Super interesting! I feel like I could play most of my music with my eyes closed. It does help me to stay engaged with the music and keep me from being distracted. I’m still working on gauging the right balance between this, glancing because of a difficult change, and looking at the audience to keep a connection.

Hi Noa 😃 Thanks for replying!

You know what, that actually was my first theory about it! That, maybe, there was too much information in the higher end of the spectrum, it would bother me and, as a result, make me stray from the path. But it kind of echoes to what Molly was saying about overstimulation as well…

I have heard about that movie but haven’t watched it yet. Now that you mention it, I will most definitely do 🙏

By the way, would you happen to know if that overstimulation thing is only from an auditory perspective or is it the sum of all of our senses? Because the most succesfull concert I have played (and there are not many), I played them with my eye shut almost all the way through. Same thing when I practice, I can see that closing my eyes makes me perform better, I just had a try. So far, I thought that was because when I watch my hands, sooner or later I’ll eventually start second-guess myself. But maybe it’s just that closing my eyes allow me to reduce stimuli… Do you have an opinion on that?

Also, I suffer from tinnitus, that I can mostly ignore due to being used to them now, but in certain situation, I can also experience hyperacusis on certain frequencies. I’m wondering how this could potentially have an impact on overstimulation, even though I don’t consciously feel bothered when I play…

Hi Molly! I was like, “Molly Gebrian… why does that name ring a bell?!” Of course you are THE Molly Gebrian “from Youtube” 😃 I watched your videos last year after taking the summer course with Noa. You all triggered a serious interest in understanding more about neuroplasticity applied to skill acquisition. I’m currently reading a book you may have heard of: “Anyone can play music” by Josh Turknett who used to be a neurologist/neuroplastician. All that stuff is soooo darn cool! Anyway, thank you so much for your super helpful videos, you’re great!

Now, about your experience… It’s actually super interesting and it really makes me wonder… Altough I don’t think I’m neurodivergent, I can relate to what you’re saying, about being overstimuled. For example, when I perform, I use a PA or at least an amplifier. Which I never do at home. I came to the conclusion that listening to myself louder might disturb me by making me feel more self-aware. Therefore I started practicing…

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Hi everyone! Alright, this one is gonna sound random, but there’s something I’ve been noticing for a few years now. Some time ago, I would sit in my studio, because I needed to record new material (that was meant to go public at some point, so always triggering some nerves). I would put on my headphones, do the setup etc. But sometimes I would get the feedback of the mics through my headphones, sometimes I would have none (like before I’m finished setting up everything but would start playing anyway, because my mind has seen a butterfly!). I always felt that I was playing my best when I had the headphones on with no feedback, therefore listening to a muffled and quieter sound out of my guitar…

Today, as I was practicing my performance skills (trying to focus on anticipatory auditory, trying my pre-shot routine, etc.), I was not 100% happy with what was coming out from my instrument. I could feel the pressure, my playing would be tense and quirky at times, my mind…

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Hi Nora. Your english is great! I’m no native speaker either 😉

Thank your for your time. I’m well aware learning is a never ending adventure. I’m just a step away from being satisfied of my performances, but I know it doesn’t mean I’m playing flawlessly. It seems I kinda accepted minor errors or inaccuracies in my music, even though I practice in order to get rid of them. I will have a look about the book you recommended, I never heard about it.

I also recently started including slots of practice in my weekly schedule, with reminders. I’ve always had a problem with discipline, so I’m hoping it’ll fix it.

Have a good week!

Thank you so much for you detailed reply Nora, I really appreciate it.

I know I don’t perform as much as I would like, but it’s mainly due to the fact that I struggle to get gigs. I’ve been thinking about online live for a while now, I should start.

Your work about cues and script is interesting, I have to explore the idea to see if I can implement it because I don’t work with sheet music nor tablature at all, I do everything by ear and memorization, so I have no visual support for my music.

I’m trying to get more self-compasionnate as well. I can see where I made progress and sometimes I’d be full of hope thinking “you’re almost there, you just have to fix this one thing”, but some other times I’d feel helpless and hopeless thinking that I still haven’t been able to fix it after all these years. I wish there was a shortcut as you said, and it might actually the source of my problem when I think about it. Maybe I’m too much of a “I need someone to give me the key” guy whereas…

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Hi Noa and thank you for your insight. I always end up catching my wandering mind but it sometimes can go on for 20 seconds before I do so. I do have to practice getting back on track quicker.

I tried meditation too but I would often just fall asleep when I do it, which does relax me but isn’t so useful for the focus enhancement haha. Do you have any resources?

Hi everyone,

I’ve been a member for a year now, I followed the summer course last year and found a lot of very helpful informations that helped me to build better practicing habits, and to get a better understanding of how everything works altogether. So first of all, thank you Noa.

However, I must admit that I have still not fixed my biggest issue, which I would call : losing connection mid-performance. I’m using these words because I still don’t understand if it’s a proper memory slip or something else.

These translates by either getting :

– a sudden doubt on what’s coming next and playing something wrong or

– wandering for too long in thoughts that have nothing to do with my music and coming back to the moment with a bit of anxiety or

– becoming to aware of my surroundings and getting a spike of stress from it (like when I notice that someone starts recording me)

All of these things producing the same result : turning me into a chimp falling down a tree desperately trying…

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