Category: Uncategorized

https://www.musical-u.com/learn/listening-for-diminished-triads/
To mix up your songs, there are many different types of chords that can add interest and harmonic variety. Learn more about the diminished chord with Musical U. https://www.musical-u.com/learn/listening-for-diminished-triads/

But what about the inspirational fellow musicians that you’ve picked up a few tricks from? The YouTube channels that have helped cement your understanding of music theory? The coach who helped you beat your stage fright?

Music education is so much more than just your regular lessons. In every musician’s path, they will have musical mentors, idols, collaborators, and teachers of all kinds – both real and virtual, in the form of podcasts, apps, YouTube tutorials, and, of course, online music learning communities like Musical U.

This week is an ode to the teachers behind your musical journey. We interview Andy Wasserman – first a student and then a long-time associate and collaborator of master music theorist George Russell (the creator of the musical framework known as the Lydian Chromatic Concept of Tonal Organization). The creator of the Tune In, Tone Up podcast, a show featuring live guitar lessons, discusses the merits of learning through podcasts. This week’s teaching episode on the Musicality Podcast discusses the roles of teachers, coaches, and mentors in your musical journey, and the specific things each can do for you. And finally, we talk about that harsh, often unforgiving teacher – stage fright – and the lessons you can learn from this anxiety to ensure better performances in the future.

July’s Masterclass

Remember! July’s Masterclass with Note2Self’s Lisa McCormick is coming up fast this Saturday, July 21st, at 3 PM UTC (click here to see that in your timezone).

In her hourlong tutorial, Lisa will be sharing the Note2Self Method for Mindful Practicing, a skill that will help you make the most of your practice time so you can see the results of your hard work faster.

Register here, and we’ll see you this Saturday!

Beating Stage Fright

The bad news about clamming up: those performance-related nerves are a part of human nature, something that will never quite go away.

The good news: with some mindfulness and preparation, you can minimize those anxious thoughts, and give the performance of a lifetime – whether it’s your first open mic or a big, long-awaited concert.

In 10 Tips for Conquering Stage Fright, we discuss a mind-and-body approach for making sure that your nerves never ruin a gig for you again – with advice on self-care, preparation, logistics, and everything in between.

If we can simulate space flight, we should be able to simulate anything! Live performance is one of the most frightening things that many new (and seasoned) musicians have to become more comfortable doing. Learn more about a performance simulator that helps you prepare for live performance with StageFright.com.

We don’t often talk about how physical playing a musical instrument can be. Just like athletes, we need to incorporate some basic exercises into our routines to loosen up our muscles so that we can perform at our highest levels. Cello Bello demonstrates with some stretching exercises.

Imagine having to play two very different gigs in a very short amount of time. That’s exactly what R.J. Ronquillo found himself having to do when playing both a country show and heavy metal show. So, how did he prepare for these two shows? Learn more about his process, which can be used by any musician on the big or small stage.

Rediscovering Lydian

In recent times, we’ve done quite a lot of discussion on the fascinating topic of the Lydian Chromatic Concept of Tonal Organization.

This week, we’re excited to release our interview with Andy Wasserman, a pupil and long-time associate of George Russell, the creator of the Lydian Chromatic Concept.

In Growing Into A Mighty Oak, with Andy Wasserman, Andy talks about his music mentors, the concept of “talent”, and of course, the Lydian Chromatic Concept, a fascinating framework for understanding and teaching music that will change the way you approach your practice forever.

If you are anything like us here at Musical U, you may want to dive further into the Lydian Chromatic Concept to learn more. There are so many things that we can learn from the work of George Russell. Adam Neely recently sat down with Rick Beato, another student of George Russell, to explore the concept and its role in music education.

If you want to know more about music, music theory, and the music industry, there is almost no bigger authority than Rick Beato. Much like Andy Wasserman and Musical U’s own Andrew Bishko, Rick also studied with George Russell and has first-hand knowledge of the Lydian Chromatic Concept. Rick explores how the magical Lydian mode is used in modern film to create a sense of wonder and epicness.

There are so many great examples of how to use Lydian in your music, it’s hard to pick just one! We scoured the internet and found a fantastic lesson from Geeky Guitarist demonstrating a solo by the great John Petrucci of Dream Theater. Enjoy picking apart this solo and getting this new tonality under your fingers.

Tune In, Tone Up!

Podcasts have done wonders for how we learn, when we learn, and how much. It is now perfectly possible to finish off a slew of household chores while listening to an interview with your favourite musician, or learning about that new-to-you theory concept through a podcast episode.

Gary Shilladay and Dan Davies are the guys behind the excellent Tune In, Tone Up podcast, a show that focusses on Gary’s guitar lessons with Dan and the practical and performance-related skills learned along the way. In Podcast to Performance, with Tune In, Tone Up, Gary discusses the vast benefits of podcasts, recommends some excellent shows on everything from theory to improvisation, and talks about the behind-the-scenes of his own show.

