The Mind Over Finger Podcast - 220 Practice Isn't Enough – The Real Reason Your Performances Feel Inconsistent

Episode Date: March 27, 2025

You're putting in the work, but something's not clicking when it counts. Why does your playing still feel inconsistent—even though you're practicing hard? In this episode, I'm bringing two essential mindset and training shifts to the forefront—because these are the mistakes that keep talented musicians stuck, and the changes that help them finally break through. We'll cover: Why "more practice" isn't the answer if you're still struggling under pressure The missing piece in most musicians' practice routines The real reason confidence feels out of reach—and how to start building it How to stop waiting to "feel ready" and start showing up like the musician you want to become If you're ready to move past stuck and into solid, confident performances—this one's for you.   If you're ready to step on stage with confidence, perform at your best, and finally feel secure in your playing, let's talk! Book a free discovery call and let's create a plan to get you there. Are you ready to take your playing and career to the next level and create a life that feels purposeful and joyful? Let's connect and explore how personalized coaching can support your journey. Click here to schedule your free consultation, and let's start turning your goals into reality.   Book your free consultation with Renée HERE Download the transcript from this episode HERE   Mind Over Finger Click www.mindoverfinger.com/coaching to book your free consultation with me. Visit MindOverFinger.com for my online courses as well as free resources on peak performance. Grab my free workshops and PDF downloads by going to www.mindoverfinger.com/resources. Connect: https://www.youtube.com/@MindOverFinger https://www.facebook.com/mindoverfinger/ https://www.facebook.com/groups/mindoverfinger https://www.instagram.com/mindoverfinger/     THANK YOU: Most sincere thank you to composer Jim Stephenson who graciously provided the show's musical theme:  Concerto #1 for Trumpet and Chamber Orchestra – Movement 2: Allegro con Brio, performed by Jeffrey Work, trumpet, and the Lake Forest Symphony, conducted by Jim Stephenson.

Does this sound familiar? You show up, you care, you put in the work. But when it really counts on stage, in audition, under pressure, it feels like what you practiced doesn't quite show up with you in performance. You maybe leave the stage disappointed and you're wondering, what happened? I thought I had it. Why did that fall apart? So here's what I see happen often. you go back to the practice room, you try harder, you drill the tough passages, you clock in more hours, you tell yourself next time I'm going to be better. But deep down you're wondering why does it still feel so unpredictable? If you've ever felt like you're doing everything right but you're still not getting the results you want, this episode is for you. You're listening

to the Mind Over Finger podcast, and this is episode 220. Welcome to the Mind Over Finger podcast, where we dive into the world of mindful music making, peak performance, and crafting a purpose-driven life and career. I'm your host, violinist, certified performance and life coach for Musicians, and your guide to unlocking your full potential, Dr. René-Paul Gaultier. Well, I hope you're doing great today. I have a great topic for you in this episode. Over the years, I've worked with so many musicians, and everybody wants the same thing, to perform with confidence, with consistency, and control, and to lend the opportunities that they've worked so hard for. But here's the thing. I see incredibly talented, hardworking musicians

making the same mistakes over and over again. And these mistakes, they keep them stuck. And if you recognize yourself in these, you're definitely not alone. The good news is that there's a fix for each one. And today, I'm going to share the two biggest mistakes I see musicians making in their preparation. And I'm also going to share the key shifts that are going to take you from feeling stuck to performing at your highest level. So here we go with mistake number one, which is practicing without what I call performance conditioning. As I said in the intro, you're putting in the work you're practicing for hours you're refining every phrase you're drilling all the tough spots you're making sure that every shift every articulation every dynamic

is exactly as it should be and in the practice room you sound great we all do right everything feels controlled and you think to yourself okay I got this but then you walk on stage and everything feels different. Maybe it's a recital, an audition, maybe even the lesson and things feel different. Maybe your hands feel shaky. Maybe that technical passage that you nail in the practice room feels impossible. Your mind races. So you start to second guess every note before you play it. Have you ever been there? I sure have. Your breath is short, your heart is pounding, and instead of focusing on the music, you're fighting to keep it together. So that shift that felt so good, now it feels uncertain. And that rhythm that felt rock solid, now it feels

unstable. And after it's over, you're wondering, why does this keep happening? Why can't I play as well in performance as I do in the practice room. So here's the thing, and I'm sure you've heard this before. You don't rise to the occasion. You fall to your training. Let me say it again. You don't rise to the occasion. You fall to your training. And that's true in every discipline. So if your practice does not include training your mind and your body for pressure, why would you suddenly be able to perform effortlessly, under pressure, when it matters most? Think about it. Training in the practice room and performing on stage are two completely different skill sets. And we need both.

In the practice room, you're comfortable. You're playing in a familiar environment, your studio, your home. That's your safe space. Your body is relaxed because there's no external judgment or expectation. There's no pressure. And you have unlimited do-overs. You can stop. You can restart.

