The Mind Over Finger Podcast - 234 Clear the Block – 5 Mistakes That Derail Even Smart Musicians

Episode Date: July 28, 2025

This episode explores five common practice pitfalls that can quietly sabotage your progress — and how to overcome them with clarity and confidence. ·         Why self-awareness is key to real growth ·         How to set a plan that aligns with your goals ·         The role of time management in building momentum ·         When learning becomes avoidance ·         How to build self-trust and stay focused   If you're ready to hit the ground running come September, Practicing for Peak Performance is your blueprint. This step-by-step course gives you the exact system to practice smarter, perform with confidence, and build unstoppable momentum. Enroll this summer and get bonus access to The Performance Anxiety Solution — free. Start now at http://www.mindoverfinger.com/ppp.    Join Practicing for Peak Performance HERE Grab your free Joyful Practice Guide 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.

You're listening to the Mind Over Finger podcast. This is episode 234. This is the sixth episode of your Reset and Rise summer series. Today, we're shifting into a new phase of the journey. We're clearing the path. This episode is about becoming aware of the hidden patterns and habits that might be holding you back, even when you're doing everything right. 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. Hello there, and welcome back to your Reset and Rise summer series. I'm so glad you're here. This episode is part of a special 10-episode journey I created just for you this summer to help you reignite your spark, rethink your practice, and show up with more clarity, confidence, and joy. Each episode builds on the last, so if you're just joining us, feel free to hop back to episode 229 and catch up. The series follows a clear arc. We start with reigniting your joy and connection to music.

Then we move into mindset tools like alignment, patience, and self-compassion to bring more ease and clarity to your work. After that, we clear away hidden obstacles. And finally, we wrap up with powerful tools to help you manage your mind and build real momentum. And if you're ready to go even deeper, check out my course, Practicing for Peak Performance. It's your full blueprint for performance success. And when you join this summer, you're going to get my Performance Anxiety Solution course for free. All the details are at mindoverfinger.com and the link is in the show notes.

All right, ready to reset and rise? Let's dive in. Hi, everyone. I hope you're doing incredible. Jean from New Jersey sent me a question asking what were some of the most common mistakes I see musicians make. And I thought it was a really interesting question because I usually like to share with you the things that I think are wonderful to try and experiment with the things that work for me and my clients and my guests. But I don't talk as much about mistakes per se, because there's no black and white. There has to be so much room for nuance on every topic. So I don't necessarily like to label something as quote unquote a mistake. But I think it's great to sometimes maybe just point out some of the

things that could not work as well. So things to notice when we do them and make sure that they are serving us best in that moment. I came up with a list of 10 common mistakes I see musicians engage in and I will share them with you over the next two episodes. Those are the things I see over and over the struggles several of us have as musicians. And I call this the mistakes smart musicians make because I believe everybody, every musician at some point or another, regardless of their level, has engaged in this or engages in it right now or will engage in it in the future. And that's just because we're humans and that's bound to happen. After all my years of teaching and coaching and my experience as a performer myself, taking and winning auditions, playing high stakes

performances, I still do those things from time to time. But I have noticed that the awareness of these behaviors, when we catch ourselves engaging in them, does affect our results positively. Some of those are going to be pretty obvious to you. You've heard me talk about them before at some point in an episode or in a live video. But I think some of them are going to take you by surprise. They're not necessarily going to be what you're expecting. And again, this is not a finger pointing episode. We all do that stuff. It's so normal. And those are behaviors that really come from good intentions. They might even serve us at time. There's a million reasons why we do them. And we're going to explore those topics later in the season, why we do what we do, the

reasons behind it, how the way we think affects how we feel, the things we do, and subsequently our results. But for now, I want to bring those mistakes or behaviors, for lack of better words, to your attention simply so you can notice when they happen and if they are helpful, if they support you in what you're trying to do. Oftentimes, by only noticing what is happening, we get clarity that informs us so well. So here we go. Have fun with them. 10 mistakes smart musicians make and how to avoid them. Number one, not meeting yourself where you are. Byron Katie says, when you fight reality, you lose, but only every time. And I love that because, well, it's true. We can expend energy and emotions wishing things were different. We can have all

