Listen in on this excerpt from a live training with Stephen P Brown, conductor, composer, and founder of Concert University, an online coaching program dedicated to helping classical musicians build profitable performing careers.
Want to learn more? Check out Stephen’s next online presentation outlining 5 strategies you can implement today that successful classical musicians use to build a profitable performing career at https://joinnow.live/s/AxfXBp.
Understanding is the bedrock of empathy. There’s no doubt that empathetic people are attractive to others – after all, we all long to feel connected and supported. However, before you can be empathetic, you have to understand. Empathy is the emotional manifestation of understanding.
Understanding has a host of gifts to offer beyond just
building empathy, of course. When you understand the circumstances surrounding
the composition of a particular piece of music – who wrote it, when, and why –
that context colors and improves your performance of the piece. Suddenly, the
music is no longer just notes on a page, but a communication from one human
being to another. Understanding is the baseline of connection.
Tolerance vs.
Understanding
A dictionary definition of understanding is sympathetic
awareness or tolerance, but perhaps a better definition would be sympathetic
awareness beyond tolerance.
Tolerance has become quite the buzzword, and over time it’s
become a bit corrupted. To tolerate something now implies that you are putting
up with it, despite not liking it very much. There’s no curiosity there, simply
a willful disregard of disgust.
Understanding on the other hand, requires curiosity. And curiosity often requires courage. No wonder people shy away from it. Asking why people believe or behave or create as they do opens you up to discovering answers that may make you uncomfortable.
The Courageousness of
Living
If you want to develop understanding, appreciating courage
is a great place to start. Everywhere you look, you see courage whether you
recognize it as such or not. It takes courage to just show up for life.
Following through, making a million small decisions a day, all of that requires
courage. Life is not for the faint of heart.
Pursuing a life in classical music requires an additional
level of courage. You’re constantly putting yourself out there, facing
rejection, facing failure. And the musicians around you are doing the same
thing. Everyday. You may not know exactly what is going on in someone else’s
life, but there’s one thing you can understand – they made the decision to get
out of bed this morning and get on with it, and that deserves some respect.
Understanding Your
Role
Sympathetic awareness begins with understanding the big why.
Why is that person doing what they are doing? Why are we here, performing this
piece? Once you understand the purpose, you can determine what your role in the
whole is. Are you the leader? The giver? The receiver?
Once you understand your part you can demonstrate that
understanding to the people around you.
This is part of our series on the characteristics of attractive people. If you would like to hear the live discussion about this characteristic, head on over to ClassicJabber.com now.
If you are ready to learn more about how to build a profitable, fulfilling career as a performing classical musician, check out Concert University, and the free webinar that outlines 5 strategies for success.
Some people are more charismatic than others, but we seem to find people who are charismatic as more attractive than those who are not! Why is that, and how do classical musicians come across in society? Click the link above to hear SPB in conversation with his friends and learn more about this.
Listen in on this excerpt from a live training with Stephen P Brown, conductor, composer, and founder of Concert University, an online coaching program dedicated to helping classical musicians build profitable performing careers.
Want to learn more? Check out Stephen’s next online presentation outlining 5 strategies you can implement today that successful classical musicians use to build a profitable performing career at http://spb.buzz/CUSPBonline.
Human beings are by their nature, creative. We imagine,
invent, compose, and design constantly. Not all of these imaginings make it
into the physical world, but they nonetheless are created in our minds. We all
possess the spark of creativity.
Even so, many people feel they need permission to be creative. Watching others be creative gives them that permission, and this is one of the reasons that we find creative people so attractive.
The Trifecta of
Creativity in Performance
We generally associate creativity with a specific creation. A work of art, a novel, or in
the case of music, a composition. But this act of creativity is only the first
of many involved in a classical music performance.
After the composer has created a piece, an artist then
interprets the music – imbuing it with the emotion and dynamics she feels are
most appropriate – creating an
experience for the listener.
The creativity doesn’t end there, though. The final piece of the puzzle is the audience member. We know that if we ask five different people to tell the story they imagine while listening to the same piece of music, we will get five different stories. This is the creation that the listener brings to the table. And as a performer, sharing your creativity, this is the permission you give to your audience to experience their own.
Passion and Creation
Perhaps the most attractive, dare we say, sexy, thing about
creativity is that it is born of passion. To create you have to care. That’s
part of the reason that some places are more conducive to creativity than
others, and why some people can be creative in careers that others find
mind-numbingly dull.
You may have had the lucky experience of being taught something
you weren’t much interested in by someone passionate about the subject.
Suddenly, it’s more interesting, maybe even compelling. That’s the beauty and
power of passion.
