https://www.musical-u.com/learn/7-ways-accelerate-ear-training/
We all love shortcuts! Paths that make any experience faster and more enjoyable.
To supercharge your ear training and move faster to your musical goals, here are 7 tips to accelerate from the Musical U team.
https://www.musical-u.com/learn/7-ways-accelerate-ear-training/
https://www.musical-u.com/learn/sight-reading-music-why-to-do-it-and-how-to-improve/
Imagine living in the modern world and being illiterate. Think of all the great information that you would miss! Yet, that is how many approach the timeless art of sightreading.
For a useful work-around to speed up your progress, the Musical U team has put together these tips.
https://www.musical-u.com/learn/sight-reading-music-why-to-do-it-and-how-to-improve/
https://www.musical-u.com/learn/4-reasons-youre-old-musician/
Music is a beautiful thing.
No matter your age, you can add the joy of music to your life and experience the fulfillment of playing an instrument.
https://www.musical-u.com/learn/4-reasons-youre-old-musician/
https://www.musical-u.com/learn/5-best-practices-for-online-song-collaboration/
Collaboration among musicians is nothing new to the business. The Beatles, for one, were formed as a result of several individuals deciding to work together as a group, all the way back in the late 1950s.
With the change in technology, can you make it work for you for song collaboration? With Tunedly
https://www.musical-u.com/learn/5-best-practices-for-online-song-collaboration/
https://www.musical-u.com/learn/the-wonderful-phenomenon-of-terrible-lyrics/
Are the lyrics of a song that important? It’s tempting to say yes, but there are many examples of songs that became quite popular… even though the lyrical content was terrible!
Learn more about this intriguing phenomenon https://www.musical-u.com/learn/the-wonderful-phenomenon-of-terrible-lyrics/
David Andrew Wiebe from Music Entrepreneur HQ discusses the importance of approaching your musical journey with a long-term mindset, and how this sets you up for success and growth.
Listen to the episode:
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Christopher: I’ve got something special and a bit different for you today. Recently we had David Andrew Wiebe from Music Entrepreneur HQ come in to Musical U to present a masterclass, on the topic of “Entrepreneurial Essentials for Musicians”, and he covered some really fantastic stuff around mindset, and following through on projects, motivation, and in short how to really be as effective as possible in your musical life.
Today I wanted to share a particularly great section of that presentation where David was talking about taking a long-term mindset to music, and the importance of nurturing your love of music itself. It’s a bit that really stuck with me, and although there were a bunch of really great lessons before and after this bit of the presentation, I think it also stands alone okay and you’ll be able to really get something from it.
Fittingly, you might need to take a long-term mindset, because this may not be something that knocks your socks off immediately, but let it sit with you and over the next few days I think you’ll really start to see some of the wisdom that’s packed into this short section.
David: All right. Okay. So next, adopting a long-term mindset. I’ve taught hundreds of guitar, bass, ukulele and piano students through the years and that just happens as you continue to follow that path of being a music instructor. People come and go, you work for different studios, you teach people in their homes, and over the time that number of people just continues to add up, so it’s been hundreds of students to this point. The difference between someone who stuck with it, and this is what I’ve noticed, and improved versus someone who rarely practiced and didn’t improve, was a love of music. That’s not something I can foster in you. It wasn’t something I was able to foster in any of my students. They had to foster it within themselves.
So here’s a little challenge, if you can’t list your favorite artists in the heads off the top of your head, you might be in trouble. You may not be as passionate or have as much of a love of music that you need to be able to improve on your instrument, and so what I would do is I would develop a genuine interest in music and begin to follow your impulses. Get a magazine subscription or join an online community, or begin reading about the artists that fascinate you and pitch your interest. This is exactly what I did. For instance, when I first started playing guitar, I was listening to quite a bit of rap and hip hop music and one of my favorite groups at the time was The Beastie Boys and you might know Adam Yauch or MCA. He talked about how he’d become obsessed with Jimi Hendrix at different points in his career and I found that intriguing, so it wasn’t long before I started listening to Jimi Hendrix and then learning his songs on guitar.
