The Music Doesn't Stop for Your Mistake!

Julie Jones

2 days ago

5 min read

Mindset Made Simple Tip #309 - Watch or listen HERE!

It’s high school football season, and even though I thought maybe I gave birth to a future quarterback, I am just as thrilled that my son LOVES music and is a part of an AMAZING competition marching band at school.

Thus…I still get to go to football games (Yeah!) AND I love halftime!

As the team played my alma mater, I watched the game…but I also found myself watching the front ensemble, or fromble for short (a new word for me), practice before showtime.

These are the musicians positioned along the sideline with the marimbas, vibraphones, and the stationary percussion instruments that don’t march. Translation…all the other instruments I can’t name without help from my son!

And I noticed something fascinating.

Even when they weren’t playing, they were still connected.

During the rests, they made eye contact. Their bodies moved in similar ways. They watched one another, felt the rhythm and stayed engaged with what was happening around them.

They weren’t four or five musicians playing four separate parts. They were ONE unit creating one piece of music.

That only works if each person keeps directing attention toward the sound, the tempo, the conductor and the people around them.

Imagine what would happen if one musician made a mistake and stopped to think, “Why did I hit that note?” “Was my hand in the wrong position?” “Did everyone hear that?” “What are they thinking?” “I hope I don’t do it again!”

By the time that internal conversation ended, the group would be several measures down the road.

Because the music doesn’t stop for your mistake.

Neither does the game. Neither does the meeting. Neither does the conversation. Neither does life.

The next note is coming whether you are ready for it or not.

So…where is your attention?

Researchers have studied the difference between an internal focus, attention directed toward the body or movement, and an external focus, attention directed toward the effect of the movement.

An internal cue might tell a pitcher to think about the position of her elbow. An external cue might tell her to throw through the catcher’s glove. An internal cue tells a runner to drive the knees. An external cue tells the runner to push the track away.

Decades of research suggest that external cues often help movement become more efficient and automatic. Instead of consciously controlling every body part, performers allow the movement they have trained to organize itself around the desired result.

This matters under pressure because the more we try to consciously manage an already-learned movement, the more likely we are to interfere with it.

We become the musician trying to examine the last note while the rest of the group keeps playing!

But this does NOT mean internal focus is always bad or external focus is always better.

A recent mixed-methods study by Tanaraksa Visaetsilapanonta (can’t wait to say this in my video 😉) and colleagues tested 23 university athletes during two pressured 1,000-meter rowing trials. The athletes used an internal focus during one trial and an external focus during the other.

Neither focus produced significant differences in performance, anxiety or confidence.

However, the interviews revealed something important: the effectiveness of the focus depended on the athlete’s familiarity with the task, perceived control, preferences and state entering the performance.

In other words, there is no magic cue that works for every performer in every situation. The best focus is the one that directs your attention toward the information you need RIGHT NOW.

That brings us to another way of looking at attention.

Sport psychologist Robert Nideffer described attention using two dimensions:

Is your attention broad or narrow?
Is it directed internally or externally?

When we combine them, we get four different attentional spaces.

Broad external attention helps us scan the environment. The quarterback reads the defense.

The point guard sees all five defenders. The musician sees the conductor and senses the movement of the group. The leader reads the room.

The advantage is awareness. The danger is overload. If we try to take in everything without identifying what matters, we can become distracted or slow to respond.

Broad internal attention helps us process information and make a plan. What is happening? What options do I have? What adjustment makes sense?

The advantage is strategy. The danger is analysis paralysis. We can become so busy considering every possibility that the moment to act passes us by.

Narrow internal attention helps us briefly check or regulate something inside us. One breath. One cue. One physical sensation. One intentional thought.

The advantage is control. The danger comes when we stay there too long.

This is where performers tend to slip. A quick internal check becomes a full investigation. Why am I nervous? Why does this feel different today? What if I make another mistake? Am I doing this right? What does the coach think?

Now our attention is locked inside us while critical information continues to arrive outside us.

We miss the defensive shift. We don’t see the open teammate. We fail to hear the change in tone during a meeting. We miss the next note because we are still thinking about the last one.

Finally, narrow external attention helps us lock onto one important cue. The ball. The target. The catcher’s glove. The opponent’s hips. The conductor’s hands. The next person speaking.

The advantage is precise action. The danger is tunnel vision. If we narrow too early or stay narrow too long, we may miss changes happening elsewhere.

None of these attentional spaces is always right or always wrong. The skill is FLEXIBILITY.

Great performers move their attention to match the demand of the moment.

They scan. They decide. They reset. They act. Then they do it again.

SCAN: What is happening around me? This is broad external. Take in the field, the room, the people, the pace and the available information.

DECIDE: What matters most right now? This is broad internal. Process what you noticed and choose the best response.

RESET: What do I need to be ready? This is a brief narrow-internal check. One breath. One cue. Release unnecessary tension.

ACT: Where does my attention need to go? This is narrow external. Lock onto the target, teammate, instrument, task or next useful piece of information.

Scan. Decide. Reset. Act.

The entire process may take only a few seconds. And notice how little time we spend in narrow internal attention.

We go inside long enough to gather what we need…and then we get OUT!

This is why our Notice–Choose–Now tool is so valuable.

Notice where your attention has gone. Choose where it needs to go. Return to what matters NOW.

The goal is not to eliminate internal thoughts, ignore emotions or pretend mistakes didn’t happen. We need internal attention to check our state, learn, plan and reset.

We simply cannot live there while the performance continues.

There will be time to review the missed note, examine the swing and evaluate the presentation. But going there while we’re trying to perform…not helpful!

During the performance, our job is to reconnect with the rhythm, the people and the information required for the next action.

The musicians I watched on a Friday night didn’t stay connected because every note was perfect. They stayed connected because every person kept returning attention to the music being created around them. And it was GOOD music!

They looked up. They found one another. They found the beat. And they played the next note.

What can we learn from them?

When you make a mistake this week, ask: