:15:09,980
This is on Zoom.
1728
01:15:09,980 --> 01:15:11,700
And so that Peak Performance Master Class
1729
01:15:11,700 --> 01:15:14,260
is really a wonderful opportunity
1730
01:15:14,260 --> 01:15:16,780
to connect and to get to know me a little bit better,
1731
01:15:16,780 --> 01:15:19,580
to see how I work with students.
1732
01:15:19,580 --> 01:15:23,260
Students just watching that get good information.
1733
01:15:23,260 --> 01:15:28,100
It's like, oh, I had a 13-year-old.
1734
01:15:28,100 --> 01:15:30,220
I asked her, so what did you get out of a master class?
1735
01:15:30,220 --> 01:15:32,900
And she goes, well, I kept hearing people talk about how
1736
01:15:32,900 --> 01:15:35,060
it really didn't matter what other people were thinking
1737
01:15:35,060 --> 01:15:36,580
of me when I was performing.
1738
01:15:36,580 --> 01:15:38,180
I never really thought of that before.
1739
01:15:38,180 --> 01:15:40,980
I thought that was really important.
1740
01:15:40,980 --> 01:15:42,980
And so the three people that performed that day,
1741
01:15:42,980 --> 01:15:44,700
talked this through.
1742
01:15:44,700 --> 01:15:47,620
And that was just one of the things that she took away
1743
01:15:47,620 --> 01:15:49,300
from that experience.
1744
01:15:49,300 --> 01:15:51,220
So I do a 9 o'clock in the morning,
1745
01:15:51,220 --> 01:15:54,140
mountain time on the second Wednesday,
1746
01:15:54,140 --> 01:15:57,180
and a 5 o'clock in the evening on the third Wednesday
1747
01:15:57,180 --> 01:15:58,180
of every month.
1748
01:15:58,180 --> 01:16:00,900
So that'd be another opportunity that'd be really fun to connect
1749
01:16:00,900 --> 01:16:04,060
with and to invite your students to sit in on that
1750
01:16:04,060 --> 01:16:05,540
or perform for it.
1751
01:16:05,540 --> 01:16:07,780
I'd love to talk to more teachers.
1752
01:16:07,780 --> 01:16:08,580
Sure.
1753
01:16:08,580 --> 01:16:09,060
Yeah.
1754
01:16:09,060 --> 01:16:12,180
And then I know you sent me the link, the Zoom link,
1755
01:16:12,180 --> 01:16:13,460
the registration link.
1756
01:16:13,460 --> 01:16:17,260
So I'll make sure to put that in the description as well.
1757
01:16:17,260 --> 01:16:23,060
And then also you offer a half an hour free discovery
1758
01:16:23,060 --> 01:16:24,900
consultation as well, right?
1759
01:16:24,900 --> 01:16:26,220
Yes.
1760
01:16:26,220 --> 01:16:31,260
That's really an amazing opportunity because, first off,
1761
01:16:31,260 --> 01:16:33,580
for a lot of people, the introduction of performance
1762
01:16:33,580 --> 01:16:35,380
skills is relatively new.
1763
01:16:35,380 --> 01:16:37,920
They're not quite sure how this is going to make a difference,
1764
01:16:37,920 --> 01:16:39,220
or what they are.
1765
01:16:39,220 --> 01:16:41,420
If someone's in a crisis and they're coming to see me,
1766
01:16:41,420 --> 01:16:43,580
that's a different story because they're in crisis.
1767
01:16:43,580 --> 01:16:44,540
They want help.
1768
01:16:44,540 --> 01:16:48,100
So yes, I'm happy to meet with somebody for a 30 minute
1769
01:16:48,100 --> 01:16:49,020
consultation.
1770
01:16:49,020 --> 01:16:51,780
And we're just talking to see how mental skills training
1771
01:16:51,780 --> 01:16:54,460
can make a difference for you and what direction
1772
01:16:54,460 --> 01:16:55,220
to go with that.