But none of that would’ve happened if I didn’t pick up the guitar to begin with and I didn’t have a teacher helping me along and show me how to play guitar, but as I began to follow that track, I started developing a love for classic rock and rock music in general. Of course the blues too was pretty significant, because in a way Jimi Hendrix was kind of a blues player, depends who you ask. Some people say he was more rock, or funkadelia or psychedelia and what have you, but that was definitely at the core of his playing, was blues. So I started going down that path as well.
So your love of music will carry you through any disillusionment or setbacks you might experience in trying to learn an instrument. Like I talked about, most of my bands that I’ve been a part of broke up within a year to a year and a half. Those were at times pretty heartbreaking experiences because I could see us going somewhere. There’s one band called Angels Breaking Silence, we were getting the types of gigs that I hadn’t been getting in any other group or even solo such as cap gigs and skate park gigs and outdoor gigs and things like that, to where I thought, “There’s real potential here. We just have to keep honing our craft and make some great shows,” but unfortunately, people in the band had different ideas. So there’s something to be said for vetting the people you work with, but until you have some of those experiences, sometimes it’s hard to know what people are looking for, so it is going to be a little bit of trial and error and hunting around for the right people.
Now, many people overestimate what they can do in a year and underestimate what they can do in 10 years. That’s kind of classic Tony Robbins, but it is very true. Don’t think about what you can do today or in a year, keep at it and begin thinking about what’s possible, three years, five years, seven years, or even 10 years down the line, and then work daily towards the achievement of what you envisioned in your mind. The mind is a very powerful tool we’re ever capable of visualizing and seeing a future for ourselves, and so utilize that. Take advantage of that.
There is something magical about that number, 10 years, just look at the Beatles, Metallica, or even Billy Talent. It took them 10 years to break through in their careers, as it’s often been said, every overnight success has been 10 years in the making. If it even took the best bands that long to get to where they want to go, why would it be any different for you and I? So no matter what it is you’re looking to accomplish and you don’t need to aspire to be the Beatles or Metallica or Billy Talent, you can start at whatever level that you want your career to be, or even just learning an instrument, whatever level, but think about what feels good tomorrow, not just today, and that helps you make longterm decisions around that.
Now we’re going to talk a little bit about taking responsibility for your own growth. Unfortunately, I think it’s something that a lot of people don’t do.
Christopher: I hope you enjoyed that short excerpt from our Musical U masterclass with David Andrew Wiebe.
Now if you’re wanting more of David’s insights, please check out his website musicentrepreneurhq.com.
Of course if you’re a member of Musical U you’ll find the full masterclass waiting for you inside the members website. And if you’re not yet a member head to musicalitypodcast.com/join for a special podcast listeners offer on membership. At the time of recording that actually lets you try Musical U in full for free for 7 days, so you could watch this masterclass plus a dozen others, as well as getting full access to our 50+ training modules and a lot more. This offer may change or expire in future so if you’re curious then do head on over to musicalitypodcast.com/join and dive in. And I’ll see you in there!
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The post About Taking a Long-Term Mindset appeared first on Musical U.
https://www.musical-u.com/learn/crazy-easy-weird-modal-improv-trick/
Learning to improvise in modes can’t be easy. Or, can it? Today Musical U will show you a simple way to do modal improvisation with a piano.
Even if you have never touched a piano before! Learn this crazy easy improv trick…
https://www.musical-u.com/learn/crazy-easy-weird-modal-improv-trick/
https://www.musical-u.com/learn/how-does-ear-training-work/
Is ear training a magical skill?
