About SPARK Practice
Where SPARK Started
Unifying Neuroscience, Elite Sports, Top Musical Training, & Mindfulness
Lifelong Curiosity & Passion for Teaching
I've been teaching, mentoring, and coaching (sports too!) for over 20 years, with students in every phase of their career. I love seeing people connect with their unique talents and voice - there is nothing more exciting than helping someone unlock a part of themselves and level-up in something they care about.
Elite Opportunities with All the Trauma
SPARK Practice came from my experiences of learning to play three times, history with elite competition in music and rowing, applied neuroscience, and mindfulness. Getting to a prestigious musical school was thrilling - until I experienced the dark side of elite music education. Then came injuries, frustration, and burnout - so I started asking questions from my multidisciplinary background - and found some exciting and surprising answers.
Mindfulness as a Performance Skill
Applying sports training principles to performance preparation changed the game, but mindfulness was the missing piece. Infused into the foundational practice frameworks, we build in psychological safety and a holistic understanding of our work. The practice room becomes an exciting laboratory and the stage becomes a playground. This leads to consistent confidence and transformative practice that never ignores your artistic voice, nervous system regulation, or mental game. SPARK Practice Shows that we can have high expectations, big dreams, and still be kind to ourselves.
Continued Research & Impact for Musicians Worldwide
At SPARK Practice, we support motivated musicians, passionate teachers, and invested parents to facilitate a neurologically-aligned conversation between the musician and themselves, their instrument, their teachers, and their audience.
The Alchemy of SPARK Practice
Neuroscience, Elite Sports, Top Musical Training, & Mindfulness
Neuroscience
Neuroscience helps us understand how to grow and retrain our brain, while cultivating supportive mindsets.
Elite Sports
Elite sports brings us elite training physiology and sports psychology to build confident performances.
Top Musical Training
Top conservatory training brings the best of musical and performance education.
Mindfulness
You can be awesome and nice to yourself. Mindfulness techniques & SPARK Mindsets support you all the way.
About SPARK Practice
The SPARK Practice Intentional Practice System is the proven practice support you need to reach your goals. Using Interleaved Interval training and neuroscience-based strategy to enjoy the experience (and results!) of expert practice.
About Sarah Niblack
The Practice Professor and SPARK Practice Founder's unique path and story.
SPARK for Everyone
SPARK isn't just for musicians.
As experts on mental preparation and elite performance training, we're the experts on public speaking.
Breathe Brave
Join the Breathe Brave movement - self regulation and intentional activation for your important moments.
HOW SPARK PRACTICE WORKS
Great Performance starts with Great Practice
Adapted to Your Unique Profile
Achieve consistent, confident results with SPARK Practice, the Intentional Practice System
SPARK Practice Timer
The Practice Library
Best Practices Blog
Practice Boost
Research & References
Interactive Practice
Hi, I'm Sarah, the Practice Professor
I'm so excited for you!
I am so excited for you.
You are becoming the player you always dreamed of - and I'm so thrilled to join you on your journey.
About SARAH ⇨
About SPARK Practice ⇨
The SPARK Method for everyone! ⇨
I've learned so much on my path so far as a career muscian and in my 20+ years of teaching, coaching, and mentoring experience. Check out some big themes below - and let me know where you are in your journey!
You're here because you know there's a better way to practice and perform.
- When I was really little, my sister played the violin and had her high school quartet rehearsals in the basement - she was my hero!
- My parents aren't musicians, and I started the violin at school when I was 11. Violin was "my sister's thing." My first private lesson was at 13, then later at 15+ with a nice man who lived down the street (it turns out he was Mr. Irwin I Eisenberg, founding member of the Philadelphia String Quartet 🤯)
- I played in school orchestras in Seattle (Wedgwood, Eckstein MS, Garfield HS) and the Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestras programs, and went to the SYSO summer festival.
- I didn't realize until years later that I grew up in an incredible musical community, and was more interested in sports like soccer, then sailing, then rowing.
- I played a lot of sports, but loved the hard-won pleasure of rowing.
- Being on the water by 5am every day and working with elite coaches taught me the value of discipline, perseverance, and teamwork. I loved doing the work, seeing progress, and winning against myself. I was constantly becoming more of myself.
- In elite sports, my coaches were present 70%-80% of training time, mapped complete training cycles, and developed my mental focus, resilience, and practice for performance.
- I am the first person from my region to qualify for nationals in three different events (someone else has probably done it since!)
