Act For Musicians

While it is widely recognized that music contributes to the health and well-being of societies, the reverse is not necessarily true. Being a professional musician is a rewarding yet challenging occupation, and the results of newer survey studies show musicians experience psychological challenges, like depression and anxiety, at much higher rates than adults in the general public. This book introduces Acceptance and Commitment Training (ACT) as an intervention for addressing some of the most common problems facing student and professional musicians across the world. A broadly applicable model for behavior change, ACT can be used by professionals in both clinical and non-clinical settings with adequate training. Thus, this book is intended for musicians and practitioners from various backgrounds, including psychologists, music teachers, performance coaches, and others, who are looking for an evidence-based approach for enhancing music performance, treating performance anxiety, managing pain and recovery from injury, and coping with other issues like perfectionism, procrastination, shame, burnout and career uncertainty. Written by a clinical psychologist/performance coach and a singing teacher/vocalist in a conversational yet highly informative style, this book provides a detailed discussion of ACT and the research supporting it, and it gives step-by-step instructions for using it to treat those common problems. INSIDE THIS BOOK YOU’LL FIND * Practical guides on how to apply the six processes of ACT--Mindfulness, Acceptance, Defusion, Self-as-Context, Values & Committed Action--to enhance performance, overcome performance anxiety, and improve well-being * Exercises, techniques, metaphors and worksheets you can use as a musician or a practitioner * Exclusive interviews with leading experts in psychology and music performance about how they use ACT and similar strategies within their practice * Foreword by renowned performance enhancement coach, Phil Towle WORDS OF PRAISE An amazingly thorough and carefully crafted book, ACT for Musicians never talks down to the reader, or skips over material that is harder to explain. It’s like having an instructor who refuses to give up on you… Highly recommended. --Steven C. Hayes, PhD, Foundation Professor of Psychology, University of Nevada, Reno, NV, Originator of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and author of A Liberated Mind ACT for Musicians is a ground-breaking book, full of useful techniques and interventions that will help musicians and performers tackle performance anxiety. Musicians and their teachers will find the ACT approach explored in this book invaluable. In addition, other helping professionals who work in this field including coaches, psychotherapists, and psychologists will gain insight and knowledge into how ACT can be applied so that musicians can also improve their performance quality. David Juncos and Elvire de Paiva e Pona are to be congratulated for writing this trailblazing book. --Stephen Palmer, PhD, Professor of Practice at the Wales Academy for Professional Practice and Applied Research, University of Wales Trinity Saint David, UK This phenomenal resource is written with an acute awareness of musicians as students, performers and teachers. The authors’ integration and application of their expertise in performance, psychology and education enables an explanation of the theory and practice of ACT in a thorough and accessible way. Extensive exercises and examples are clearly formulated to entice musicians to immediately and compassionately incorporate the strategies into their practice. As a consulting psychologist, university lecturer and researcher specialising in music performance anxiety, I have seen firsthand how the material contained in this book has enabled students and patients to reach new levels of their potential. This book will be my go-to resource for using ACT to help musicians at all levels and stages. I encourage you to make it yours, too. --Margaret Osborne, PhD, Registered Psychologist, Senior Lecturer in Psychology and Music, University of Melbourne, Australia Conductors often hit a wall when trying to understand how musicians cope with personal constraints. This happens because they fail to address the underlying physical and psychological issues that manifest in