The Mind Over Finger Podcast - 100 Q&A with Dr. Mom: Dr. Renée-Paule Gauthier & friends

Starting point is 00:00:00 You're listening to the Mind Over Finger Podcast, episode number 100. Welcome to the Mind Over Finger Podcast, discussions on mindful music making, efficient practice, and building a purposeful career. And now, your host, violinist, teacher, and high-performance coach, Dr. Renée Paul Gaultier. Hi everyone. I hope you're doing amazingly well today. This is a very special episode for me for many reasons. First of all, if you heard the announcement, you know it's episode 100 and this is so exciting for me. Looking back at everyone who sat with me to share their wisdom, all the tips and tricks and insights, all the many wonderful stories. I just feel such gratitude

Starting point is 00:01:01 and wonder and so much joy. So I definitely feel like reaching 100 episodes is cause for a huge celebration. Today is also the finale of the third season. And this one was so fun for me because I not only talked with musicians about practicing and performing, but I also had experts on mindfulness and wellness come and talk to us about modalities that can enhance our music-making experience. And finally, this episode is very, very special because it's a little bit of a treat for myself and for my kids. As you can imagine, I talk a lot about the Mind Over Finger podcast with my family. My husband and kids hear about it at the dinner table, during our daily walks, or our weekend park adventures. So you can imagine that my kids are very curious about the process

Starting point is 00:02:00 and they like to hear about all of the things I talk about and all of the people I talk with. And during one of our conversations, one of them, I don't remember which one, suggested that I should have them on the podcast again. Some of you might remember their first appearance at the end of episode 13, and two years definitely makes a big difference. It was a highlight for them to make that first appearance, and they definitely thought it was a good idea to repeat the experience. Now, you should know this. My kids are really cute, so it's really hard for me to say no. And the more I thought about it, the more I thought it could be a very sweet way for me to celebrate the closure of a third season and the fact that the podcast has now reached three digits in episode numbers. So here we are today. I'm the guest on my very own podcast, and Aiden and Evelyn will be your hosts.

Starting point is 00:03:02 They have devised their very own questions without my help, and I was really impressed with how on point they were. They also wanted to take me through a round of rapid fire questions, and it gave me a taste of how not so easy to answer those questions are. So it's a short but fun and I think cute conversation that I hope you will enjoy. But before we head there, there are a couple of things I want to share with you. it's the end of season three but there are some really fun special episodes ahead all throughout the summer I'll be having live Q&A sessions in the Mind Over Finger Tribe Facebook group with

Starting point is 00:03:43 fantastic guests and those conversations will be released on YouTube and as podcast episodes throughout the summer we already had a conversation with pianist Konstantin Sukovitsky which will be coming out soon and you can still send your questions and show up for the live recordings of my discussions with violinist Callum Smart, trumpet player Christopher Still, guitar player Brendan Jack Acker, and a few more surprises. Those conversations are going to happen the first Thursday of every month in the Mind Over Finger Tribe Facebook group, so join us there throughout the summer. Also, I want to remind you that the doors for the Music Mastery Experience, my highly personalized group coaching program, are open for enrollment. This program is for you

Starting point is 00:04:33 if you're a musician looking to reach a level of mindful practice that will shift your relationship with practicing, performing, and creating career opportunities. If you want to walk in the practice room without ever experiencing hesitation and doubt, if you want to feel empowered as you practice, if you want more results and you want to perform optimally time after time, you have to join the Music Mastery Experience. The program starts June 1st and it's going to give you all the tools you need to unleash all of your potential. I designed this program to be the solution to your problems and to be the catalyst for incredible things in your life. You're going to practice effectively and enjoy it. You're going to feel empowered and free in performance

Starting point is 00:05:23 and you're going to have the tools to create the musical life you want. All of the details of the program are at mindoverfinger.com slash mme. So head there, take a look and book your free conversation today because the program is already filling up. Let's talk about your dreams, your goals, what's getting in the way, and how we're going to remove all of the obstacles between you and where you want to be. You'll see massive changes from the start and you won't believe what you're able to accomplish by the end of the program. So go to mindoverfinger.com slash amami. Book your call and let's get you started. I like to keep the group very small and there are a limited number of spots, so let's talk and make sure there's one for you.

Starting point is 00:06:13 And of course, all of those links are going to be in the show notes for you. And now, I hope you enjoy my conversation with my beloved children, young pianists Aidan and Evelyn. Let's go to the show. This is the last episode of Season 3 of the Mind Over Finger podcast, so today we decided we would do something a tiny bit different. Yes, we are, guys, right? This is going to be fun. Yeah. I'm so glad to be with you guys today.

