Here's the question: is your motivation crystal clear? If you're like most musicians, it's a little murky. To help, I've got a story for you plus a quick and easy Musician Motivation quiz so you can clarify your WHY. First, the story. Many years ago I met an American...
Lately I’ve been thinking about the experience of Beauty as an operating principle—in both music and in life. The questions of where and what Beauty is, what it's for, and how it works—these have fascinated me in recent weeks. I'm asking How does Beauty operate in...
Rejection—it’s an inevitable part of life as a professional musician. You fail to advance in an audition round, your grant proposals are turned down, or you experience radio silence in response to your email pitches. Rejection just comes with the territory. The...
Since seeing the film Tár a few weeks ago, I’ve been wrestling with the questions the film brought front and center for me. Especially, that of How Artistry in relation to Power plays out in your career. In case you haven't seen it yet, the film portrays the downfall...
Here's the question: Is your "artistic temperament" flaring up? It's on my mind because of Don Cheadle's mesmerizing portrayal of the great Miles Davis in the film Miles Ahead. An off-the-charts genius with a legendary short-fuzed temper, Miles Davis might just be the...
In a series of fascinating recent conversations I've had with colleagues, clients, and friends, the subject that kept coming up was POWER. And the fact that we can view any human interaction through the lens of power differentials: who has more and who has less of it....
Between your creative projects, preparing for performances, teaching, and the latest world disaster in the news, you too may have burnout. If you're feeling overwhelmed or stressed, you're not alone. Here's help for musicians — how to hit the re-set button. Let's...
Here is how to practice being your future self (and why you'd want to). It's all about how you invest your energy and time—and being able to see yourself as that capable future YOU that you most want to grow into. What gets in the way of becoming that desired future...
The clients I work with all have one thing in common: they are musicians in transition. They come to me because they are in that confusing, uncomfortable space between who they've been and who they're yearning to become. It can feel like being squeezed between a rock...
To address the general level of anxiety I find most musicians experience, I'm busting out my Big-Ass List of Fears. For real. You know, the gnawing 3 am, 'what am I doing with my life?' kind of fears. The fears that keep us awake at night are almost always...
