chelsea tanner

We are taught that if we practice enough, and prepare enough that we will feel prepared. I used to log the hours, do whatever I was...

How to Change Your Mindset With Your Phone

I’ve been thinking a lot about what it means to trust yourself. I have had a roller-coaster relationship with this concept, personally....

Let’s talk about effort. Everyone says, “practice smarter not harder.” They also say, “there’s always someone working harder than you.”...

In the process of not writing blogs to be "perfect," I'm going to write about the same topic over a year after I wrote about it in a...

I was listening to Elizabeth Gilbert’s podcast Magic Lessons which ended in 2016 (truly, unfortunately). I have listened to exactly one...

I know this has been a year that is different from any other. I know there has been so much loss: lives, jobs, normalcy, and everything...

I used to get really annoyed when people would talk about auditions I didn’t advance in or competitions I didn’t win as a “learning...

This year music education was turned upside down (as was the world) leaving music teachers to find new and innovative ways to teach...

I read a lot of books about self-development. And one thing that I see over and over again is they tell you to ask yourself good...

Music school is a unique experience. Managing a jam-packed schedule, juggling multiple instruments, singing in front of an entire class,...

In the past few years I have become much more cognizant of the language we use around practicing and performing. One that I hear all the...

I have been thinking recently about how much work this profession really entails. Thousands of hours of practicing, limited jobs (many of...

Many of my students get frustrated all the time because of things they can’t do yet (don’t we all). I have been there countless times...

Why our thoughts truly control everything.

Reflecting back on my many years of lessons I realize how my mental state changed over time. For a frame of reference, I am a...

How many articles have you read about practicing? I have read countless articles in flute magazines and blogs about the most effective...

I found this quote by Jean-Pierre Rampal recently: “Breathe into the flute, don’t blow in it.” This spoke to me for a number of reasons....

In the flute world I know a lot of us struggle with being perfectionism. We are told we need to play perfectly in a lesson or in an...

Does your best playing tend to translate from your practice room to your lesson? How about a performance? I’ve struggled with this a lot...