We aren’t all sparked by the same things, but we’re all
drawn to passion and the creativity it breeds.
This is part of our series on the characteristics of attractive people. If you would like to hear the live discussion about this characteristic, head on over to ClassicJabber.com now.
If you are ready to learn more about how to build a profitable, fulfilling career as a performing classical musician, check out Concert University, and the free webinar that outlines 5 strategies for success.
Some people are more skilled in relationships than others, but we seem to find people who are skilled in relationships as more attractive than those who are not! Why is that, and how do classical musicians come across in society? Click the link above to hear SPB in conversation with his friends and learn more about this.
Listen in on this excerpt from a live training with Stephen P Brown, conductor, composer, and founder of Concert University, an online coaching program dedicated to helping classical musicians build profitable performing careers.
Want to learn more? Check out Stephen’s next online presentation outlining 5 strategies you can implement today that successful classical musicians use to build a profitable performing career at http://spb.buzz/CUSPBonline.
What is inner peace? Is it even real? Is it something we should bother striving for, and if so, how do we do it?
The Journey Not the
Destination
Inner peace is a harmoniousness of spirit that provides a
sense of calmness and purpose regardless of outside circumstances. Sounds
wonderful, right?
Bad news: inner peace is not an attainable goal. By no means
does this imply that you can’t ever have it, only that it is an ongoing
pursuit, not a singular accomplishment. There will be times when you experience
this calm – when you think you have arrived – only to find yourself feeling
anything but peaceful just hours later.
So the goal isn’t to live in a state of inner peace at all
times (that is unrealistic unless perhaps you are a monk) but to strive to
cultivate it as much as possible.
Acceptance is Key
It’s counterintuitive, but sometimes it can be easiest to experience inner peace when we are in the midst of near catastrophe. When things are obviously far beyond our control and we must contemplate the worst outcome we realize that no matter what it is, we’ll have to accept it. We won’t have to like it, mind you, but we’ll have to face it as reality and move on from there.
Thankfully, we don’t have to wait for some near disaster to learn this acceptance. Instead, we can practice living in the moment (as if there’s another moment we could live in) and focusing on the process while letting go of the outcome.
Auditions are a great opportunity to practice. When you approach an audition focused on how much you need the gig, worried about whether or not you will get it, you are focused on something over which you have absolutely no control. You could be the very best player, but if the director has decided that he is giving the part to his nephew, there’s nothing you can do.
Instead, approach auditions as a performance. You are there to communicate with your audience. How your audience judges your performance is not your problem. Not only does this kind of attitude help you feel more peaceful, but it also eliminates the scent of desperation that is an automatic turn-off to those considering hiring you.
Acceptance goes beyond just letting go of outcomes. It also
means accepting who you are, and what you are capable of doing right now, where
you are.
As classical musicians, we find ourselves constantly
competing with others. There is a never-ending litany of comparisons going on
in our head. Is she better than I am? Do they like his style more? Will I ever
accomplish what so-and-so has done? Why can’t I just be an accountant?
The truth is, you’ve likely tried to do other things and found them unfulfilling. You are a musician. Accept that. Today, you are capable of what you are capable of, nothing more, nothing less.
Accept that.
If you must compare, compare yourself to who you were yesterday. Think about where you are going and look at how far you’ve come. Don’t compare your journey to someone else’s. You are you, not them. Accept it.
If you want to experience inner peace accept that you are who you are, follow your path to the best of your ability in the moment, and let go of the outcome. Inner peace is a process, so be process-oriented.
This is part of our series on the characteristics of attractive people. If you would like to hear the live discussion about this characteristic, head on over to ClassicJabber.com now.
If you are ready to learn more about how to build a profitable, fulfilling career as a performing classical musician, check out Concert University, and the free webinar that outlines 5 strategies for success.
Some people are more knowledgeable than others, but we seem to find people who are knowledgeable (without being arrogant) as more attractive than those who are not! Why is that, and how do classical musicians come across in society? Click the link above to hear SPB in conversation with his friends and learn more about this.
Listen in on this excerpt from a live training with Stephen P Brown, conductor, composer, and founder of Concert University, an online coaching program dedicated to helping classical musicians build profitable performing careers.
Want to learn more? Check out Stephen’s next online presentation outlining 5 strategies you can implement today that successful classical musicians use to build a profitable performing career at http://spb.buzz/CUSPBonline.
Some people are more charismatic than others, but we seem to find people who are charismatic as more attractive than those who are not! Why is that, and how do classical musicians come across in society? Click the link above to hear SPB in conversation with his friends and learn more about this.