musicians. Both conductors and musicians lack the knowledge of the tools needed to cope with the pressure of musical performance. This magnificent book brings thorough insight and a valuable path to finally create a healthy and productive environment to make music in small or large ensembles. This process not only helps single performers but also conductors who need to be aware of their fellow musicians' performance struggles. Bravo Dr. Juncos and Ms. De Paiva e Pona! --Paulo Vassalo Lourenco, DMA, Conductor, Head of Choral Conducting Program Escola Superior de Música de Lisboa, Portugal It has always struck me as odd that, of the thousands of hours that we in the performing arts devote to cultivating our craft, so few of those are dedicated to perhaps the most essential skill of all: how to execute that craft under pressure. As a longtime sufferer of MPA (finally, a name for this thing that I’ve been enduring for so long), nothing was more frustrating to me than not being able to demonstrate on stage that which I was fully capable of in the practice room as a result of an unlucky biochemical response to stress I felt I simply could not control. But, of course, therein lies the essential paradox clarified so eloquently and so helpfully in this wonderful book. Years of ‘trying to control’ my anxiety by denying it, fighting it, faking it 'til I made it (except I never quite did), in effect made my anxiety far worse. Applying some of the basic tenets of ACT in recent years has shown me that the somewhat counterintuitive process of accepting and acknowledging my fears, and mindfully attending to them, has yielded more successful and more enjoyable performances. Having recently pivoted to the role of educator, I am so grateful to be able to add this comprehensive, evidence-based, and ever accessible resource to my pedagogical toolkit. It is a wonderful feeling to know that I will be able to offer hope to a new generation of performers who may in the past have felt doomed to a lifetime of subpar performances on account of anxiety. Thank you, Dr. Juncos & Ms. De Paiva e Pona, and as we say in the opera world, Bravissimo! --Kiera Duffy, MM, Soprano, Head of Undergraduate Voice Studies, University of Notre Dame, South Bend, IN It is rare to find decent research that merges Psychology and Musical performance. As a professional singer with a degree in Psychology, I found ACT for Musicians very enlightening in this field that still holds so many questions. Fascinating, practical, and with an empirical curiosity that approaches a much needed field of research. I highly recommend any performer to read it and benefit from the many tools to help navigate the mind: an ingredient so vital and yet neglected to a successful music performance. --Nuno Queimado, BA, Professional Actor and Singer based in London, West End credits include Hamilton, Jesus Christ Superstar, and From Here to Eternity The effectiveness of previously available music performance anxiety treatments was always questionable in my experience. A shift in focus from intervention to therapy based on the ideas of acceptance and commitment is the way forward not only for being an approach for addressing performance anxiety in conceptual and practical terms, but also for becoming a healthier & more complete individual. This shift is supported by the data presented where we see once anxious, shaken musicians with nowhere to turn, now being able to face their fears and achieve success. In my forty years of performance experience, I’ve utilized various methods of reducing performance anxiety, mostly by trying to suppress those uncomfortable feelings - but this book is rooted in compassion and acceptance, and in the understanding of the psychological complexities involved in the world of the performing arts. It also provides practical exercises and solutions and is without a doubt a game-changer. Any musician that reads it I have no doubt will agree, but I would go as far as to say that any musician, coach, or professor of music should read this book because philosophically, conceptually, and statistically there is no doubt it can change the struggles of music performance for the better. --Pablo Cohen, DMA, Classical Guitarist, Associate Professor of Music of Latin America & Classical Guitar, Whalen Center for Music, Ithaca College, Ithaca, NY