1773
01:16:55,220 --> 01:16:56,620
And if I'm the direction to go with,
1774
01:16:56,620 --> 01:16:58,980
we'll talk about how to work individually with me
1775
01:16:58,980 --> 01:17:00,780
or with your group with me.
1776
01:17:00,780 --> 01:17:03,740
Or other times I've referred people out to,
1777
01:17:03,740 --> 01:17:06,820
I actually referred somebody to Toastmasters the other day.
1778
01:17:06,820 --> 01:17:09,140
You're a performer, but I think Toastmasters would really
1779
01:17:09,140 --> 01:17:11,100
help you.
1780
01:17:11,100 --> 01:17:14,220
In terms of just getting up and publicly presenting yourself.
1781
01:17:14,220 --> 01:17:16,260
And so that's really what that's all about,
1782
01:17:16,260 --> 01:17:18,020
is to get to connect with people and to be
1783
01:17:18,020 --> 01:17:21,980
able to see if the tools, what I can share,
1784
01:17:21,980 --> 01:17:23,500
can really make a difference for them.
1785
01:17:23,500 --> 01:17:26,340
And we'll go from there.
1786
01:17:26,340 --> 01:17:27,740
Wonderful.
1787
01:17:27,740 --> 01:17:29,540
Well, it's been a great, wonderful,
1788
01:17:29,540 --> 01:17:30,860
inspirational conversation.
1789
01:17:30,860 --> 01:17:33,620
But I have just a few more questions to go.
1790
01:17:33,620 --> 01:17:35,260
I hope that's OK.
1791
01:17:35,260 --> 01:17:39,820
So these are going to be a little bit more philosophical.
1792
01:17:39,820 --> 01:17:40,320
Sweet.
1793
01:17:40,320 --> 01:17:45,740
So how can we shift the cultural perception of performance
1794
01:17:45,740 --> 01:17:50,500
anxiety from a personal weakness to a natural aspect
1795
01:17:50,500 --> 01:17:52,820
of the human experience, deserving
1796
01:17:52,820 --> 01:17:56,180
of compassion and support?
1797
01:17:56,180 --> 01:17:58,100
Wow, you said that so well.
1798
01:17:58,100 --> 01:17:59,780
We need to help people understand
1799
01:17:59,780 --> 01:18:02,180
that this is a natural part of the human experience that
1800
01:18:02,180 --> 01:18:06,620
needs compassion, needs support, and needs tools.
1801
01:18:06,620 --> 01:18:07,660
It's not a disease.
1802
01:18:07,660 --> 01:18:11,300
So what you're describing, Ukemi, is exactly the goal here.
1803
01:18:11,300 --> 01:18:12,860
I've talked to students and talked
1804
01:18:12,860 --> 01:18:17,620
to teachers who just assume that performance anxiety is normal,
1805
01:18:17,620 --> 01:18:20,020
like it should be part of the experience.
1806
01:18:20,020 --> 01:18:22,100
People have said things like, well, if you're anxious,
1807
01:18:22,100 --> 01:18:23,300
that means you care.
1808
01:18:23,300 --> 01:18:25,580
Well, that doesn't help you very much.
1809
01:18:25,580 --> 01:18:28,780
OK, I care, but I'm still anxious.
1810
01:18:28,780 --> 01:18:31,500
And this thing is taking over, and I'm not happy with this,
1811
01:18:31,500 --> 01:18:33,040
and I don't know what to do about it.
1812
01:18:33,040 --> 01:18:35,940
It's going to get more anxiety and more problems.
1813
01:18:35,940 --> 01:18:38,420
And so the other part of this is, as educators,
1814
01:18:38,420 --> 01:18:40,300
be really informed.
1815
01:18:40,300 --> 01:18:42,140
And to find out as much information
1816
01:18:42,140 --> 01:18:44,500
as you can from as many different sources
1817
01:18:44,500 --> 01:18:47,780
is how do we bring the tools and skills
1818
01:18:47,780 --> 01:18:50,420
and make them a part of our lesson?