Starting point is 00:06:55 So do you want to say your name and how old you are? My name is Aiden, and I'm 10 years old. My name is Evie, and I'm 8 years old. Who wants to ask the first question? I can do it. Okay. We're interviewing you today. Yeah, this is going to be great.

Starting point is 00:07:12 Why do you think more people should play music? That's a great question. I think everybody should play music. first of all it's a lot of fun and it allows us to express ourself it's a really great way to relax but also i think that for children it's a really great way to develop all sorts of new skills motor skills for sure but also problem solving and for everyone i feel like music is a great way to grow as a person. What do you think is the most important thing you need to know while playing music? Another great question, Evie. What is the most important thing you need to know while

Starting point is 00:07:59 playing music? First of all, I think someone needs to know that it's important to remember why we play it, why we love it, why it's fun, and that we want to keep it fun. Now, when you're practicing, I think that we want to stay present we want to know what we're trying to accomplish and have a goal and some good strategy to solve our problems but at the same time have a lot of self-compassion and self-respect so we have a really great mindset while we play now while you perform what you want to remember is that you want to just relax in the performance not think about the things you have to do or the mistakes or the expectations of people that are listening to you. You just want to play and enjoy yourself. Why do you think mindfulness

Starting point is 00:08:54 is important while practicing music? Mindfulness is important because it's how you listen to yourself, how you perceive your movements, your physical sensation, and it also has to do with your awareness of the problems how to solve them and all of your critical thinking so because music is also a physical activity right well when we play the instrument we're moving if we are not present we can develop a lot of bad habits so the more present we are the more progress we get Okay, the first question I want to ask is, how early did you dedicate yourself to practicing music? So, I started when I was very young, because both my parents are musicians. And I would say that by the age of seven, I was already practicing very seriously with my mom, which was really helpful.

Starting point is 00:09:58 How much did you practice? oh well i don't remember exactly but i know that by the age of 9 10 11 it would be from 2 to 3 hours a day so i want to follow up on that because that's a lot of practicing so do you think this affected your success later in life and if yes by how much oh that's not that's a great question nathan um definitely i think that having my mom practice with me really helped me guide my awareness this goes really well with your question evelyn it really helped guide my awareness and make my practicing really efficient so because i was having efficient practice for a significant portion of the day i was progressing really fast and you know getting some really good habits

Starting point is 00:10:55 anchored so yes definitely having this kind of practice for that much from a young age definitely had a big part in me developing these skills um that makes me think of a question do you think that if a person like started at an older age but practiced more than you do you think that they would have more of a success, the same amount of success or less probability of success? That is a great question. You know what? It really depends on the individuals. And I'm so glad you asked that because so many people feel like they're too old to get started if they're a little bit older than I was when I started. And I have to say that I don't think it's ever too late and it's never too late to start to enjoy playing music. So I would encourage everyone, if they

Starting point is 00:11:58 don't play an instrument, but they want to, to just hop on and start. But I would say it really depends on the personality of the person, the way that they practice, the amount of mindfulness that they have when they practice, the environment that they're in, if they have a teacher that really fits their learning style. All of those things are factors in how quickly someone can develop skills on the instrument, but I think it's never too late. The next question I want to ask you is how nervous do you get when playing on stage in front of like a whole crowd of people? Hmm, that's a good question. And also this changes from time to time. Sometimes I get not very nervous and other times I get really nervous. So that's why it's really interesting for me to understand my thoughts and understand what I can do when I prepare to minimize the nervousness and the stress. So that's why I spent so much time researching how to prepare better and how to understand my thoughts and how to develop mental strength so that I can be as comfortable and free as possible on stage.

Starting point is 00:13:24 Great. What would you advise people that do get nervous on stage and how to calm down when they're feeling that pressure? How to cope with that? You guys really are my children. That's a great question, Evie. So I would say really good preparation is important to plan ahead of time, to be very mindful. Of course, they can work with me and I'll teach them all of those things, right? To get used to performing a lot so they can perform for their friends and their family or some colleagues and learn some mind management tools like visualization and meditation, all of these things. That was a really great question,

Starting point is 00:14:19 Evie. Thank you. How about a round of rapid fire question? What is a habit that you have and that you think contributed to your success? I think it was consistency. At first, it was consistency that my mom established for me and I think I just continued to have that. So I like to plan for things and I like to create incentives for me to keep showing up and I just go in and I do the work. So I think consistency. All right. What doubts or resistance have you had to face on your journey to success yes lots of doubts and lots of resistance and that's what I want people to know is that everybody will be facing doubts and resistance and that's the most amazing part of the growth so I would say what doubts if I'm to be specific here I mean I think there's

