What is musician mindset?

Musician mindset is the conversation around the space in which music shows up for us, distinct from the practical or theoretical conversations around music.

Living in a mode of surviving every lesson, gig, rehearsal, recording session or performance, we often collapse two very distinct concepts: music and our interpretation of music.  By teasing out what beliefs we have attached to music and separating them from what music actually is, we then have the power to deal with whatever shows up in the actions that we take.

Often these beliefs are so ingrained in our concept of music, that we don’t even consider them to be beliefs.  If you have ever said any of the following phrases, you are in the habit of collapsing music with your interpretation of music:

“______ is hard to play!”

“I will never be a master.”

“It’s impossible to make a career in music.”

“I don’t write good songs.”

“I don’t have time to practice as much as I need to.”

These are beliefs in which many musicians exist without being distinguished as a belief.  Imagine, for example, describing water to a fish.  For a being that has only experienced being in water, there is nothing to distinguish water from not-water.  So are we, as musicians, experiencing music in a context that we have created without knowing that we exist in that context, because we know nothing different.

Musician mindset is an inquiry into the nature of this context, its source, and whether it is in alignment with what we, as individual musicians, want for ourselves and our communities.

Once we have distinguished this context, we can begin to deal powerfully with it.

How is this different from lessons?

Lessons, in the traditional paradigm, often focus on learning the practical skills necessary in doing a particular thing, whether it’s playing an instrument, composition, or another skill.  The teacher will deconstruct a concept, and provide the student with a task to do that will have them practice using that concept.  Learning the skills of a musician is undoubtedly a vital part of being a musician.

Musician mindset is the practice of distinguishing what is coming up for the student in taking on those actions such that they are not showing the desired progress.  

Musician mindset is the inquiry into what obstructions are already on the foundation upon which we build our skills as a musician.  By identifying what shows up for the musician in making music, it allows that musician to have power over it, and create an environment of ease in which the skills can show up with velocity and joy.

Will this make me a better musician?

In a word, yes, but I’m inviting you to consider that “better” does not exist.  It only exists as a comparison to where you are now.  You will never be better, because the moment your skills improve, “better” will still be beyond your ability.  Better is a moving goalpost that is perpetually just out of reach.

Ask yourself, would you want to be a better musician, or would you want to be the ideal version of your musical self?  Who would that musician be?  What kinds of skills does that musician have, and how do they play?  Does your obsession with being “better” help you or hinder you in actually being the musician you want to be?

This work will make you exactly the musician that you choose to be.  Results are a direct consequence of action (or, inaction), and this work will empower you to take the actions that will have you being the musician that you say you are.