sorts of anguish about how things should be different and we wish this and that had not happened. But when we let go of all of this and we stop wasting energy fighting reality and hating on ourselves, we can really start to assess what is, look at what we want and start planning for what's next. It's wonderful to have goals and to aim to go somewhere and accomplish things. But you can only start where you are. So please have so much love and so much respect for yourself, for all the actions you took that got you where you are. Honestly assess where you are with self-respect and no judgment. Decide where you want to be and plan on how to get there from here. And remember what I shared in episode 142 and 143, have patience and gratitude for yourself. This is going to be

much more powerful in getting you where you want to be. Mistakes number two, not having a plan. or perhaps a better way to say this is not having clarity on your plan. Did you really take the time to think about what it is that you want? Or are you just going along the beaten path, following what's been done before or what someone said you should do? Take the time to explore your wishes, your desires. It might sound tacky, but allow yourself to contemplate what you really dream about and see what are some ways that it would be possible, even if it sounds crazy, even if someone tells you it's not possible. By the way, I give you guidance on how to do this in episode 136 and 137. So go through these episodes. And once you have an idea of what those things are that you

want, look into what a possible course of action is. Establish a timeline and take action. And a good plan will usually have a clearly established goal and a draft of the timeline for the milestones along the way. Don't be afraid to be detailed. There's a caveat though. The other end of this spectrum is having too rigid of a plan. It's totally okay to have a very ambitious plan and it's great to be resourceful and show grit in accomplishing it, but always remain aware that you're not locking yourself into something that does not serve you and remain flexible to what comes along. Where the balance is, I don't know, but that's the wonderful thing about this adventure that we call life. We get to find out along the way. So allow yourself to dream and draft a plan.

Okay, mistake number three, not managing your time. I consider myself someone who's really well organized and gets a lot done. And that's one thing I often hear from other musicians who successfully juggle many things in their careers. If you caught episode 144, Wu Han talks about it. Strategic planning. If you haven't already, make sure to catch our conversation because there's a lot of inspiration to get out of how she manages her time. So consider your priorities, your many activities, how you like to operate and find a system that works for you to manage your time. Of course, I have an episode for you when it comes to that. I talk about the way I organize my schedule in episode 137. So that could be a good place to start for you if you want some

inspiration when it comes to that. But really finding your best way of operating will come as you experiment with it. We can talk about it in terms of strategic planning or time management, but figuring out what you want to do, what you have to do, when it has to get done, how it's going to get done, how much time it's going to require, planning for it, and putting that in writing somewhere will help you be really productive. Again, don't try to push yourself into a format that won't work for you. Always respect your way of operating. Number four, under-consuming and over-consuming. And what I'm talking about here is consumption of knowledge. Do you ever do that? You start a new piece, you put the music on the stand, you pick up the instrument or sit at

the keyboard or pick up your mallets or you do whatever it is that you do with whatever instrument you play and you just jump in and you play and you move and you make sound. And when things don't work, you just repeat over and over again. Now, you've heard me talk about mind over finger many times, and I will shamelessly plug yet one more episode of the podcast, episode 141, where I talk about practicing with intention. So make sure you listen to that, but also ask yourself if you've done your homework? Did you consume enough material about this piece? What do you know about the composer, about the style, about the form? What do you know about the performance practice of this work? Have you listened to several recordings where you get contrasting

artistic opinions? Did you have a chance to look at the orchestra score? Now, with the internet, it's so incredible to have access to so many editions of public domain music. Did you hop on IMSLP and check out different editions with different notation and fingerings and markings? Do you know what technical requirements are in the piece? Have you looked into exercises, drills, or similar repertoire that could help you refine your skills to play this piece? All right, you get the idea. Make sure you do your homework and that you embark on the journey of learning a new piece with a grocery cart already containing some ingredients to help you turn it into a great dish. Now, the opposite behavior, over-consuming, does not serve you

