Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | RSS

A lively and passionate discussion  where we introduce the ideas and research behind Self-Determination Theory, which could help you make giant leaps with your music. Some core topics covered in this episode include intrinsic & extrinsic motivation, autonomy, how rewards actually make us perform worse, ego & needing approval from others and ourselves, and how we can practise & cultivate intrinsic motivation in our own piano journey.

Show Notes

• [2:55] Brief intro to Self-Determination Theory (SDT)
  • 3 Basic Psychological Needs: Autonomy, Competency, & Relatedness
  • Intrinsic & Extrinsic Motivation
  • What is Autonomy?
  • Rewards undermine intrinsic motivation
  • School, parents, society, etc can undermine intrinsic motivation by use of rewards
  • But some factors that promote autonomy will increase intrinsic motivation
• [17:55] Continuum of extrinsic-instrinsic motivation:
  • External regulation (reward, punishment)
  • Introjection (ego, approval from self & others)
  • Identification
  • Integration
• [27:00] Teacher’s role is to show students how to love the music more
• [33:30] How to move towards intrinsic motivation:
  • -improve mindfulness (mindfulness is linked to autonomy in studies)- including practising non-attachment
  • -increase our sense of competence by letting go of perfectionism, and reducing comparison with others. Cultivate a felt sense of ‘always good enough’
  • -Remind ourselves why we play music- IMO the purest most helpful reason is to connect with the music, and other people through the music
  • -Resist unhelpful cultural baggage- especially in classical music
  • -Recognise introjection while practising/performing- and practise not reacting or identifying with it
• [52:30]- How I connect with the music when I’m playing
• [54:35] Competency vs relatedness:
  • Am I mainly being driven by a need to feel competent or am I bring driven by a desire to connect?
  • Being aware of this & moving to connection really helps me to perform well under pressure
• [56:30] How to be a good student when you have a teacher
• [59:10] Importance of a growth mindset (feeling competent enough)
• [1:09:05] Zen and beginner’s mind
• [1:10:15] Related academic fields and psychological skills:
  • Renee Brown on vulnerability
  • and Kristen Neff on Self-compassion
• 1:16:55 We can see intrinsic motivation in its purest form when we watch children playing. When we lose this sense of playfulness as adults, we lose the performance benefits of intrinsic motivation & autonomy

Notes:

• The core academic textbook: Self-Determination Theory: Basic Psychological Needs in Motivation, Development, and Wellness- https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=GF0ODQAAQBAJ
• The YouTube video showing a talk by one of the authors Richard M.Ryan- an excellent introduction to the subject: https://youtu.be/iUgNbWkcnHs
• A second YouTube video by the same speaker that goes into a little more depth in the field of education: https://youtu.be/1VBywz1c4cs
• The highly influential book The Inner Game of Music: https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=xdMuBgAAQBAJ
• Brené Brown- an academic who has popularised her work on vulnerability: https://brenebrown.com/
• And Kristin Neff- an academic who has popularised her work on self-compassion: https://self-compassion.org/
• Dan Pink’s TED talk: https://youtu.be/rrkrvAUbU9Y where he sums up some of the ideas in his book Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us- https://www.danpink.com/books/drive/
• Some earlier Heart of the Piano Podcast episodes with guided meditations to use at the piano:
  https://heartofthepiano.com/guided-piano-meditation-introduction-to-meditating-at-the-piano/
  https://heartofthepiano.com/guided-piano-meditation-further-down-the-road/
  https://heartofthepiano.com/guided-piano-meditation-listening-and-posture/
• The Master and His Emissary- an excellent book about the brain hemispheres and how Western Culture makes our brains unhealthily unbalanced: https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=alSIDwAAQBAJ

Further Notes:

Many thanks to the C. Bechstein Centre in Manchester for letting us use one of their teaching/practice rooms to record this podcast episode: https://www.bechstein.co.uk

The intro/outro music is my jazz arrangement of the Rachmaninov Adagio from Symphony #2, you can watch the whole thing here if you like: https://youtu.be/hMqREAngb4s