Music and Sports: Strategies Shared by Musicians and Athletes

There is a common misconception that music and sports are opposites. Many people think that music is all about artistry and creativity and sports is all about strength and endurance. While this is true there are many parallels between sports and music. When it comes to habits and strategies both musicians and athletes have much in common: Discipline, dedication, strategy, practice, and passion. These elements are at the core of this commonality between musicians and athletes. Let's take a closer look at these parallels.

When Music and Sports Collide

Both music and sports involve a great deal of mental focus and intense training. Musicians refine their skills through structured planning and repeated practice. The same can be said of athletes. While musicians work with artistry, athletes tend to work more on pushing physical boundaries. This is not to say that being a musician is not physical. Generally speaking, musicians are simply developing smaller muscles than athletes. Another common factor for music and sports is that talent alone cannot guarantee success. Consistent practice and planning are required to be successful in both disciplines. One final commonality between music and sports is that both musicians and athletes require guidance from a mentor. Musicians have teachers to help guide them while athletes have coaches.

Shared Strategies of Musicians and Athletes

Structures and Routines

Structures and routines are paramount to success with music and sports alike. Being efficient is crucial to time management. Both musicians and athletes must create well planned, structured practice schedules. This means a careful timed balance of mental preparation, technique, and repertoire will not only help prevent injury, but will also make sure that all elements that lead to being a successful musician or athlete are covered.

Goal Setting and Mental Training

Both musicians and athletes set personal goals for themselves. Musicians focus on trying to perfect repertoire within a time frame and athletes may focus on improving their duration for cardio training or increasing the amount of weight they can lift. In terms of mental training, both musicians and athletes may use mindfulness, visualization, and things like encouraging self-talk to help keep them focused in a recital or big game. Practising mental training can help improve success rates in big performances.

Rest and Recovery

Resting after a practice session, concert, game, or meet is essential to prevent injury. Successful musicians and athletes take short breaks during a practice session or workout to mind their physical health. They also perform warm up exercises, stretches, and even deep breathing and relaxation techniques that help reduce tension and therefore reduce the chance of injury. All of these things combined can help prevent injury and can help ensure that musicians and athletes will have long successful careers.

Progress Tracking and Efficient Effective Practice

Tracking progress in some type of journal is an effective technique that successful musicians and athletes tend to use. This provides musicians and athletes with valuable feedback and provides evidence of improvement of their progress. Using video to track progress is also incredibly effective. Video helps musicians and athletes identify areas of improvement that are needed and also shows their strengths. This type of feedback is definitely the most helpful since it provides a visual aid for musicians and athletes alike. In terms of practising efficiently, using a timer can help keep musicians and athletes on task ensuring that each area of training gets the required amount of attention. Practising effectively can be achieved by simply following and using the above shared habits and strategies used by successful musicians and athletes and this includes: structures and routines, goal setting and mental training, rest and recovery, and progress tracking and practising efficiently and effectively. All of these elements can help ensure that musicians and athletes will be successful in their chosen fields.

Using Successful Tactics and Strategies

Most young beginner musicians and athletes are unaware of these strategies at the start of their hobby or career. It is absolutely imperative for teachers and coaches to introduce and teach as many of these tactics and strategies to students as possible. Once learned, these strategies can be used throughout the course of a musician or athlete's life thereby, ensuring success in their hobbies or careers.

At Neighbour Note all of our teachers set music students up for success by teaching them these crucial tactics and strategies allowing them to improve their skills while lowering stress. Neighbour Note teaches: guitar, piano, singing, ukulele, violin, viola, cello, bass guitar, flute, saxophone, trumpet, clarinet, oboe, harp, banjo and drum lessons to students of most ages and abilities. If you would like to learn more about our award winning Toronto music lessons please contact us today. We would love to hear from you!