You can tweak things as needed. But when you get on stage, there are no second chances. Every note counts. You're playing in an unfamiliar space with different acoustics, maybe a different piano, a different energy in the room. You can't stop and fix mistakes, and you have to keep going no matter what happens. also your body responds to the pressure to the activation of performing and if you have not trained for that it can throw you off completely and the reason so many musicians feel inconsistent in performance is because they're not prepared for that their practice hasn't trained them for the pressure of performance. So we need the practice. We need the preparation. We need to learn the material really well, really deeply. But we need to train ourselves, our mind and our body for the pressure of performance. Let's look at some examples. Imagine an Olympic athlete

preparing for a race? Do you think that they would spend all their training time just jogging on the treadmill? Would they assume that because they're fast in practice, they're going to be fast on race day? No, of course not. They prepare by simulating the exact conditions they're going to experience in the competition. They train for the real event. They replicate conditions that are similar to the ones they're going to experience on the terrain. So they train under pressure with timers, with crowds, and competitive environments. They rehearse their mental game. They visualize the race. They work on their breathing. They train their focus. They also practice responding to unexpected challenges like a bad start, a stumble, or challenging weather conditions. For example,

if they're competing in a city in high altitude, they don't spend their time training at sea level. They're going to find a location where they can experience the same physical impositions as the race site. Another example I love and that I use a lot is swimmers who do events in open water, like crossing the English Channel, for example. Yes, they practice their swimming technique in general. So they might spend time in a pool, but they don't just train in a pool. They actually get in the open waters a lot. They have to get used to the temperature, the waves, the currents, the impact of the wind, all of that.

So now let's apply that to musicians. Why do we expect ourselves to perform perfectly under pressure when our practice never includes performance conditions? This is very important and it matters because musicians feel like their playing is hit or miss when that is missing. You might sound great in the practice room. As I said, we all do. But under pressure, your body and your mind react differently. so if you want to perform with confidence you need to train for performance not just practice that is the shift that changes everything so instead of just running through your pieces over and over start training for the real conditions you're going to be performing in

train for real life so try this have many mock performances record yourself play for a friend or maybe even perform for your pet add pressure drills so what i call adversity training challenge yourself with time limits or small distractions. And train your mindset, not just your fingers. Notice how you talk to yourself in practice. Are you helping yourself or making things harder? When you train for the real performance, you stop relying on hope. Hope doesn't help. So when you train for the real performance, you start developing real confidence. And you know I have episodes on all of those things, so make sure you check out the previous episodes of the podcast where I have a lot of

resources for you on these topics. Okay, let's talk about the mistake number two, which is waiting until you feel ready before you take action. This one keeps so many musicians stuck. He's stuck on the sideline. I hear that time and time and time again. I'll do it when I feel ready. I'm going to put myself out there when I feel more confidence. I'll take that audition when I feel more prepared, when I have more time. I'm going to work on my mindset after I fix my technique. I hear this one so much. And all of that sounds reasonable.

It sounds responsible. But here's the truth. Confidence does not come from waiting. It comes from doing. So when you're waiting to feel ready, it's like waiting for the perfect weather before going outside. You're going to wait forever. That is not how life works. That's a waiting game that really holds you back.

Here's how it plays out oftentimes. Let's say you've been working on your audition excerpts for months, but when the audition posting goes up, you hesitate. What if I'm not ready yet? So you pass on it again. Or even if you do end up signing up, you don't start playing for people until really late in the preparation process because it's not ready yet. Then you miss out on all these opportunities to improve and more importantly, to practice performing. Or maybe you're thinking about recording some videos to share online, maybe even submitting for a festival, but you convince yourself that the timing isn't right. I'm going to do it when my playing is a little bit more polished. Another example is maybe you'd love to do more solo or

chamber music, but there's a voice in your head that says, I need to get my playing together first. If any of these scenarios sound familiar, you're not alone. But if it does sound familiar, the result that you get from this is that you stay in preparation mode. You're always rehearsing, always practicing, always waiting for a magical moment when everything is finally going to click into place. But here's the thing. That moment does not come until you create it. That's what I call the confidence trap. It's easy to believe that Confidence is a prerequisite to action that you have to feel ready before you take the next step. But in reality, and hear me when I say this, action builds confidence, not the other way around.

Action builds confidence, not the other way around. so taking the audition recording the video playing for people saying yes to the opportunity those are the very things that grow your belief in yourself every time you show up even if it's messy or imperfect or not ready you prove to yourself that you can handle it And that's the kind of evidence your brain needs to start trusting you more. And this is where and when you learn how to do the thing. That's when you learn how to do the thing, not in the vacuum of your practice room. So what's the alternative?

Instead of waiting to feel ready, start acting like the version of you who already has the thing you want. The version of you who already feels ready. Ask yourself, how would I show up today if I already won the job? How would I prepare if I already believed in myself? What would that version of me do next? And when you start practicing like that version of yourself, not someday, but right now, you build confidence by living into your future identity. Sounds woo-woo, but it's not.