- I didn't mean to go to music school - but I was too short for a rowing scholarship at my sports med dream school, so I went through the NCAA div 1 recruiting machine.
- The University of Cincinnati called and offered me a full scholarship - I asked a friend if they had a music school and she laughed at me. I felt like a stupid outsider, but immediately set up the rowing recruiting visit for the weekend of CCM auditions, and didn't tell either the rowing team or CCM what I was up to.
- I took more lessons with Mr. Eisenberg in the 2 months before school auditions, and got into every conservatory I applied to (waitlisted at one school).
- On the audition / recruiting visit for CCM, I met Masao Kawasaki and knew that he was someone I want to learn from and train with.
- Rowing taught me mental toughness and performance excellence - but nothing prepared me for the harsh interpersonally-competitive, often destructive realities of music school. My switch from elite athlete to clueless conservatory student was a culture shock that planted the seeds for the rest of my career.
- Kawasaki was an inspiring teacher who unlocked many secrets of the viola, and was extremely supportive of me as a person as well as a musician. Mr. Edward Nowacki was also amazing, and not only is an expert historian, but is kind and grows the most beautiful roses. I still have friends from CCM, but struggled to connect at the time.
- I loved music, I loved playing in ensembles, getting better at my instrument, and collectively striving for excellence - though I often felt lost in the practice room and ended up spending hours of unfocused, unsupported "work" - a huge departure from the science-backed structure and accompaniment of my sports background. I didn't know how to plan a "training cycle" or know that I was really covering all my bases in the practice room.
- I was a motivated student trying to absorb everything my teacher said, preparing festival and academy auditions, scholarhsip competitions, and school auditions, stressed out about my senior recital, and wondering about my future.
- Performances and exams were either terrifying or I completely dissociated, and I was mentally unprepared.
- The hostile conservatory environment beat out most of my natural spark and inner music. I quit because of a culture that made me feel that leaving music felt like the only way to move forward, not because I didn't love music or wasn't willing to "put the work in". There's a big difference between being and safely building excellence.
- At the end of my bachelor's degree I was burned out, depressed, in an undiagnosed auto-immune storm, had a pinched nerve, gained 50 lbs, with carpal tunnel syndrome and tendonitis - and I quit the viola forever after one last festival in Italy.
Get on the list for the Conservatory Survival Guide HERE
- This picture is from the summer after my undergraduate degree while in an opera festival in Lucca, Italy. It was bittersweet ending because the festival was truly amazing. I was principal viola under the legendary Larry Rachleff, played chamber music with the faculty string quartet, and I finally experienced what music-making could be. However, with debilitating injuries that made my hands just stop doing what my brain was telling them to do - I couldn't make it through the last quartet concert. I was 22.
- I decided that if I wanted to be around art, it needed to be on the administrative side, so I went to grad school for Arts Administration, and made it my new mission to connect people and art.
- My superpower is strategic planning, helping struggling organizations find the good and boost the rest. I loved helping with board retreats, getting the mission aligned with action, and getting the tools together so the whole organization could resonate and make a more imactful difference. But there was something missing - my musical voice.
- In my own journey, there were heroes everywhere, even if I couldn't see them right away. I missed music-making, and part of me dreamed of becoming the player I felt deep inside that I could be. Whilst working in Aspen (but not for the festival), a family friend, the luthier from my hometown David Stone, the luthier from the festival Joan Balter, and teacher dynamo Heidi Curatolo conspired to get my viola back into my hands. I'm forever grateful.
- But coming back after a long break was hard. I was a beginner again, and it felt like an impossible mountain. I felt like the technical abilities and confidence I built were hiding without a path - it was sometimes discouraging, overwhelming and stressful.
- I felt self-conscious about my skills compared to others who have been consistently practicing, and I felt impossibly too far behind my colleagues. (How am I going to catch up?!) I was afraid of judgment and hesitated joining ensembles or performing as I confronted past experiences, unresolved feelings, and unmet expectations from my musical journey.
- Coming back as an adult, I acutely felt the loss of muscle memory, flexibility, and stamina, increasing the risk of injuries and required more time to rebuild strength and technique. I struggled to set achievable goals and manage my expectations, which often lead to frustration and disappointment in my progress.
- However, I had fresh eyes on practicing for performance. My old sports training met my new musical practice and I started to map out and understand the essential elements of music, as well as the performance training cycle. I drew diagrams, and even shared a little bit of my work - but didn't believe in myself enough yet to really lean in. (I should do a blog about this!)
