Four Steps to Recover from Procrastinating

procrastination recovery fall boots

Due to events that I’m deciding to call “out of my control,” I did approximately diddly-squat this past week. Sometimes life happens and you end up procrastinating. Let’s say you got bit by a mosquito and things spiraled and you went to the ER for a little bit. Or maybe your life isn’t as unnecessarily dramatic as mine and you just spent time sleeping instead of doing homework. Regardless, it’s…

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The Six Kinds of Music Major

fall student music major

First seen on my Patreon! In my nearly six years of post-secondary education in music, I’ve discovered that there are six easily identifiable kinds of music major. Not every student fits one of these categories, but you’ll see these people on the regular, regardless of your school The Basement-Dweller: I don’t mean to use this in the pejorative sense. Instead, I mean that this kind of music major lives on…

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How to Music Research

research study library

So you may have a research paper coming up. You may just want to know more about music. If you’re interested in getting more info on music, then here are the tips that’ll get you results. Free to anyone: Guide to Using Music Libraries: This one includes a lot of things specific to my school, but everything outside of stuff regarding the campus is universal. It contains guides for using…

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Seven Common Musician Complaints and How Not to Have Them

Musicians complain. A lot. If you’re a musician, and have complaints, I’ve developed a little FAC (Frequently Answered Complaints) for you to refer to when times get tough. Here’s seven common complaints musicians have, and how to stop having them! Practice sucks/is hard. Schedule it, make it a habit, and don’t push yourself too hard. The fewer decisions you have to make to get to the practice room, the simpler…

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Four Ways to Make Practice Easier

practice coffee book

Practice: it’s what makes us good musicians! It is also the number one thing most musicians complain about online! Why is this? Well, because practice takes discipline, and that’s hard sometimes. Here’s how to make practice easier. Make it a habit. Every semester, I choose a time every day of the week to practice. Hopefully, it’s close to the same time every day, but no matter what, I set aside…

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5 Ways to Handle Performance Anxiety

performance anxiety table waiting

Performance anxiety is basically a fact of life. I’m on my second performance degree right now, and just started my second decade as a performer, and I still get some pre-performance electricity going even for “small” performances. However, just because you’ve got some adrenaline going doesn’t have to mean you feel sick or terrified. It’s all a matter of perspective. Here’s how to feel pumped instead of petrified when you…

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5 Ways to Prepare for Important Auditions

audition nerves preparation moor

Auditions are one of those things that no musician will ever be truly finished with. Unless you’re Renee Fleming, you’re going to have to audition for stuff. So with that in mind, here’s how to prepare for an audition: Know your music. Duh. But seriously, know it forwards and backwards and in your sleep. So, know your music’s history, know its context, know its composer’s favorite color. The better you…

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7 Holiday Study Moods

holiday study mood

Winter finals are soon, as are the holidays! Combine the best of both worlds and use some holiday study moods to get you ready for everything. Pine-Scented Pals: Earl Grey, Leslie Odom Jr’s Christmas album, writing essays with your best friend. Fa la la la friendship! You can motivate each other! Solstice Scenester: Your favorite Starbucks holiday drink, sitting on that comfy velvet couch every Starbucks has, reading the most…

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4 Ways to Use Perseverance to Get What You Want

perseverance woman hands

Perseverance is probably one of the most important skills for musicians artists creative people ANYONE to have. And when I call it a skill, I mean it. It’s not a trait. There isn’t a magic switch that makes some people “more perseverant” than others. There’s simply a difference between how people rank their priorities, and how much they’re willing to do to actually make their desires a reality. A more…

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How to Handle Fear of Uncertainty

future work desk

So I realized the other day: I’m an adult. I’m like, old. In a year and half, I’ll be entering the Real World finally, and I’ll need a for-real source of income, not just my campus job. This was an uncomfortable realization, to say the least. Most musicians’ careers aren’t likely to fit the “traditional” trajectory that people imagine. That uncertainty is nerve-wracking. Here’s how we can all handle it!…

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