1819
01:18:50,420 --> 01:18:53,860
Teachers who will start a lesson with a one minute breathing
1820
01:18:53,860 --> 01:18:58,500
exercise have a very different experience in that lesson.
1821
01:18:58,500 --> 01:19:01,100
I mean, even if it was as simply as put a finger right here,
1822
01:19:01,100 --> 01:19:07,780
breathe in, breathe out, and think I am bold.
1823
01:19:07,780 --> 01:19:10,700
I'm confident.
1824
01:19:10,700 --> 01:19:12,220
I'm expressive.
1825
01:19:12,220 --> 01:19:13,780
I'm going to discover a lot today.
1826
01:19:13,780 --> 01:19:15,820
I'm going to discover a lot of stuff in my lesson.
1827
01:19:15,820 --> 01:19:19,460
I'm going to be really open in my lesson today.
1828
01:19:19,460 --> 01:19:20,900
I mean, that's establishing mindset.
1829
01:19:20,900 --> 01:19:23,380
It's helping get connected to the mind and body.
1830
01:19:23,380 --> 01:19:27,620
There's so many different things like that as a simple tool.
1831
01:19:27,620 --> 01:19:30,260
One thing, for example, like just having that mindset
1832
01:19:30,260 --> 01:19:33,180
established for your lesson, what that can do
1833
01:19:33,180 --> 01:19:37,220
is when you discover frustration has crept in,
1834
01:19:37,220 --> 01:19:42,540
or there's some even anger, or there's disappointment,
1835
01:19:42,540 --> 01:19:48,460
you just have to say, so John, what's your mindset right now?
1836
01:19:48,460 --> 01:19:50,300
I am really frustrated.
1837
01:19:50,300 --> 01:19:51,780
OK.
1838
01:19:51,780 --> 01:19:54,060
We get to acknowledge you're frustrated.
1839
01:19:54,060 --> 01:19:56,740
Now that's not what you created the intention for today
1840
01:19:56,740 --> 01:19:59,100
in this lesson.
1841
01:19:59,100 --> 01:20:01,340
So what can we do to get that frustration out
1842
01:20:01,340 --> 01:20:03,540
of the practice room here, out of the lesson?
1843
01:20:03,540 --> 01:20:05,380
Let's get you back into the expressive,
1844
01:20:05,380 --> 01:20:08,740
and the confident, and the creative.
1845
01:20:08,740 --> 01:20:09,260
Oh, yeah.
1846
01:20:09,260 --> 01:20:11,620
I guess I kind of forgot that confidence wasn't doing it right
1847
01:20:11,620 --> 01:20:13,060
and knowing I could do it right.
1848
01:20:13,060 --> 01:20:15,380
It's knowing I can handle whatever shows up.
1849
01:20:15,380 --> 01:20:16,980
Oh, yeah.
1850
01:20:16,980 --> 01:20:18,940
OK, I can handle this.
1851
01:20:18,940 --> 01:20:20,380
Let's step back into confident.
1852
01:20:20,380 --> 01:20:23,060
Can I play this again from confident?
1853
01:20:23,060 --> 01:20:26,100
So it becomes a really great little tool that way.
1854
01:20:26,100 --> 01:20:28,980
I would love to hear from you or from any of your friends
1855
01:20:28,980 --> 01:20:32,660
or other teachers how something from this podcast
1856
01:20:32,660 --> 01:20:34,260
has made a difference for you teaching.
1857
01:20:34,260 --> 01:20:35,220
I would love to hear.
1858
01:20:35,220 --> 01:20:36,140
Please contact me.
1859
01:20:36,140 --> 01:20:38,100
I would love to communicate with you about that.
1860
01:20:38,100 --> 01:20:43,180
Because I learn a lot from those who I talk with.