- I struggle with several chronic and autoimmune diseases (thyroid, dermatomyositis, audhd), and I can confirm that balancing the demands of a music practice and career with chronic health conditions is hard.
- I've had to balance my long-term musical goals and aspirations with adapting to life's challenges: managing my energy, being resilient and giving myself grace during flare-ups, scheduling surgeries and treatments strategically in the performing and teaching seasons, and being really intentional about managing my time.
- Sometimes I have to adjust my practice routine to accommodate physical limitations. I've found ways to continue growing efficiently, with flexible frameworks that work for me when I struggle to maintain consistency and motivation. But yeah - the struggle is real.
- Also, even when it would "be easier" to take a different professional path, and even though it sounds really cheesy, I find hope and deep inspiration in music. I am so grateful for the ability to learn, grow, make music, and I lean on the amazing, transformative music I get to play as a coping partner through the tough times.
- I got attacked on the street and I broke my left thumb, requiring several surgeries and resulting in a permanent handicap. I lost a minor third in LH stretch - which is a LOT for a violist.
- This completely interrupted my audition trajectory, and for several months wasn't sure that I'd ever be able to play again. (Cue existential crisis!)
- I had to completely re-evaluate my playing, performing, and practice - starting from zero yet again - and learn to play for the third time. (The first was as teenager, the second was after my 5-year pause, and the hand was the third!)
- However, I knew that I needed to play again. I had already struggled with the emotional blocks to come back to music - so I was internally motivated to reconnect with the music I had overcome so much to find. However, it was a long process, and I feel like I have a different left hand. I had to completely relearn my LH technique.
- While I've recovered to a completely professional level, navigating the challenges and opportunities presented by injury is constantly present, requiring incredible adaptability and being able to evolve in the face of setbacks. I consistently advance again in auditions when I prepare them, but this injury was a huge blow to my ambitions and trajectory.
- In the past couple years, I've been more attracted to play chamber music, and in inspiring, dynamic ensembles and amazing orchestras - and enjoy traveling to share SPARK Practice. I'm not sure if I really want an orchestra job - but I enjoy the challenge of preparing auditions, and started Audition Club for players to do regular online mocks for eachother to prepare for upcoming auditons and performances.
- Overall, I've learned to embrace the journey and imposed transformation through serious injury: and have gained the resilience and determination required to return to performance physically ready, learning neuroscience for lightning-efficiency in practice, and mentally stronger than ever.
- After I moved to France, I decided to go back to school. I was easily 5-10 years older than most of my colleagues, hadn't had a teacher in 7 years, and was 5 years "behind" in my career - but I was determined to become the player I'd dreamed of being.
- I know what it's like to strive for artistic excellence, while struggling to find a work/life balance, and paying my bills. Establishing a career while spending the energy necessary to be effective in auditions is a big challenge.
- For a long time, I was in scarcity mode: always in a practice room at the lunch break, staying until the building closed long after my teaching hours were over, sneaking into practice rooms even to get in another 15 minutes of practice. I struggled with feeling rusty and less competitive than colleagues who had experienced fewer obstacles - and very much struggled to feel worthy (one of the biggest secret ingredients in winning a job!).
- I didn't say no to anything, ran a concert series with 3 concerts per month, was a salaried professor in a music school, and took as many auditions as I could pay to get to. I spent a lot of time and money spinning my wheels instead of making deep intentional impact. I met a lot of people, but didn't give myself the chance to make deep connections with fellow musicians, teachers, and mentors to seek guidance, advice, and support during my transition back into the competitive scene.
- Eventually I met some impactful mentors and teachers like Laurent Verney and Olivier Grimoin, and friends who were well-established in major orchestras - and the gap between me and most of my colleagues closed. My mind settled, and I felt the power of persistence, self-motivation, and intentional work (on the instrument and in myself).
- I loved my students in my teaching studios before I left to work on SPARK Practice. I am passionate about helping people find their spark and sharing my love for music, so I find working with different kinds of students so inspiring - setting up young musicians (and older - my oldest student was 65!) with all the encouragement, great technique, and performance strategies to support them in their own relationship to music - nurturing resilience and setting them up for success in whatever they wanted their music-making to look. (Je vous aime Ecole des 4'Zarts & les professeurs collègues de La Garenne Colombes!)
- Even though sometimes I still feel old feelings of insecurity and not being good enough, I know that I have evolved and done the work to step into nervous system security and cultivate supportive mindsets that let me be the person and player I want to be.