better. Falling into a rabbit hole of information, an overdose of information that leads us to confusion. Many of us also use that, often subconsciously, as a way to not move forward, to not take action, right? I can't practice this passage until I've decided on a fingering, but I'm looking at these seven additions that are laying in front of me and they all have valid options and I just can't decide. You've been there too, correct? Well, sometimes you just have to pick one and move forward. So be mindful that you have what you need without stuffing yourself. and notice if you under consume or over consume in other areas as well. Be aware when you're depriving yourself versus when you're using too much of one thing to stall yourself. Do you have

the necessary equipment or do you burden yourself with too many gadgets? Do you refuse to invest in private lessons or do you see guidance from too many teachers? Do you refuse to keep a practice journal? Or is your journal so elaborate that it makes you not want to practice because using it is so burdensome? Once again, it's all about finding the balance that works for you by exploring. Now, this last one is a big one. Noticing this pattern of behavior alone could completely change how you practice and the results you get. Mistake number five smart musicians make is not trusting yourself. After you listen to this episode, let me know if you recognize yourself in this one. You're working on something. It's not happening fast enough. So you go on a quest

to find yet another drill, the magic formula that someone else has somewhere. Maybe you go looking for it on YouTube, on Instagram, on a blog, in a book, you call a friend, you book a lesson, but for sure you have exhausted all the ways to work on that thing and you don't know what the solution is. You look outside of yourself. Does that ever happen to you? Believe me, you're not alone. But what if you had within you what's needed to solve any problem you're facing right now? Of course, there are for sure things we don't know and we need guidance on. But lack of trust will more often than not be the biggest obstacle to your own progress.

And anything can lead to that. It can be that we feel that we're not good enough yet, that we don't know enough yet, that if we didn't know more, we would learn faster. If we were better, we would learn faster. We get impatient. And all of this makes us doubt our own ability to find solutions, to solve problems, to figure things out. One of the most common traits I see in musicians that operate at what would be considered the highest levels of a professional career is this incredible ability they have for introspection, to look within, to evaluate, to assess, to process what they hear, what they see, what they feel, what they experience physically,

to analyze intellectually both the data on the page and what's happening to them in their attempt at the execution of the music. And you can do that too. If you pause, if you gather all of your patience, and if you give yourself a chance, if you made the decision, because it's absolutely something you can decide. So if you make the decision to trust yourself and see what happens when you believe you can find solutions, I think you might just amaze yourself. So reclaim that power you have over your own progress. Don't hand the responsibility over to yet another YouTube video. Analyze what's going on. Decide on one thing you want to try to fix. See how that worked. tweak if necessary, try again, assess those results, try something else, take information

from within, and continue to experiment with presence, with patience, with curiosity, with wonder, and with determination. I really, truly think you'll be surprised. At the risk of sounding cheesy, I'll say that in the practice room, it's often like what Glinda says in The Wizard of Oz, you've always had the power, my dear. You just had to learn it yourself. And yes, of course, as I said, sometimes help is wonderful and necessary. I'm not saying you shouldn't get it, but don't make that your default mode. you'll see how much faster you progress when you really empower yourself in the practice room it's

truly magical so try this this week in your musical life or in your life at large meet yourself where you are think about where you want to be and draft a clear plan on how the journey there could possibly unfold think of ways to manage your time that would feel doable and comfortable for you notice where you under consume and where you over consume and think of how to re-establish a balance that would serve you and trust yourself to find solutions and as you experiment with those things ask yourself those powerful questions if my success was inevitable and i could not fail what would I go for? If I knew that I have the insight to come up with the best plan for myself what would it look like? If I knew the answer, the solution to this problem, what would it be?

If I knew I can't mess it up, what would I try next? So that's what I have for you this week. Try it for size, and don't forget to reach out and let me know if this has been helpful. 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. Thank you for watching!