A Science-Based Practice Journal for Musicians

We’ve been brainwashed into believing that the best musicians are blessed with natural talent, bestowed only upon once-in-a-generation geniuses.

And…

We’ve been taught that all we have to do is put in time in the practice room, the vaunted “ten thousand hours,” and we’ll be the next Mozart or Sonny Rollins.

Not only do these ideas completely contradict each other, they’re just false.

Mastery is a skill.

More precisely, mastery is a set of skills that can be learned and put into action.

The Practice Habit is a musician’s practice journal that teaches and practices those skills. It helps you build habits, grow skills, and overcome obstacles. It upends performance anxiety (by building the skill of emotional self-management), builds focus (because what you work on is every bit as important as how you work on it), and motivation (which is usually a different problem than you think it is).

It helps you embrace the tension between where you are and where you want to be. And it shows you how to uncover the blind spots that are holding you back.

It’s a practice journal and a workbook, because what you know doesn’t count until you turn it into action. It won’t do the practice for you, but if you do the work, you’ll get results.

The Practice Habit is about leveling up. It’s an opportunity to see how much you’re capable of, to discover how much you have to give, to share your gifts with the world.

True mastery takes years, but whether you start now or later, those years are going to pass anyway. The journey is filled with rewards. What fears are holding you back?

What’s inside the book:

• Talent is a lie
• Repetition isn’t enough
• You should compare yourself to the pros
• All reps are not created equal
• Confidence is an act
• You can train your emotions
• Perfect technique is perfectly boring
• Focus is a muscle
• Lying to yourself can be a good thing
• Courage is the result of action
• When you practice affects how you practice
• Your nervous energy is an asset