Attention is a muscle – use rehearsal to exercise it.
Notwithstanding the ways in which our brains vary and have differing abilities to focus our attention, we are all able to strengthen our attention muscles. And the world in 2026 is working very hard to weaken them. Every moment, the world is asking for me to fracture my attention.
I am never more in control of my attention than I am in rehearsal, and that’s because it has this powerful trio of properties
- I’m interested in it.
- It rewards my full attention and betrays fractured attention immediately.
- I’m doing together it with other people.
Along with all the other things you’re doing when you get into a rehearsal flow state, you are helping every single member of your ensemble – including yourself – to strengthen their attention.