The 2012 Oscar nominations were released today, although only two songs (“Man or Muppet” from The Muppets and “Real In Rio” from Rio) are up for the Best Original Song category. This is the first time only two songs have been nominated, which came as a big surprise seeing as how 39 contenders were originally noted back in December.
Still, the music industry has several other opportunities to shine throughout the year, such as the American Music Awards, the Billboard Music Awards, and the upcoming Grammy Awards. And if you dream of one day taking home one of those awards, you better start working hard!
With hard work, however, may come frustration. Maybe you’re not mastering a piece as quickly as you’d like, or you’re having trouble with a specific section. Perhaps it’s stage fright that’s holding you back. Wherever your frustration stems from, it’s important to learn how to handle it to your advantage. Read on for a few helpful tips for dealing with those musical frustrations:
Tip #1. Give Yourself Credit – Before looking to improve something, look at the progress that has already been made. Appreciate and be thankful for that. Remember when you were a beginner and you couldn’t play at all? You would have been happy to have the skills you have now. Appreciate this, and feel good about what you have achieved up to this point. Many people beat themselves up over their own playing when they are pretty good already. This does not mean that you should become complacent or lose motivation to improve, it only means be happy with yourself and your playing as you continue to improve and move forward as a musician.
Tip #2. Become Aware of That Which Empowers and Inspires You – There may be certain things, moments, scenarios, events, places or people that make you feel good about yourself as a musician. These things are different for each musician. Perhaps you become very inspired by going to see a concert. Or maybe you get very motivated by watching or jamming with musicians who are currently better than you. Or, maybe you become inspired by revisiting some of your old recordings and seeing how much you have improved. Being able to realize (and have tangible proof of) how much you have grown as a musician is a powerful inspirational force for some people. Whatever these things are, anything that gets you away from concentrating on the temporary frustrations and setbacks and focuses you on your motivation and inspiration is what you should surround yourself with.
Tip #3. Let Time Be On Your Side – Many musicians feel frustrated when big progress does not seem to come in a short period of time. As a result, time is perceived as an enemy. However, if you are making at least some progress over time and you are patient enough and let accumulated time work for you, then time in fact becomes your biggest advantage. Learning an instrument is much like investing money with a fixed rate of compound interest. In the beginning, the investment seems to grow so slowly that it seems like you are watching grass grow, but over the years, the growth will explode because of the exponential power of compound interest. If you know that time is on your side, you will be sure to feel much better about your musical future.
How do you handle your stress when you’re feeling frustrated? Let us know – leave a comment and share with the community!
Suzy S.