Starting point is 00:15:19 always the doubt of not being good enough of failing of people not liking your playing you know. And so I think that we all need to remember what our purpose is, why we do this, why we love it. And we just have to keep showing up, keep the consistency going, and just accept the doubts and the resistance as part of the journey, as part of the learning process. What skills do you think young musicians studying today should acquire in addition to learning to play their instruments? That's a hard one to answer because after 98 episodes and my other guests had so many wonderful answers that I'm having a hard time thinking of one that is different. And I don't know if this one was said, but I think that developing the ability to play

Starting point is 00:16:17 another instrument is really helpful. It's something that's going to complement the playing of your main instrument. It's going to help you understand other aspects of music making. Maybe you'll be reading a different key or maybe you're going to learn about phrasing a different way. So I would say learning a different instrument. Is there a performance that has stayed with you throughout the years and why? Absolutely. I mean there's many of course but I will forever remember a tour that i did with a youth orchestra when i was a teenager and we were playing um firebird by stravinsky in a church and there's a space between two movement where the one of the movement ends very soft and the next one starts with this huge chord that's really

Starting point is 00:17:09 loud everyone in the orchestra plays it and it was so loud and it took everybody by surprise not just the audience but even some people in the orchestra we kind of jumped because we were so surprised and in that moment I really knew that that's what I wanted to do for a living so that's it was just so cool to be surrounded by this sound and you know we were smiling at each other and just having such a great time and it's kind of during that concert that I was thinking this is so cool that's what I need to do for the rest of my life do you have a favorite tool in the practice room I have several but definitely the metronome I love the metronome you guys know that right yeah yes and you know just as well that I don't like it it's okay it's pretty it's

Starting point is 00:18:01 pretty cool how it can completely control your rhythm yeah absolutely so I really like the metronome i like my phone so i can record myself but i feel like the metronome helps us we can use it so many ways and you know maybe the two of you don't know that but the people listening should know that i do have a metronome guide that they can download on my website at mindoverfinger.com and you can use a metronome to learn quickly and learn so deeply in a beautifully organized way and very creative as well very creative and also i feel like um i think it was leila yusifovic who said that in her first episode on the podcast which was episode 82 i think and she was talking about how the metronome is a wonderful straitjacket but when you escape it it feels so free and i

Starting point is 00:18:55 think that it's true because the metronome kind of forces you to keep a very strict pace but But when you are developing this inner strong pace and you can turn off the metronome and have a beautiful organic rubato while keeping a strong inner beat and an inner pulse, then you're playing is so beautiful. So I would say the metronome. How do you maintain peak form while juggling family life, a busy schedule and a large list of repertoire? Yeah, well, these days I have a less large list of repertoire because of COVID. But in the non-COVID time, I would say definitely my Google Calendar. So I really plan when I can practice, what I need to practice, and I keep that organized and planned really carefully.

Starting point is 00:19:46 So that's how. So I make sure that I have time to practice what's needed and also time to practice my technique and really make sure that I maintain my skills by keeping time for scales and etudes and drills. so I would say scheduling. All right mama in conclusion what's a quick actionable tip listeners can implement today in their musical lives? Okay it's very difficult to choose because there are so many wonderful little things that could make practicing so much more efficient and more fun but I'll give one of my favorite which is to do something that I called record reflect

Starting point is 00:20:30 refine and that's a term I borrowed from someone so you take a passage only a few measures something very short you record it as as if you were performing it you listen to it and you try to identify what you like what you don't like about it and what's an easy thing that you could fix right away and then you just play it again you record it and then you do the same thing And then I would recommend do this a couple times more, maybe three, four times, but not keep going because what happens at times is when we start recording ourselves, we fall into this perfectionism trap and then we get very critical of ourselves and this is when we get very negative. So we take that passage, we record it a few times, and when we feel like we were able to maybe improve one thing, we can move on. So that's one of my favorite things to do. Thank you for listening to the last episode of Season 3 of the Mind Over Finger podcast.

Starting point is 00:21:36 This was super fun. And I was so glad that I could join Mommy and do this fun little thing for the last episode of Season 3. And this is where usually episodes end. And I thank my guests, but I guess today I was the guest, so I'm going to thank my hosts. Thank you so much, Aiden, and thank you so much, Evie. I'm so happy that we could sit down and have some fun together doing this. Thank you guys so much for listening. I hope you enjoyed this conversation with Aiden and Evelyn.

Starting point is 00:22:20 I want to thank you all for being with me for three seasons, for all of your kind words of support, for letting me know how much the podcast has been valuable, even life-changing for you, and for being such a great audience. I send you all the best. I'm excited about the tribe sessions this summer. And trust me, I have incredible guests already lined up for you for season four.

Starting point is 00:22:49 So that's it for today. Again, thank you. And a bientot!

The Mind Over Finger Podcast - 100 Q&A with Dr. Mom: Dr. Renée-Paule Gauthier & friends

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.