Practice Room Frustration Is Useful Feedback

Practice Room Frustration Is Useful Feedback

I remember when my brother, a French horn player, would get into terrible bouts of frustration and anger while practicing in high school. At one point he even wrinkled his bell by punching it.

Frustration is something we need to listen to. It’s important feedback.

Most often, frustration shows up when a challenge exceeds our current ability to meet it. This can happen for a few common reasons:

• The task is too complex for where we are in the learning process

• Unnoticed tension has built up in the body, causing things that normally work to stop working

• Our mental or emotional state is making awareness and coordination harder

Frustration isn’t just a thought — it’s a physical experience. When it takes over, our ability to notice what’s actually happening decreases, and we’re more likely to try to force solutions instead of finding them.

If we ignore frustration and push through it, practice often becomes less productive. We finish sessions feeling physically worn down, confused about what went wrong, and discouraged about our progress.

What if instead we noticed frustration early and treated it as useful information?

Frustration might be telling us:

• “This challenge is too much right now — make it simpler.”

• “Something in the body is tense — pause and reset.”

• “This mental state isn’t supporting good playing — change the approach.”

When we respond to frustration with curiosity rather than force, practice becomes more efficient and safer. Progress happens more consistently, and playing feels more reliable under pressure.

Frustration isn’t a sign that you’re failing. It’s a signal. Learning how to read that signal is one of the most important skills a musician can develop.

—
Dr. Logan Chopyk
SanDiegoTromboneLessons.com