171. How You Should Feel When You Practice | Interview with Music Researcher Gerard Madden (PhD)

Episode von Kopflastig. Der Podcast über Musik, Lernen & das Leben von Sebastian Bluschke · 25. August 2026 · 58 min

My first interview in English! My guest is Dr. Gerard Madden from the Institute of Musicians' Medicine at the Dresden University of Music. Gerard is a classically trained guitarist from Ireland, a bass player, fencing instructor and psychologist, and he even appeared as an extra in eight fight scenes of Game of Thrones.

His research topic is a big one: emotion regulation in music practice. How do musicians want to feel while practicing, and how should they feel to actually get better? The surprising answer: it's not about feeling good, it's about feeling the way the task in front of you requires. We talk about why musicians with high technical goals are willing to accept anxiety, whether frustration helps or hurts your learning, what I should do about my frustrated teenage student, and why a short self-reflection after every practice session is one of the most powerful tools there is.

Also in this episode: what a researcher's workday actually looks like, why wind instruments are a hygiene issue, delayed gratification instead of social media, and the traditional question from our previous guest.

Hinweis für meine deutschen Hörer: Dieses Interview war nur auf Englisch möglich. Probiert gern die automatische Übersetzung von YouTube aus. Die wichtigsten Erkenntnisse gibt es außerdem als deutsches PDF auf Patreon.

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