There are 3 stages to ear training, and we will walk you through what it means to train your ears in this article 🎶
https://www.musical-u.com/learn/how-does-ear-training-work/
https://www.musical-u.com/masterclass-registration/
Improvisation is one of the most coveted musical skills, but can be a tricky beast to approach if you don’t have a framework or concrete tools for it.
This month, we’re delighted to have Forrest Kinney, the man behind the Pattern Play series, with us for a masterclass on improvisation.
Join us as Forrest presents his imaginative, pattern-based approach to improvising – a method that both beginners and experienced players will find accessible and exciting. After the presentation, you’ll have the unique opportunity to ask him any burning questions you have about improv!
https://www.musical-u.com/masterclass-registration/
Our traditional western music education system has the concept of improvisation backward.
Many of us have been led to believe that improv is something that happens only after we’ve learned a heap of scales and chords inside out and become Jedi masters of our instruments. But while we give all respect to our monster improv heroes, we at Musical U have come to believe that improvisation can be a faithful companion from the very first step of your musical journey.
In fact, you can begin your improvisation with just one, two, or three notes.
The most magical thing about learning three-note improv is that this exercise isn’t just for beginners – in fact, many competent shredders have found new meaning in their improv by breaking it down to just a few notes, and focusing intently on the rhythm, dynamics, articulation, and other musical dimensions that can be lost when trying to squeeze too many notes into too little space.
Singers, on the other hand, are often used to some extent of playing improvisationally with their voices. However, a musical topic that mystifies many singers is harmonies. Why do some singers seem to naturally sink right into those sweet sounds, while others are totally baffled?
So while in this month’s Instrument Packs the Guitar, Bass, and Piano Pros will show just how deep you can go with just three notes, Singing Pro Clare Wheeler shows how a little dose of music theory takes the mystery out of creating beautiful harmonies.
In this Resource Pack, Resident Singing Pro Clare Wheeler looks at one of the ways we can create our own harmony lines to a melody. There are several different ways we can do this, but this particular video is about using parallel harmony in thirds. This means that we need to understand which scale degree the melody is on, and go up a third from there:
Including:
Clare demonstrates clearly that just a little music theory can be a singer’s best friend – especially when it comes to creating beautiful harmonies.
When learning to improvise, it’s alarmingly easy to put all of your focus onto note choice and scale work. While important, this sort of work is only the tip of the iceberg. There are many other facets that need to be developed if you want to sound like a true master of the instrument. Resident Pro Dylan Welsh demonstrates how three little notes can open up a world of musicality for guitar players:
Including:
This kind of practice is very, very structured and targeted. It may feel like work, but if you put the time in, it will make a massive difference in your improvising (as well as in all other aspects of your guitar playing).
Improvisation can be scary when we think about the 88 different options on the piano.
The truly scary thing is that there are even more options than that! When we improvise we’re not just thinking about which notes to play, but when we play them, how long we play them for, and how we play them. Too many options right?
In this resource pack, Guest Piano Pro for piano, Ruth Power, teaches how to simplify and expand into new musical dimensions:
Including:
We can create something musically textured with just three notes or even less by focussing on how we can make each note special. This makes it interesting for the listener and expresses an idea or feeling rather than running up and down the requisite scale as fast as possible!
Why improvise with only 3 notes!? Because limiting your note choices will refocus your mind on many other aspects of your playing and creativity that make your playing sound much more musical. Steve Lawson, our Resident Pro for bass, takes us on a systematic tour of three-note improv that will bring a deeper sense of musicality to everything you play:
Including:
Who says bassists have to sit in the corner while everyone else gets the glory? With just three notes you bring your improv out front.
Singers will continue to grow their harmony skills, while bass, piano, and guitar will learn to improvise with harmonic tension and release.
Interested in getting access to these resources and much more, with an Instrument Pack membership? Just choose that option during checkout when you join Musical U, or upgrade your existing membership to get instant access!
The post Improv 1, 2, 3 and Harmonization, Part 1: Resource Pack Preview appeared first on Musical U.
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