The Bulletproof Musician Noa Kageyama

This episode is sponsored by Musician's Maintenance - safe, simple, maintenance exercises that specifically address the muscle groups that matter most for musicians.* * *When I was first starting out on the violin, I remember there were more fun games and practice challenges involved in my daily practice. Like free improvisation. Or playing with various weights and stuffed animals clipped to my bow.And then at some point, practice became much more "serious." Where the goal was to play things ...

In the age-old debate about nature vs. nurture, I know the correct answer for most things is that it's a blend of both.But sight-reading, at least for me, always felt like one of those things which leaned more on the nature side than nurture. Some folks just seem to have a knack for it, while I always struggled.But what does the research say? Could I have gotten better at sight reading if I applied myself more diligently? And what would that have even looked like anyways? Are there specific t...

This episode is sponsored by Musician's Maintenance - safe, simple, maintenance exercises that specifically address the muscle groups that matter most for musicians.* * *I think we’ve all had teachers tell us that the technical and expressive aspects of music-making are inextricably connected, and that we shouldn’t just work on technique, and expect to add the expressive details later.But how exactly do you do this? Like, what does it look like to connect both the technical and expressive asp...

Everyone seems to be pretty good about staying hydrated nowadays with the popularity of reusable water bottles and a growing number of public water refilling stations in schools, airports, etc.But how much of a difference does hydration make when it comes to practicing and performing more effectively? How exactly might we benefit from being better hydrated? How dehydrated would we need to be to start seeing negative effects? And what would those negative effects even be?There are a number of ...

This episode is sponsored by Musician's Maintenance - safe, simple, maintenance exercises that specifically address the muscle groups that matter most for musicians.* * *Ever have one of those days where it feels like the more you practice, the worse you sound?Or perhaps you've had a lesson with a student, where the more you try to help, the more frustrated and overwhelmed they seem to get?Sometimes it only feels like we're getting worse or making things worse, and the reality is that this is...

As you might imagine, there are a ton of research papers out there.Some are exceedingly useful. Others are interesting, but of questionable usefulness (like the one which explores the physics of buttered toast tending to land butter-side down).And then there are those which might seem silly at first, but make you think, and end up being quite useful (like the one which found that cows which have been given names produce more milk).So I thought it might be fun to look at a study in this latter...