1861
01:20:43,180 --> 01:20:45,420
This little exercise here, what I taught it,
1862
01:20:45,420 --> 01:20:47,980
it was like squeeze your fingertip.
1863
01:20:47,980 --> 01:20:49,740
Well, somebody I was working with says,
1864
01:20:49,740 --> 01:20:50,980
I do that a little differently, John.
1865
01:20:50,980 --> 01:20:52,100
Well, how do you do it?
1866
01:20:52,100 --> 01:20:54,420
Well, I slide my finger up, and it feels kind of nice.
1867
01:20:54,420 --> 01:20:57,220
And it's like, oh, I love that.
1868
01:20:57,220 --> 01:20:59,100
So there's so many different variations
1869
01:20:59,100 --> 01:21:01,180
of what we can do here.
1870
01:21:01,180 --> 01:21:05,660
And so to be able to learn more about that, learn from you,
1871
01:21:05,660 --> 01:21:08,460
I would love to learn from you.
1872
01:21:08,460 --> 01:21:10,860
And if you're running into some very specific problems
1873
01:21:10,860 --> 01:21:14,140
or issues with specific students, have some questions,
1874
01:21:14,140 --> 01:21:15,500
please feel free to contact me.
1875
01:21:15,500 --> 01:21:17,260
I'd like to be seen as a resource.
1876
01:21:17,260 --> 01:21:20,060
Yeah, and I'm sure there are a lot of questions
1877
01:21:20,060 --> 01:21:23,340
from performing artists to music educators today.
1878
01:21:23,340 --> 01:21:28,460
Because these are really ongoing issues.
1879
01:21:28,460 --> 01:21:29,260
Yes.
1880
01:21:29,260 --> 01:21:30,700
And I don't want to say issues.
1881
01:21:30,700 --> 01:21:32,660
Then that's also the negativity.
1882
01:21:32,660 --> 01:21:33,900
But it is true.
1883
01:21:33,900 --> 01:21:38,100
And then something that we want to solve for ourselves
1884
01:21:38,100 --> 01:21:39,660
and for our students.
1885
01:21:39,660 --> 01:21:44,820
But I feel like in the past, I felt like I wasn't equipped
1886
01:21:44,820 --> 01:21:46,100
enough.
1887
01:21:46,100 --> 01:21:50,220
So that's why I obviously reached out to you
1888
01:21:50,220 --> 01:21:51,300
four years ago.
1889
01:21:51,300 --> 01:21:56,700
Anyway, so how can we use our vulnerability and authenticity
1890
01:21:56,700 --> 01:21:59,620
in performances to our advantage, particularly
1891
01:21:59,620 --> 01:22:03,140
in connecting more deeply with our audiences?
1892
01:22:03,140 --> 01:22:05,820
We all relate to the human experience.
1893
01:22:05,820 --> 01:22:07,660
And none of us are perfect.
1894
01:22:07,660 --> 01:22:09,780
And sometimes we've gone to concerts and programs
1895
01:22:09,780 --> 01:22:12,140
and we're expecting that absolutely amazing
1896
01:22:12,140 --> 01:22:14,060
musical experience.
1897
01:22:14,060 --> 01:22:15,780
And we've often talked about how that's supposed
1898
01:22:15,780 --> 01:22:17,780
to be close to perfection.
1899
01:22:17,780 --> 01:22:20,740
It's really about being confident enough
1900
01:22:20,740 --> 01:22:24,660
and strong enough within ourselves to say, I got lost.
1901
01:22:24,660 --> 01:22:27,940
Well, I will fix that if we get lost.
1902
01:22:27,940 --> 01:22:32,180
Or we move through it and we bring compassion to ourselves.
1903
01:22:32,180 --> 01:22:33,460
And we finish strong.
1904
01:22:33,460 --> 01:22:34,420
We finish excited.
1905
01:22:34,420 --> 01:22:37,180
And we finish musically rather than we've
1906
01:22:37,180 --> 01:22:38,180
struggled with something.
