When you first decided to become a musician, you probably had big dreams—maybe performing at Carnegie Hall, winning competitions, playing in a high-level orchestra with other great musicians…

If your motivation was strong, you did the work. You found great teachers, put in countless practice hours, maybe even studied at festivals abroad with renowned artists.

And if you've achieved any of your original dreams, congratulations! That's no small accomplishment. 🙂

But what if, despite all you've achieved, you still feel like there’s something holding you back from freely expressing the music inside you?

What if your technique has become stagnant at the same level it’s been for years, and you just don't feel truly fulfilled or successful as an artist?

When the initial joy of making music starts fading and you feel like you’ve hit a wall, you tell yourself: “I just need to work harder. Practice longer. Find a better teacher and take lessons again. Be more focused!”

But here's the misconception that keeps you stuck: You think the problem is your technique, so you keep working on fixing your technique.

But your technical limitations are only a symptom of something deeper.

What's actually holding you back is a lack of present-moment awareness of how you're using your whole mind-body-self when you play.

Recently, I worked with a violinist struggling with inconsistent intonation in an unaccompanied Bach Sonata.

Brian had a recital coming up and had been working on his intonation for weeks, yet it still felt like a struggle, and he was getting more and more depressed about his lack of progress. It seemed like the more he practiced, the worse it got, and he just couldn’t understand why.

“What if,” I suggested, “you stop thinking about your intonation AT ALL for a few days, completely forget about your fingers, and really prioritize being present to your experience, noticing what's happening to your whole self while you play, instead?”

As Brian shifted out of his usual “need-to-fix-it-now” mentality into a new mode of curious self-awareness—noticing areas of tension alongside areas of ease, observing his mental chatter without trying to fix it—something remarkable happened.

He quickly discovered that his intonation problem wasn't actually a technique problem. It actually stemmed from a lack of mind-body-self awareness.

He also realized that he was stuck in a narrow-minded “judger mode” that increases tension instead of opening up into the freedom and ease of being in “learner mode”.

To help him make the crucial shift out of “judger mode”, I guided him through a simple step-by-step process based on touch-free Alexander Technique.

Instead of asking himself, “How can I play this more in tune?” he began asking himself with healthy, detached curiosity, “What's happening to me as I play this passage?”.

The moment he shifted to this awareness-based approach, his intonation fixed itself and his playing was transformed.

Here's the key take-away: The instrument you really need to be practicing more is YOU. Not your musical instrument, and not your technique.

When you practice technical skills without awareness of how your entire being participates in the process of making music, you're missing the foundation that makes everything else possible.

What would change in your music if you approached practice by asking “What's happening to me right now?” instead of “What do I need to fix?”

If you're ready to explore how this awareness-based approach can radically transform your artistry with more ease than you've ever thought possible, I'd love to tell you more about my private coaching and group programs.

The Art of Freedom® Method helps musicians develop this essential foundation for sustainable, joyful playing in ways that my students often call “miraculous”.

And if you're a professional string player, I've created something truly special just for you—a transformative summer program that starts soon! If the topics I've written about here resonate with you, just reply to this email to request more information.

With Love & Light,

Jennifer

P.S. Are you a professional string player curious about exploring mind-body awareness skills applied to your own playing? Reach out and ask me about Sanctuary for Strings: Where Practice Meets Purpose Beyond Techniques.

Let’s talk about how this summer could be your breakthrough turning point—where technical mastery meets purposeful presence, ease, and JOY!