Over the last dozen years, the writings of Richard Taruskin have transformed the debate about "early music" and "authenticity." Text and Act collects for the first time the most important of Taruskin's essays and reviews from this period, many of which now classics in the field. Taking a wide-ranging cultural view of the phenomenon, he shows that the movement, far from reviving ancient traditions, in fact represents the only truly modern style of performance being offered today. He goes on to contend that the movement is therefore far more valuable and even authentic than the historical verisimilitude for which it ostensibly strives could ever be. These essays cast fresh light on many aspects of contemporary music-making and music-thinking, mixing lighthearted debunking with impassioned argumentation. Taruskin ranges from theoretical speculation to practical criticism, and covers a repertory spanning from Bach to Stravinsky. Including a newly written introduction, Text and Act collects the very best of one of our most incisive musical thinkers.

Listening according to mood is likely to be what most people do when they listen to music. We want to take part in, or even be part of, the emerging world of the musical work. Using the sources of musical history and philosophy, Erik Wallrup explores this extremely vague and elusive phenomenon, which is held to be fundamental to musical hearing. Wallrup unfolds the untold musical history of the German word for ’mood’, Stimmung, which in the 19th century was abundant in the musical aesthetics of the German-Austrian sphere. Martin Heidegger’s much-discussed philosophy of Stimmung is introduced into the field of music, allowing Wallrup to realise fully the potential of the concept. Mood in music, or, to be more precise, musical attunement, should not be seen as a peculiar kind of emotionality, but that which constitutes fundamentally the relationship between listener and music. Exploring mood, or attunement, is indispensable for a thorough understanding of the act of listening to music.

Jon Hill and Joe Oliver introduce the Acceptance and Commitment Coaching (ACC) model with clarity and accessibility, defining it as an approach that incorporates mindfulness and acceptance, focusing on committed, values-based actions to help coachees make meaningful changes to their lives. Acceptance and Commitment Coaching: Distinctive Features explains the ACC model in such a way that the reader will be able to put it into practice immediately, as well as offering sufficient context to anchor the practical tools in a clear theoretical framework. Split into two parts, the book begins by emphasising ACC’s relevance and its core philosophy before providing an overview of its key theoretical points and the research that supports it. The authors also explain the six key ACC processes: defusion, acceptance, contact with the present moment, self as context, values and committed action, and explain how to use them in practice. Hill and Oliver address essential topics, such as the critical work needed before and as you begin working with a coachee, how to use metaphor as an effective tool as a coach, and they finish by offering helpful tips on how to help coachees maintain their positive changes, how to make ACC accessible to all types of client, how to manage challenging coachees and how to work with both individuals and groups using ACC. Aimed specifically at coaches, the book offers context, examples, practicality and a unique combination of practical and theoretical points in a concise format. Acceptance and Commitment Coaching: Distinctive Features is essential reading for coaches, coaching psychologists and executive coaches in practice and in training. It would be of interest to academics and students of coaching psychology and coaching techniques, as well as Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) practitioners looking to move into coaching.

"These cautionary tales are provocative, highly instructive, occasionally brutal, and, from a safe distance, downright hilarious, making Second Act Trouble the perfect Broadway bedtime reader - unless you are prone to nightmares."--BOOK JACKET.

"With its gentle affirmations, inspirational quotes, fill-in-the-blank lists and tasks — write yourself a thank-you letter, describe yourself at 80, for example — The Artist’s Way proposes an egalitarian view of creativity: Everyone’s got it."—The New York Times "Morning Pages have become a household name, a shorthand for unlocking your creative potential"—Vogue Over four million copies sold! Since its first publication, The Artist's Way phenomena has inspired the genius of Elizabeth Gilbert and millions of readers to embark on a creative journey and find a deeper connection to process and purpose. Julia Cameron's novel approach guides readers in uncovering problems areas and pressure points that may be restricting their creative flow and offers techniques to free up any areas where they might be stuck, opening up opportunities for self-growth and self-discovery. The program begins with Cameron’s most vital tools for creative recovery – The Morning Pages, a daily writing ritual of three pages of stream-of-conscious, and The Artist Date, a dedicated block of time to nurture your inner artist. From there, she shares hundreds of exercises, activities, and prompts to help readers thoroughly explore each chapter. She also offers guidance on starting a “Creative Cluster” of fellow artists who will support you in your creative endeavors. A revolutionary program for personal renewal, The Artist's Way will help get you back on track, rediscover your passions, and take the steps you need to change your life.

Liza Minelli took Broadway by storm in this "concept musical" about a Las Vegas nightclub performer named Michelle Craig, a has been movie star now trying to make a comeback. All the terrific Kander and Ebb songs are sung by Michelle, making this an amazing tour de force for a performer.

What goes on in human beings when they make or listen to music? What is it about music, what gives it such peculiar power over us, power delectable and beneficent for the most part, but also capable of uncontrollable and sometimes destructive force? Music has no concepts, it lacks images; it has no power of representation, it has no relation to the world. And yet it is evident in all of us–we tap our feet, we keep time, hum, sing, conduct music, mirror the melodic contours and feelings of what we hear in our movements and expressions. In this book, Oliver Sacks explores the power music wields over us–a power that sometimes we control and at other times don’t. He explores, in his inimitable fashion, how it can provide access to otherwise unreachable emotional states, how it can revivify neurological avenues that have been frozen, evoke memories of earlier, lost events or states or bring those with neurological disorders back to a time when the world was much richer. This is a book that explores, like no other, the myriad dimensions of our experience of and with music.

More than 150 inspired—and inspiring—novelists, poets, playwrights, painters, philosophers, scientists, and mathematicians on how they subtly maneuver the many (self-inflicted) obstacles and (self-imposed) daily rituals to get done the work they love to do. Franz Kafka, frustrated with his living quarters and day job, wrote in a letter to Felice Bauer in 1912, “time is short, my strength is limited, the office is a horror, the apartment is noisy, and if a pleasant, straightforward life is not possible then one must try to wriggle through by subtle maneuvers.” Kafka is one of 161 minds who describe their daily rituals to get their work done, whether by waking early or staying up late; whether by self-medicating with doughnuts or bathing, drinking vast quantities of coffee, or taking long daily walks. Thomas Wolfe wrote standing up in the kitchen, the top of the refrigerator as his desk, dreamily fondling his “male configurations”.... Jean-Paul Sartre chewed on Corydrane tablets (a mix of amphetamine and aspirin), ingesting ten times the recommended dose each day ... Descartes liked to linger in bed, his mind wandering in sleep through woods, gardens, and enchanted palaces where he experienced “every pleasure imaginable.” Here are: Anthony Trollope, who demanded of himself that each morning he write three thousand words (250 words every fifteen minutes for three hours) before going off to his job at the postal service, which he kept for thirty-three years during the writing of more than two dozen books ... Karl Marx ... Woody Allen ... Agatha Christie ... George Balanchine, who did most of his work while ironing ... Leo Tolstoy ... Charles Dickens ... Pablo Picasso ... George Gershwin, who, said his brother Ira, worked for twelve hours a day from late morning to midnight, composing at the piano in pajamas, bathrobe, and slippers.... Here also are the daily rituals of Charles Darwin, Andy Warhol, John Updike, Twyla Tharp, Benjamin Franklin, William Faulkner, Jane Austen, Anne Rice, and Igor Stravinsky (he was never able to compose unless he was sure no one could hear him and, when blocked, stood on his head to “clear the brain”).

GOOD MORNING AMERICA BOOK CLUB PICK! • Ray McMillian is a Black classical musician on the rise—undeterred by the pressure and prejudice of the classical music world—when a shocking theft sends him on a desperate quest to recover his great-great-grandfather’s heirloom violin on the eve of the most prestigious musical competition in the world. “I loved The Violin Conspiracy for exactly the same reasons I loved The Queen’s Gambit: a surprising, beautifully rendered underdog hero I cared about deeply and a fascinating, cutthroat world I knew nothing about—in this case, classical music.” —Chris Bohjalian, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Flight Attendant and Hour of the Witch Growing up Black in rural North Carolina, Ray McMillian’s life is already mapped out. But Ray has a gift and a dream—he’s determined to become a world-class professional violinist, and nothing will stand in his way. Not his mother, who wants him to stop making such a racket; not the fact that he can’t afford a violin suitable to his talents; not even the racism inherent in the world of classical music. When he discovers that his beat-up, family fiddle is actually a priceless Stradivarius, all his dreams suddenly seem within reach, and together, Ray and his violin take the world by storm. But on the eve of the renowned and cutthroat Tchaikovsky Competition—the Olympics of classical music—the violin is stolen, a ransom note for five million dollars left in its place. Without it, Ray feels like he's lost a piece of himself. As the competition approaches, Ray must not only reclaim his precious violin, but prove to himself—and the world—that no matter the outcome, there has always been a truly great musician within him.