1907
01:22:38,180 --> 01:22:40,580
And then we're berating ourselves and angry
1908
01:22:40,580 --> 01:22:41,180
and frustrated.
1909
01:22:41,180 --> 01:22:44,820
And it just leads to more of a cascade into disaster.
1910
01:22:44,820 --> 01:22:48,060
And it's really about just the enjoyment
1911
01:22:48,060 --> 01:22:52,020
of the realness of our experience.
1912
01:22:52,020 --> 01:22:54,140
In our digital age, we can make, I mean,
1913
01:22:54,140 --> 01:22:57,580
auto tuners are a thing with the voice these days.
1914
01:22:57,580 --> 01:23:02,260
And a good artist can alter the sound, can alter the tempo,
1915
01:23:02,260 --> 01:23:04,940
can take out one little bit of sound
1916
01:23:04,940 --> 01:23:07,740
and replace it with another little bit of sound.
1917
01:23:07,740 --> 01:23:10,100
And we don't see the hundreds of hours
1918
01:23:10,100 --> 01:23:12,580
that could go into a recording to make
1919
01:23:12,580 --> 01:23:15,300
every note sound perfect.
1920
01:23:15,300 --> 01:23:17,260
And so the other thing on that is our cultures.
1921
01:23:17,260 --> 01:23:21,100
We get to just embrace the reality of life
1922
01:23:21,100 --> 01:23:22,700
and just look at this as a privilege
1923
01:23:22,700 --> 01:23:26,140
to be a part of someone being willing to share their talents
1924
01:23:26,140 --> 01:23:29,940
and you as the performer being willing to share your talents.
1925
01:23:29,940 --> 01:23:32,780
In that sense, I love to talk about the gifts we have to give,
1926
01:23:32,780 --> 01:23:36,300
the stories we have to tell, the songs we have to sing,
1927
01:23:36,300 --> 01:23:38,380
and the pianos we get to play with.
1928
01:23:38,380 --> 01:23:41,060
So you get to play with a piano.
1929
01:23:41,060 --> 01:23:42,820
My mom was a delightful pianist.
1930
01:23:42,820 --> 01:23:45,380
And I so cherish my experience with her
1931
01:23:45,380 --> 01:23:47,900
as an accompaniment for many, many years.
1932
01:23:47,900 --> 01:23:53,660
And also with the neighborhood recital
1933
01:23:53,660 --> 01:23:55,780
and inviting friends and family into the front room
1934
01:23:55,780 --> 01:23:58,340
around the grand piano to just enjoy
1935
01:23:58,340 --> 01:24:01,300
that kind of beautiful musical experience.
1936
01:24:01,300 --> 01:24:07,780
And so creating a culture of fun and enjoyment
1937
01:24:07,780 --> 01:24:09,300
is such an important part.
1938
01:24:09,300 --> 01:24:11,660
And so I really appreciate what you're
1939
01:24:11,660 --> 01:24:14,820
doing with your podcast and how you're
1940
01:24:14,820 --> 01:24:18,820
wanting to deepen the experience for so many people
1941
01:24:18,820 --> 01:24:23,860
and to create that freedom to enjoy expressing themselves
1942
01:24:23,860 --> 01:24:24,940
through the piano.
1943
01:24:24,940 --> 01:24:25,900
Oh, thank you.
1944
01:24:25,900 --> 01:24:28,620
It means a lot because you gave me the push
1945
01:24:28,620 --> 01:24:32,740
to do this podcast in many ways.
1946
01:24:32,740 --> 01:24:33,620
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
1947
01:24:33,620 --> 01:24:36,300
Because I really enjoyed our conversation on the phone.
1948
01:24:36,300 --> 01:24:40,380
I was like, oh, I can put our conversation
1949
01:24:40,380 --> 01:24:43,820
on the podcast platform so that everybody else can benefit
1950
01:24:43,820 --> 01:24:46,220
from our conversation.