Gary shared some great podcasts that he listens to as part of his music education. We wanted to do something a little different and list a couple of different podcasts that you may enjoy as part of your musical journey.

Hack Music Theory is a fascinating podcast which goes into all elements of music theory, explaining it in ways that are both easy to understand and can be implemented during your music practice. You’re going to love Kate and Ray Harmony (a. k. a. Revolution Harmony) and their no-nonsense approach to music education.

An increasingly popular musical instrument in the past years has been the ukulele. Musicians can’t seem to get enough of this fun instrument, and enjoy arranging popular songs to play on the uke. Ukulele Undergrounds has a live podcast every Thursday where they answer questions about the instrument and help new and seasoned Ukulele players expand their abilities.

Podcasts cover pretty much any topic that you can imagine – there’s even one that discusses the music of one the greatest bands of all time, The Beatles. Dive deeper into your knowledge of the Fab Four with this show from Beatles Examiner.

Teachers vs. Coaches

Throughout your musical journey, you will have many people who play an inspirational and educational role in your learning progress – often in very different ways. One might help you brush up on your instrumental technique, one might guide your professional development, and a third might help you overcome stage fright.

In About Teachers, Coaches, and Mentors, we will be discussing the distinction between the three roles, how each can benefit your learning journey, and how you can determine which you need in certain junctions of your musical path.

This way, you will know what to expect of your teacher, coach, and mentor – and can decide whether you are getting the support you need in your musical journey.

Music teachers have typically stuck with the 30-minute music lesson, but that is often just not enough time to get into some of the topics that students need to really develop. The Full Voice criticizes the 30 minute lesson, and discusses why teachers should extend the time in order to touch on the finer aspects of musicality.

One thing that many professionals have come to love about coaches is that they give you a direction: the motivation and roadmap for how to get to where you want to go. Coaches don’t tell you what to do, but they provide the direction for how you can get it done. Music coach Mark Desvaux provides some great tips for achieving your best year as a musician in this guide.

There is something really special about the relationship between a mentor and mentee, and there have been many articles written about the impact that this relationship has had on the professional development of the mentee. However, finding a mentor in your area isn’t always easy. Fortunately, the internet provides a seemingly unlimited number of resources. Angela Mastrogiacomo discusses two excellent ways to find a mentor online.

The Many Teachers of Your Musical Journey

Your body of learning experiences as a musician will not come from a single source – rather, you will have a multitude of teachers, both real and virtual, one-on-one and in a group setting.

Embrace the alternative and supplementary learning that technology can give you – whether through podcasts, apps, and videos – and integrate it with traditional learning, whether through teaching, coaching, or mentoring.

The post Beat Stage Fright, Rediscover Lydian, Tune In, Tone Up!, and Teachers vs. Coaches appeared first on Musical U.

https://www.musical-u.com/learn/finding-tonic-major-keys/
From passionate amateurs to professional musicians, finding the tonic is the key to playing or singing in tune. Learn more about getting started here: https://www.musical-u.com/learn/finding-tonic-major-keys/

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Links and Resources

• Interview with Andy Wasserman
• Interview with Jimmy Rotheram
• Interview with David Row
• Interview with Jeremy Dittus
• Interview with Casey McCann
• Interview with Shelle Soelberg
• Scott’s Bass Lessons
• TimTopham.com
• Interview with Steve Nixon
• FreeJazzLessons.com
• Interested in Platinum Coaching for musicality? Just email hello@musicalitypodcast.com and put “Platinum Coaching” in the subject line

Transcript

Today we’re going to be talking about teachers, coaches and mentors, and the role each can play in your musical journey. This is picking up on something Andy Wasserman said in our recent, about the distinction between an instructor and a mentor, and the way he talked about the huge impact his mentors specifically had had on him.

These three words, “teacher”, “coach” and “mentor”, don’t have universally-accepted fixed definitions, and so the three are often blurred together. You’ll encounter teachers who actually provide a lot of coaching too, or mentors who are happy to act more as a coach, and so on. And within each of these three categories there are a few distinctions to be aware of too.

So like with our recent episodes about the word “tone”, it’s helpful to have a clear definition of each in mind, so that when you encounter the words being used out in your musical life, you have the mental model to make sure you understand what the person means by that word, and clarify if you need to.

Why are we talking about this on The Musicality Podcast? Well, because aside from talking specifically about musicality skills, we’re also all about taking ownership of your musical life and being aware of all the possibilities available to you – not just the rigidly-defined status quo you might have encountered so far.

So I’m hoping that by talking through these three roles you’ll have your mind opened up a bit to some new options that might be exciting for you – and you’ll feel more clear and confident when people talk about teaching, coaching or mentoring in music in future.

