For Peak Performance

Focus & Concentration for Musicians

Last Updated on Monday, 12 September 2011 19:30

In The Essence of Excellence: Mental Skills of Top Classical Musicians Talbot-Honeck and Orlick (1999) report that top musicians consider focus and ability to control distractions important aspects of excellence in performance. These musicians felt that "concentration was a necessary element of excellence and that having the right focus was a determining factor in a quality performance."

Cedarbrook uses technology inspired by NASA and other learning tools to help you with all mental aspects of performing. Improved focus and concentration can also help reduce anxiety for auditions

First we conduct a complete assessment of your current performance. Together we determine goals and appropriate strategies to meet those goals. With two 45-minute sessions per week, you may begin to notice a difference in 4 weeks.

Focus & Concentration for Athletes

Last Updated on Tuesday, 09 March 2010 13:26
Whether you call it "flow", being "hot", "on a roll", or "in the zone" you're talking about peak athletic performance. Weinberg and Gould (2003) identify eight mental and physical capacities that produce peak performance. Three of the eight are associated with concentration and focus.
  • being absorbed in the present,
  • being mentally relaxed with a high degree of concentration, and
  • being aware of your body and the environment.

To achieve this state you need to

  • maintain appropriate focus,
  • have total concentration on the task at hand, and
  • be completely absorbed in the activity (able to ignore distractions).

With the aid of technology inspired by NASA and other learning tools, Cedarbrook helps you with all of the aspects of the mental game.

First we conduct a complete assessment of your current performance. Together we determine goals and appropriate strategies to meet those goals. With two 45-minute sessions per week, you may begin to notice improved performance in one to two months.

Focus for Success

Program FAQs

It sounds too good to be true. Is it?

Often when things sound too good to be true--they're too good to be true. However, there are some things that are so basic, so fundamental, so important that they really can help in a lot of different situations. For example, improving your communication skills will help your relationship with
  • your boss
  • your spouse
  • your children
  • and even strangers.

Communication is such a basic skill it can be helpful when applied to many different situations.  It can help everyone with everything -- so to speak.

The same is true with attention and focus. It is such a basic, fundamental, and important skill that improving it will help in many situations.

  • Students can improve performance by increased ability to pay attention.
  • Spouses can improve relationships by better listening to each other.
  • Musicians can improve performance by being totally into the music.
  • Athletes can improve performance by getting "in the zone".
  • Executives can focus and improve functioning and "multitasking".

You say this can help students, athletes, musicians, and executives. How can something help everyone with everything?

Some things are basic, like water. Water cleans you, nourishes your body and brain, and helps all animals and plants grow. Water is basic and fundamental to life as we know it. Focus and attention are also basic and fundamental skills -- learning to focus/pay attention will improve many aspects of your life. Notice we said in each area people will improve their performance. Focus and attention will help you do the best you are able with the skills you have. It will also help you improve your skills because of increased ability to focus on practicing those skills. However, it is not a miracle--to get better skills, you have to practice those skills. And our program will help you focus so that you can do that

Who invented your program?

We developed the program, but not all the tools. The program consists of many activities and we use many tools to help improve focus and attention.

One amazing tool is neurofeedback -- a computerized learning system that uses a high-tech helmet to read brain signals indicative of focus or concentration. These brain signals control computer activities.

One of our feedback systems was inspired by NASA. NASA was using feedback based technology to improve astronaut performance on flight simulator training. This system enhanced NASA's technology for use with students.

How much does the Focus for Success program cost?

The program costs "more than piano lessons, but less than braces". Like piano lessons and braces, Focus for Successcan give life-long benefits. And like piano lessons and braces, it also requires an investment of time and money.

Typically a student will have two 30-45 minutes sessions each week. You may see results in as few as 10 sessions, but for permanent change we recommend 40 - 50 hours.

Individual sessions are $56. The average number of individual sessions is between 11-18. After that, students have group sessions which are $27.

The program is customized for each individual, so prices range, but we can offer financing options.

End FAQ

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