1951
01:24:46,220 --> 01:24:47,060
Oh, thank you.
1952
01:24:47,060 --> 01:24:50,060
Yeah, but this has been a great conversation.
1953
01:24:50,060 --> 01:24:51,580
Thank you so much once again.
1954
01:24:51,580 --> 01:24:55,420
And so for our listeners, please visit
1955
01:24:55,420 --> 01:25:02,540
JohnSkidmore.com, which is J-O-N-S-K-I-D-M-O-R-E.com
1956
01:25:02,540 --> 01:25:06,620
to learn more about Dr. John Skidmore and his work
1957
01:25:06,620 --> 01:25:09,220
and then all the workshops that he mentioned,
1958
01:25:09,220 --> 01:25:12,580
and half an hour discovery consultation,
1959
01:25:12,580 --> 01:25:17,460
and also his peak performance course in November
1960
01:25:17,460 --> 01:25:21,340
that's coming out, plus new workbook and so on.
1961
01:25:21,340 --> 01:25:24,940
Before I let you go, we have this thing, the rapid fire
1962
01:25:24,940 --> 01:25:25,700
questions.
1963
01:25:25,700 --> 01:25:28,820
And I asked some fun questions to each guest.
1964
01:25:28,820 --> 01:25:29,900
And here's a little twist.
1965
01:25:29,900 --> 01:25:31,900
As silly as these questions may sound,
1966
01:25:31,900 --> 01:25:34,980
your answers may reveal who you truly are.
1967
01:25:34,980 --> 01:25:41,220
So I want you to answer each question with the shortest
1968
01:25:41,220 --> 01:25:46,180
response as possible and then no explanation is necessary.
1969
01:25:46,180 --> 01:25:49,500
Let's start with an easy one, level one.
1970
01:25:49,500 --> 01:25:52,300
What is your comfort food?
1971
01:25:52,300 --> 01:25:54,900
Oh, probably soup.
1972
01:25:54,900 --> 01:25:57,580
How do you like your coffee in the morning?
1973
01:25:57,580 --> 01:25:59,420
You know, I'm actually not a coffee drinker,
1974
01:25:59,420 --> 01:26:01,820
so I don't do coffee in the morning.
1975
01:26:01,820 --> 01:26:02,620
Oh, wow.
1976
01:26:02,620 --> 01:26:04,580
OK.
1977
01:26:04,580 --> 01:26:05,900
Cats or dogs?
1978
01:26:05,900 --> 01:26:06,700
Oh, definitely a dog.
1979
01:26:06,700 --> 01:26:07,740
I'm allergic to cats.
1980
01:26:07,740 --> 01:26:09,860
OK.
1981
01:26:09,860 --> 01:26:11,460
Sunrise or sunset?
1982
01:26:11,460 --> 01:26:12,660
I love the sunrise.
1983
01:26:12,660 --> 01:26:13,980
I'll often go hiking in Utah.
1984
01:26:13,980 --> 01:26:14,740
Oh, no explanation.
1985
01:26:14,740 --> 01:26:15,340
Sunrise.
1986
01:26:15,340 --> 01:26:16,060
There we go.
1987
01:26:16,060 --> 01:26:17,140
All right.
1988
01:26:17,140 --> 01:26:19,060
Summer or winter?
1989
01:26:19,060 --> 01:26:20,140
Oh, winter.
1990
01:26:20,140 --> 01:26:21,940
I'm an avid cross-country skier.
1991
01:26:21,940 --> 01:26:22,580
Really?
1992
01:26:22,580 --> 01:26:23,580
Oh, my goodness.
1993
01:26:23,580 --> 01:26:24,300
Wow.
1994
01:26:24,300 --> 01:26:26,780
You see, a lot to discover from these questions, right?
1995
01:26:26,780 --> 01:26:28,020
Yes.
1996
01:26:28,020 --> 01:26:30,500
What skill have you always wanted to learn
1997
01:26:30,500 --> 01:26:32,860
but haven't had a chance to?
1998
01:26:32,860 --> 01:26:37,020
Two weeks ago, I threw my first pot at a potter's wheel.
1999
01:26:37,020 --> 01:26:38,220
Oh.
2000
01:26:38,220 --> 01:26:40,100
And I've been so excited about that.
2001
01:26:40,100 --> 01:26:42,140
My daughter-in-law gave me that for Christmas.
2002
01:26:42,140 --> 01:26:44,660
And I just threw my first pot two weeks ago.
2003
01:26:44,660 --> 01:26:47,100
And I'm going to go back there again and do some more of that.
2004
01:26:47,100 --> 01:26:47,580
That was fun.
2005
01:26:47,580 --> 01:26:48,380
Wow.
2006
01:26:48,380 --> 01:26:50,020
That's awesome.
2007
01:26:50,020 --> 01:26:53,900
What is your word or words to live by?
2008
01:26:53,900 --> 01:26:56,260
Risk, fail, risk again.
2009
01:26:56,260 --> 01:26:57,340
Yes.
2010
01:26:57,340 --> 01:26:58,980
I remember that.
2011
01:26:58,980 --> 01:27:00,860
What is the most important quality
2012
01:27:00,860 --> 01:27:03,380
you look for in other people?
2013
01:27:03,380 --> 01:27:05,460
Hmm.
2014
01:27:05,460 --> 01:27:06,380
Honesty.
2015
01:27:06,380 --> 01:27:11,820
Name three people who inspire you, living or dead.
2016
01:27:11,820 --> 01:27:15,060
Certainly my mother, as a pianist, a musician,
2017
01:27:15,060 --> 01:27:15,820
inspires me.
2018
01:27:19,100 --> 01:27:21,420
I have to put my father, because he's a psychologist.
2019
01:27:21,420 --> 01:27:22,100
Oh, wow.
2020
01:27:22,100 --> 01:27:23,180
OK.
2021
01:27:23,180 --> 01:27:24,500
Runs in the family.
2022
01:27:24,500 --> 01:27:25,340
It runs in the family.
2023
01:27:25,340 --> 01:27:26,180
It runs in the family.
2024
01:27:28,740 --> 01:27:31,140
Benjamin Franklin has inspired me a lot.
2025
01:27:31,140 --> 01:27:33,260
He was a man that clearly had vision.
2026
01:27:33,260 --> 01:27:35,860
He clearly could see what was coming down the road.
2027
01:27:35,860 --> 01:27:37,620
And he took actions in a powerful way
2028
01:27:37,620 --> 01:27:39,220
to make a difference there.
2029
01:27:39,220 --> 01:27:42,660
And so I've enjoyed reading a lot about him.
2030
01:27:42,660 --> 01:27:44,340
He has so many skills.
2031
01:27:44,340 --> 01:27:46,900
He was an inventor, but he was a diplomat.
2032
01:27:46,900 --> 01:27:47,780
Amazing.
2033
01:27:47,780 --> 01:27:48,820
Yes.
2034
01:27:48,820 --> 01:27:49,460
All right.
2035
01:27:49,460 --> 01:27:50,700
Now, level three.
2036
01:27:50,700 --> 01:27:52,660
Not two more questions.
2037
01:27:52,660 --> 01:27:56,220
Name one piece in your current playlist.
2038
01:27:59,140 --> 01:28:00,900
Orange colored sky.
2039
01:28:00,900 --> 01:28:03,820
By?
2040
01:28:03,820 --> 01:28:06,300
Oh, the name just block me.
2041
01:28:06,300 --> 01:28:08,580
Performance anxiety right here.
2042
01:28:08,580 --> 01:28:09,460
I'll look it up.
2043
01:28:09,460 --> 01:28:10,420
No worries.
2044
01:28:10,420 --> 01:28:12,660
No worries.