- This picture was from the day before a Philharmonia Orchestra audition where I advanced and played "the most beautiful Mahler 10 of the audition". Woohoo!
- As an elite musician, you know that we constantly face high expectations from ourselves and others, which can lead to significant stress and anxiety when preparing for and participating in competitions and auditions. I closed the gap with my playing level, but had a lot of catching up to do with performance consistency and mindset. I participated in some coaching programs, continued to take lessons, and finally had some breakthroughs for myself.
- I pulled out my old diagrams from rowing and elite sports training and started to apply them to audition preparation. While it wasn't totally bulletproof yet, I started winning, or at least consistently passing rounds in auditions. (I've figured it out since - and it works.)
- Every single audition that I won, I knew walking in that I was going to perform well. I didn't know for sure that I was going to win, but it didn't matter: I could feel that my internal light and preparation were lined up and ready to connect with the committee.
- I had figured it out and was consistently advancing - I was in shape, performing well, and totally dedicated. It was almost "my turn".
- Through my experience in elite sports, top conservatory training, and applied neuroscience - with numerous professional success and some major setbacks - I knew how to be an elite performer. But I was still cycling unhelpful self-talk and was generally pretty mean to myself. The missing piece was mindfulness.
- Also suffering from deep anxiety, my former teacher Laurent Verney planted the seeds of mindfulness in our work together. I saw how he applied mindfulness techniques for mental strength and powerful performance mindsets - and started my own path to mindful self-acceptance.
- Through these practices, I discovered a new source of calm, connection, and inner strength, in several areas:
- Practice: finding peace and joy in the process, using neuroplasticity and mindfulness to build and cultivate supportive, helpful mindsets through Intentional Practice.
- Mindset: this is mindfulness in action! Starting with curiosity, through growth, intentionally making decisions and building in nervous system safety to support your actions and system even under pressure.
- Performance: improving focus, concentration, and emotional regulation through the integration of performance mindsets and general mental resilience and strength - to support me in stressful situations so I can still authentically and freely share my music.
- Mindfulness practices like journaling, self-reflection, breathing exercises, and putting it into my practice, mindset, and performance has transformed my potential into possibility.
- I've been teaching, mentoring, and coaching (sports too!) for over 20 years, with students in every phase of their career.
- When I started applying the tools I discovered, my teaching and performing transformed and I honed my approach into flexible, adaptable frameworks that work.
- I've also continued to research stress, anxiety, and nervous system regulation, and you can find this work and courses through Nervous System Neutral (SPARK Practice for Everyone!).
- Through SPARK Practice, I support motivated musicians, passionate teachers, and invested parents to facilitate a neurologically-aligned converstaion between the muscian, their instrument, their teachers, and their audience.
- I want to communicate my love for music with my unique, proven frameworks for Practice, Mindset, and Performance. I believe that every musician can get out of your own way and that you can become the player you want to be.
- Find out more about SPARK Practice below
- Get Started with SPARK Practice now
- See SPARK Practice in action
My performer bio / CV is HERE
My personal website www.sarahniblack.com
- Most of the time now, I love my life, and I've found that takes practice. I'm sometimes not great at managing it all, but I'm learning to ask for help, which helps me connect more and also show up better for the people I love - that's why we practice the practice (omg who talks like that 😅)
- I try to embrace my own authenticity and purpose: letting myself love what I love, celebrate my quirkiness, prioritizing my well-being and happiness while pursuing my musical aspirations. Woot woot wiggle wiggle!
- Performing is a huge part of my career, and here's my performing CV if you're interested: www.sarahniblack.com
- I want to foster a better way to learn and teach music on every level. ⚡️SPARK Practice is here to revolutionize musical practice for performance, cultivate supportive mindsets, and neuroscience-driven accelerated healthy peak performance.
- I can't wait to support you and learn more about you. Let's connect!
I want to get to know you! What are your dreams, your challenges? Send me a message HERE!
I wanted to circle back and say THANK YOU AGAIN.
It’s truly been a transformative experience for me and I’ve emerged having gained more confidence, insight and joy for making music.
I’ve really been needing for a long time. In previous years of my musical studies, I’ve faced many difficulties with how to practice effectively. Never having felt I learned how to practice, many insecurities arose and made life very challenging.
Your commitment to creating a safe space and helping me envision my full potential has given me newfound energy to achieve my goals. I couldn’t be more grateful for your enthusiasm, passion and support. It made the world of a difference.
ARI, Grad Student, USA
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