The Mind Over Finger Podcast - 116 Stand in the Gap – Try it at Home with Dr. Gauthier

Episode Date: January 21, 2022

Ways to expand our horizons as musicians, artists, and humans. "Our work as artists and as citizens in the world is to literally stand in the gap." -  Vijay Gupta, Mind Over Finger Podcast Episode 115   Welcome to the first episode of this try it at home series!  In those episodes, you will get suggestions on how you can take the actionable tip from the latest interview of the Mind Over Finger Podcast, try it at home, and make it your own!  Let's unpack this awesome wisdom together and apply it in our lives.  And: just for you, I've created a free resource that has all the steps I'm about to share.  Download it here to follow along and continue the reflection after the episode.  You can also find the link at mindroverfinger.com/resources.   This week: the wisdom of violinist and citizen-artist, Vijay Gupta Catch Vijay's conversation with me on the Mind Over Finger Podcast in episode 115  

You're listening to the Mind Over Finger podcast, episode number 116. This is a Try It At Home short. 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 for musicians, Dr. Rene Paul Gaultier. Hi, everyone. Welcome to the first episode of this Try It At Home series. If you've been listening to the Mind Over Finger podcast for a while, you know that in each episode, I ask my guests to share an actionable tip. They're always so great. And in this series,

I offer some suggestions on how you can take the tip from the latest interview, try it at home, and make it your own. Let's unpack this awesome wisdom together and apply it in our lives. Let's start by revisiting last week's advice from violinist and citizen artist Vijay Gupta. You know, my wife Reena has a series of episodes that she records every week, you know, in a little series called Resonant Space. And one of her recent episodes was about an experience listening to a concert of new music and she kind of lost track of who the composer was at what time in the piece, you know, what time in the concert.

And as she was listening, she had kind of, you know, she talks about this very sensitively, kind of made this sort of snap judgments around the pieces based on how she knew the people, right? And so often I find myself in this really dark place, whether I'm like doom scrolling through Instagram or YouTube or whatever, being like, ah, that player, or there's that person, and I don't like the way they play, so I'm not even going to listen to that thing. Or it's kind of very, very judgmental, dark places that we go to. And this is a habit I'm trying to cultivate within myself, and I'm not good at it, and I'm saying it as a way of encouraging myself to get

better at it, is listen to people who you disagree with, right? Listen to people who make you feel angry or make you feel, God, even jealous or all those things that come up, right? Because the reaction is not about that person. The reaction is always about you, right? And if you're able to sit in the reaction for long enough, you learn something, right? You learn something about someone you disagree with, you know, and then you also put yourself in their shoes and wonder, well, could I have played it or done it or said it or acted it any better than they did? And I think that's actually what humanizes us, right? So I would say spend a good amount of time engaging with people who you disagree with. And I think this is not only about violin playing. I think

this is about the world we live in, period, right? I spent 12 years going back and forth between Disney Hall and Skid Row, often several times a day. And sometimes I would go to Beverly Hills or Pasadena for a donor meeting and then go straight to Skid Row and be in a county prison or a, you know, a county jail and be meeting with people on radically opposite sides of the world and realizing that people hurt and ache the same way. People laugh and find joy the same way, right? There's so much more that connects us than disconnects us. And our work as artists and as citizens in the world is to literally stand in the gap, right? To imagine like the the poles, like the fact that our string is stretched between like the bridge and, you know,

and the tailpiece and the end of the fingerboard, like we need to literally stretch across those points of tension and really hold tension for the string to resonate. I feel like there's a metaphor there of how we can be in the world if we are engaging on those two poles of agree or disagree, right? Because the truth is always somewhere in the middle and the truth is where we make the music. What a powerful tip that can create deep changes in all aspects of our lives. And if you've listened to the conversation, you know that this one left me speechless for a minute. So let's try this in the practice room and in our lives this week. I've created a free resource for you that has all the steps I'm about to share, so download it to follow along and continue the

reflection after the episode. You'll find the link in the show notes or at mindoverfinger.com slash resources. So here we go. First, pay attention to the things that create a dissonance in you at work, at home, and in the practice room, and see how you can learn from them. When you feel a reaction to a person's words or actions, to something you hear, something you see, try what Vijay recommends and sit in the reaction. Stay with it long enough to learn from it. Then, observe your reaction and start asking yourself questions. What feeling am I experiencing right now? How does that show up in my body?

Why am I feeling this way? What am I thinking that makes me feel this way? Finally, start to explore the other person's perspective or whatever stimuli you're exposed to from a neutral place. And once again, ask yourself questions. In what ways is this valid? Where are they coming from? Why are they saying or doing those things?

in what ways could they be right? How can I learn from this? What would that look like if I tried this in my life? Here are some specific examples of what that could look like. In your everyday life, try to bypass the confirmation bias next time you hear something you disagree with. Do some research and try to see what evidence you can find to support the opinion opposite yours. And by evidence, I mean real data, numbers, information from reliable, objective, nonpartisan sources. When you read something written by someone you strongly disagree with, can you try to put yourself in their shoes for a moment? Where do you think they're coming from?

What shared values or common roots might you have with them? is there room for nuance in your opinion try to catch yourself next time you're about to make a snap judgment or when you feel yourself very rigidly tied to an opinion in the practice room pick a passage to experiment and have some fun with maybe the opening statement of the piece you're working on, something easy to find to make it easy on you logistically. Then find five recordings of it and listen to that passage. What are some of the general differences you notice? For each recording, identify things you like and things you don't like. Try to understand what makes you like or dislike something. Why do you think the musician plays it this way?

What was their intention? What are they trying to communicate? Then pick your instrument and try a lot of different things, both things you agree with and disagree with. What new insights are you getting from this exercise? Anything surprising? Finally, here's how this could look like at rehearsal. Next time you sit in a rehearsal and a conductor or a colleague

makes a request or suggestion that you disagree with, catch yourself before you start rolling your eyes and dismiss it. If you stayed open-minded, what could you appreciate about this idea? What possibly could be valid about this perspective? Even if you disagree completely with it? What would it look like, sound like, and feel like to play it with 100% commitment? Do you think that this is something that could grow on you eventually? Of course, we can extrapolate this concept to any activity or any area of our lives. And not only can we welcome those moments of dissonance when they happen, but why not seek them? Why not ponder on where the discomfort is and go there? Explore. Seek out different opinions

and different point of views, different interpretations. Re-evaluate what we've always done and try new things. And the goal is not to make us start doubting ourselves and second-guessing everything, but to allow us to take in different perspectives in order to make an intentional decision about things rather than stay stuck in our usual defaults. I'm going to borrow Vijay's words one more time because I think he said it so beautifully. There's a metaphor there of how we can be in the world if we are engaging in those two poles of agree or disagree. Because the truth is always somewhere in the middle. And the truth is where we make the music. So that's it for today. If you haven't had the chance yet, catch my conversation with Vijay Gupta in episode 115.

It's an incredibly inspiring conversation where we discuss his multifaceted holistic career, his role as citizen artist, his meaningful approach to bringing a work to life, his advice on how to serve our own communities as musicians, his definition of success and how he goes about creating the best version of himself, and so much more. Don't forget to share this episode with everyone you think might benefit from this insight and tag me so I can say hi. I'm Mind Over Finger everywhere. You can find all the information related to this episode, including the free resource in the show notes or by visiting mindoverfinger.com. While there, explore the resources about efficient practice, performance preparation,

and mindful music making, and find information on how you can work with me. Thank you guys so much for listening, and à bientôt! Thank you.