It works. Because the truth is, the most successful musicians aren't waiting around to feel ready. They're choosing confidence first. They're choosing courage first. And then they take action from that place. And that, my friend, is what creates momentum. That's what moves your career forward. You build the confidence to do the thing by doing the thing. I'm going to say it again you build the confidence to do the thing by doing the thing so let's recap and break it down one more time if you're struggling with consistency you need to shift from practice room repetition

to performance conditioning train for the real conditions you're going to face on stage train for real life. If you're waiting to feel ready, stop waiting and start training like the musician who already has the job. Confidence is built through action, not before it. And I promise you that these two shifts are going to change how you approach your playing and ultimately how you show up when it counts. I recently worked with a client who was stuck in this exact loop. She was practicing lots, but every time she had a big performance, she felt out of control.

And we made two simple changes. She started incorporating a lot of mock performances into her practice. It took a lot of convincing, but she did it. that mean more pressure but it also meant training for the real thing and she started practicing with the identity of a musician who already had the job through coaching she learned how to do that she didn't wait for confidence to appear she trained like someone who trusted her playing she trained like someone who felt confident and that took her to a completely different headspace and she walked into her next audition feeling clear, feeling confident and in

control. That's what these shifts can do for you. So I have a challenge for you. Before your next practice session, I want you to pause for just a moment and ask yourself, am I practicing for performance? Or am I just running through things? Am I training like the musician I want to be? Or am I waiting to feel ready? And this simple check-in can completely transform your session. Here's what it could look like. Instead of starting with another slow run-through, grab your phone, press record, and pretend it's a live performance. then pay attention. What shifts? How is your body responding? What thoughts are showing up in your brain? Or another example, if you're practicing scales or excerpts,

try adding a time limit or play them after doing some jumping jacks to simulate nerves. Anything that mimics a bit of pressure and gets your brain used to focus under stress. And when you're playing a tricky section, ask yourself, how would the version of me who already won the audition approach this moment? Would they obsess over every mistake or stay focused and finish strong? Would they berate themselves or adjust, breathe, and try again? And you don't need to overhaul your whole practice routine today, but you do need to start showing up with the mindset of the musician you're becoming. So pick one small shift to make in your next session. Maybe it's recording the first run through instead of the last. Maybe it's playing

your piece for someone instead of for yourself. Or maybe it's replacing I hope this goes well with let's see what I can learn. Whatever it is, make it intentional and make it real. Because when you train this way, when you practice reflects your performance goals, everything starts to change. And if you do this every day this week, you might be amazed at the confidence that begins to build for you. And let me know how it goes. I'm cheering you on for this. and everything i talked about in this episode performance conditioning mindset training and stepping into the version of you who's ready for this stage that's exactly what i walk you through step by step inside the music mastery experience inside mme you don't just get vague advice

you get a clear proven blueprint. You're going to learn exactly how to prepare for pressure with tools like my performance conditioning framework so that when you walk into the audition room you're not hoping to play well. You're ready. Inside of Miami I'm going to guide you through the deep practice model that will get you to learn music better and faster and you're going to learn how to build confidence that actually sticks. No more second guessing yourself mid-phrase. No more unraveling after one mistake. And we do all of this with real world practical strategies. I have mental scripts to use when self-doubt creeps in. I have step-by-step prep plans for auditions and performances. And I have a training system that's going to help you show up

calm, focus, and consistent under pressure. And this is not surface level coaching. It's an immersive hands-on experience where you're going to rewire the way you approach your playing from the ground up. MME opens again very soon and spots are limited. So if you want to be the first one to know when the doors open and you want to get access to exclusive early bird perks, join the waitlist today by clicking the link in the show notes or heading to mindoverfinger.com. You don't have to keep spinning your wheels. Let's get you the clarity, the confidence, and the consistency you deserve. Your breakthrough is closer than you think, and we're going to make it happen for you. So that's what I have for you today. Thank you for spending this time with me. And remember, your next breakthrough isn't about waiting for confidence. It's about training for it. Your breakthrough isn't about waiting for confidence. It's about training for it.

All right. You've got this. Much love going your way. And à bientôt. and there you have it thank you so much for spending this time with me today if you enjoyed this episode i'd love it if you'd share with your friends and colleagues take a screenshot post it on social media and tag me i'm mind over finger everywhere i always love hearing your favorite takeaways and if you're ready to take your playing career to the next level. I'd love to invite you to join the Music Mastery Experience. This is my signature group coaching program where we're going to dive deep into building your confidence and mastery and set you up for success and fulfillment in your life and career. You can find all the details at

mindoverfinger.com. While you're there, check out the free downloads and online courses available to support your journey even further. And don't forget to subscribe to my newsletter so you never miss an update or a tool to help you thrive. Again, thank you for being here. Until next time, much love and à bientôt.