Stuck at intermediate?

Shifting perspective
Written By Erica Bramham

Why the “intermediate plateau” feels so hard when learning music

Includes a guided meditation for musicians and music students.

Practice Space

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Ever feel like you were improving faster when you first started learning music? You’re not imagining it.

In this video, I talk about the four stages of competence and why the second one — conscious incompetence — is where many musicians get stuck. It’s the phase where you know what’s not working and how far you still have to go, and it can feel like you’ll never get there. But this is also the stage where real growth begins.

This video ends with a short guided meditation to help you stay grounded in your practice, especially during those tough stretches.

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Erica Bramham
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