Why your best playing disappears under pressure — and what to do about it when it matters most
The 8 Winner's Mindset Principles for musicians who perform under pressure. A short read you can come back to before every audition, concert or exam.
35+ years on stage
8 Winner's Mindset Principles
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Inside the guide
Your best playing doesn't disappear. It becomes unreachable.
Nothing is lost under pressure. What changes is your access to it.
You cannot out-practise pressure.
Practice builds the material. It doesn't build the state you need to deliver it.
A stress surge lasts about ninety seconds. The story you tell about it lasts all day.
The wave is short. What you add to it isn't.
…and five more, including what to do with the last 72 hours before you play.
This guide is for you if…
- It holds in the practice room and falls apart the moment someone is listening.
- You can feel it coming: the pulse in your neck, the bow that starts to shake on the slow, quiet notes.
- You already know the breathing tips. It still falls apart on the day.
- Your answer to nerves has always been to practise more.
David Peralta Alegre
I've been on stage for more than 35 years, and I still play every week. For a long time I lost my best playing in exactly the moments that mattered, and it took me more than twenty years to understand why.
Since then I've trained as an ICF coach (PCC) and a mindfulness teacher, and I teach audition preparation at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam. This guide is what I wish I'd had much earlier.
The next time it counts, it can sound like you.
Eight principles, four pages, free. Read them before your next audition, concert or exam.
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