How I Deal With Feeling Overwhelmed

It seems to be a universal experience for all musicians to have felt some level of overwhelmedness while playing, whether that be during individual practice, a performance, or a casual rehearsal with friends. 

It can bring frustration, impatience, and oftentimes make you blast a note in rage. So, how can we deal with this? I believe that in the music community, it is important for us to share our methods of remaining level-headed when things keep going south. 

And so, here are some of my go-to strategies when I feel overwhelmed. 

Write on the Music

One of my favorite ways to destress and reset when something isn’t working is to simply annotate the sheet music. Using colorful highlighters to circle and underline marks I keep missing, or even writing down some words of encouragement and advice, is an easy way for me to relax while staying engaged with my train of thought. 

Taking the time to circle the difficult key signatures or highlighting rapid time signature changes can sometimes be all it takes for you to make reading your music easier on the brain. Simply taking a minute to reread the music that you might skim over can also help engrave the dynamics into your mind, allowing yourself to play with more intention and helping you understand better.

Let yourself listen

Another way to cure that feeling of ‘being stuck’ is to listen to music. 

Taking a step back to see how others are interpreting a piece can give you new inspiration as well as motivation to try something new. 

Listening to the same piece you're playing is one way to do it, but listening to other songs can also help you relax and reset. Playing your favorite pop song, underground indie, or energizing rap can bring back your joy in making music. It helps you genuinely enjoy the process, rather than forcing yourself to do so. 

Have a “Fun” Practice

I always find myself scrolling through MuseScore’s free clarinet solo music to just stay casual, while actively practicing. When I start to grow unproductive with my main piece, I sometimes let myself side sidetracked onto the internet to let my creativity and sightreading pop off. 

Exploring new songs or playing along with some of my childhood video-game posts can effortlessly make me play for much longer than I had originally planned to. It helps me discover new tracks to add to my playlist, but also helps prevent me from growing ‘rusty’ with my instrument, saving me from even further frustrations. 

It’s fun and brings back the core enjoyment of playing music.

Restructure your Practice

When you spend your practice time following the same routine all the time, it can grow boring easily, and also prevent you from being flexible with your current level of skill with a piece. To bring some fresh air into your practice, try to come up with new practice methods or routines. 

Breaking your piece down is one of the simplest solutions. Stuck on 1 line? Instead of playing the entire page endlessly–play that line measure by measure, slowly. Let your body get used to hearing and playing the difficult portion, and slowly build up your tempo. It’s an easy problem solver that can be easily forgotten during emotional times. 

You could also set a Pomodoro timer, a work/rest ratio timer. You can find many time variants on YouTube, and allow yourself to take short breaks during practice time. Spend this time to take a breather or grab a snack. Pomodoro timers help you organize your practice session, along with setting specific time chunks for maximized focus. 

Try a New Genre

You can reignite your curiosity quickly and effectively by trying out a new genre of music to play. Been playing romance for too long? Well, try to explore some jazz pieces that interest you! 

Being limited to a specific style of playing makes music seem less than what it could be, so don’t restrict yourself to what you are used to. Go online, search for some eye-catching songs, and play them!

In the end, you need to make your own decisions to help you out on your journey. What works for you won’t always be effective on me, and that's the beauty of a helpful community. Knowing you aren’t alone, and leaning for support from others who share similar stories as you can help tremendously. Don’t be afraid to reach out and continue to do what you are passionate about. 

I hope my experience can help you improve your relationship with practice, even when it can get emotional. We are all learning new ways to deal with the struggles of a difficult practice, and that's okay.