2045
01:28:12,660 --> 01:28:13,340
I shouldn't.
2046
01:28:13,340 --> 01:28:15,060
Why can't that name show up right now?
2047
01:28:15,060 --> 01:28:16,180
Orange colored sky.
2048
01:28:16,180 --> 01:28:17,700
Anyway, it's a beautiful song.
2049
01:28:17,700 --> 01:28:18,180
OK.
2050
01:28:18,180 --> 01:28:19,540
I'll look it up.
2051
01:28:19,540 --> 01:28:20,740
Fill in the blank.
2052
01:28:20,740 --> 01:28:23,180
Music is blank.
2053
01:28:23,180 --> 01:28:25,740
Music is life.
2054
01:28:25,740 --> 01:28:27,380
Beautiful.
2055
01:28:27,380 --> 01:28:28,260
Thank you.
2056
01:28:28,260 --> 01:28:31,300
So that concludes this episode of the Pianopod.
2057
01:28:31,300 --> 01:28:34,300
Thank you, Dr. Skidmore, for joining my show
2058
01:28:34,300 --> 01:28:38,580
for the second time today and sharing your stories, insights,
2059
01:28:38,580 --> 01:28:39,580
and expertise.
2060
01:28:39,580 --> 01:28:41,740
So for the Pianopods listeners and viewers,
2061
01:28:41,740 --> 01:28:45,020
please visit johnskidmore.com to learn more
2062
01:28:45,020 --> 01:28:48,340
about Dr. Skidmore's work and his program.
2063
01:28:48,340 --> 01:28:52,420
Of course, I encourage you to follow him on social media
2064
01:28:52,420 --> 01:28:55,580
at Dr. John Skidmore, I believe.
2065
01:28:55,580 --> 01:28:57,980
All the links are listed in the show notes.
2066
01:28:57,980 --> 01:29:00,300
Thank you to my wonderful audience and fans
2067
01:29:00,300 --> 01:29:01,380
for tuning in today.
2068
01:29:01,380 --> 01:29:04,660
If you enjoyed today's episode, please rate and review it
2069
01:29:04,660 --> 01:29:07,220
on whatever podcasting platform you use.
2070
01:29:07,220 --> 01:29:09,140
Remember to hit the thumbs up button
2071
01:29:09,140 --> 01:29:11,780
and subscribe to my YouTube channel.
2072
01:29:11,780 --> 01:29:14,020
And follow the Pianopod on social media
2073
01:29:14,020 --> 01:29:18,180
to get the latest piano news via Facebook, Instagram, TikTok,
2074
01:29:18,180 --> 01:29:19,300
and LinkedIn.
2075
01:29:19,300 --> 01:29:21,780
I will see you for the next episode of the Pianopod.
2076
01:29:21,780 --> 01:29:22,540
Bye, everyone.
2077
01:29:22,540 --> 01:29:25,420
Thank you so much, Dr. Skidmore.
2078
01:29:25,420 --> 01:29:26,580
It's a privilege to be here.
2079
01:29:26,580 --> 01:29:28,460
I'd love to chat with all of your friends
2080
01:29:28,460 --> 01:29:31,580
and to see how I can support them in their quest
2081
01:29:31,580 --> 01:29:33,740
to create freedom on their stage with their students
2082
01:29:33,740 --> 01:29:35,300
and in their lives.
2083
01:29:35,300 --> 01:29:35,980
Great.
2084
01:29:35,980 --> 01:29:37,820
Thank you so much.
2085
01:29:37,820 --> 01:29:40,700
And thank you for your incredible support
2086
01:29:40,700 --> 01:29:42,700
throughout season four.
2087
01:29:42,700 --> 01:29:45,180
Have a wonderful summer, and we look forward
2088
01:29:45,180 --> 01:29:50,180
to seeing you in season five starting in September 2024.
2089
01:29:50,180 --> 01:30:06,820
THROUGHット