Now I’m not going to be saying that mine are the only correct definitions or that anyone else is wrong in how they use these words.

But hopefully by providing you with one clear set of definitions it means when you go out there and encounter people using them in various ways you’ll be equipped to pick apart what they actually mean.

For example, is this teacher actually providing you with useful coaching too or do you need to find one who can? Does this person who’s offering to mentor you actually have in mind more teaching than mentoring? Is what you need to move your music and your Musicality forwards now more teaching, more coaching or more mentoring?

Sound good? Let’s get started.

Overall, I think one really helpful way to think about it is this:

• A teacher helps you with knowledge, explanations, and skills
• A coach helps you with performance or effectiveness, and
• A mentor helps with your identity: who you’re choosing to become

About Teachers

We’re all pretty familiar with the idea of a teacher, or “instructor” in music. But as we’ll be talking about, that role of teacher can often get blurred with coaching and mentoring.

And in this age where a YouTube video or online course might be playing the part of “teacher” for you it’s important to understand what a teacher should be providing and what’s actually beyond the role of a teacher.

I believe teaching is about developing knowledge, understanding and skills.

The value you receive from a teacher is generally going to be in them telling you facts, explaining concepts or giving feedback about what you’re doing to guide you through learning specific, concrete skills.

In music we often separate into two groups: an “instrument teacher” who is providing instruction, normally one-on-one, on how to play an instrument. And a “music teacher” who is teaching music in a broader way, normally in a classroom environment and more often for children than adults.

Your instrument teacher may well explain some music theory along the way, and a music teacher will often be teaching some instrument skills to support what they’re covering. But unfortunately, as we’ve covered many times here on the podcast before, both types of music teaching often neglect what I see as the third vital area: alongside instrument skills and music theory, there are ear skills – and, more broadly, musicality as a whole.

There are some types of music teacher who will always include these – and the big established systems we’ve mentioned here on the podcast before are:

• Kodály, in our episode with Jimmy Rotheram,
• Orff, in our episode with David Rowe, and
• Dalcroze, in our episode with Jeremy Dittus

There are also many music schools or independent teachers who will put a focus on musicality skills alongside instruments and music theory, such as past guest Casey McCann of the Eclectic Music School in Atlanta, and the Let’s Play Music program whose founder Shelle Soelberg was also a past guest on the show.
We’ll have links in the shownotes to those episodes if you want to know more.

I was very fortunate myself to have some amazing music teachers and instrument teachers growing up – but looking back, the musicality side was terribly neglected. And now, when I’m making decisions about music education for my daughters I’m better informed about what will empower them in their musical life. So for example, I didn’t just choose a fun and entertaining music class for my two-and-a-half year old, I specifically sought out one that would be fun – and based on solid Kodály principles, so that she’ll be learning the “inner skills” of music along the way and putting an amazing foundation in place early on.

So clearly music teaching can take a variety of forms, but it’s all about transfering knowledge, understanding, and abilities. And I think it’s helpful to ask yourself: Is the teaching covering the big three, of instrument skills, music theory, and ear skills (or musicality).

About Coaches

Coaching is the least well defined of the three roles. In my experience there are two distinct types of “coaching” you’ll encounter.

The first is common in the worlds of sports or acting, where essentially the highest level teachers start to work on mindset and psychology as well as skill development and they are now called a “coach” instead of a “teacher”. For example a tennis coach may well be doing drills with you to fix a problem with your backhand – but also talking you through the mental game to prepare you for a big match.

This mindset side of things is getting into what I said defined coaching, that it’s about performance or effectiveness. Making sure you can actually follow through the best possible on the skills you’ve learned.

The value you receive from this type of coach is making sure that all the preparation you’ve done learning skills with a teacher actually pays off for you in the moment when it comes time to perform. And naturally there’s an extra dimension to that when the coach is coaching a whole team and doing both teaching and coaching to help the team work well together.

The second type of coaching is common in the worlds of business or personal development where it is very clearly defined by professional bodies.

The value you receive from a coach of this type is in reflecting back what you’ve said or done so that you can see it objectively, and asking powerful questions to help move your thinking forward or get you past sticking points.

I consider myself to be a fairly clear-thinking and self-aware person – but I know that when I’ve worked with a coach of this type it’s let me unravel confusion and spot new opportunities vastly better than just trying to work through it all alone.

So those two roles are both called “coaches” and the common factor is that it’s about performance. The first type, the sports or acting coach, will often be doing some teaching too. The second type generally won’t, they are there to draw information and insights out from you rather than providing them themselves.

Generally speaking, I think coaching in music tends to fall into the first category, where a coach will help you with the performance side of being a musician and the mental game of it all, but might also be acting as your teacher for advanced-level skills.

About Mentors

The final role is that of “mentor”. I think culturally we all have a rough understanding of what a mentor is: a person we see as a role model for us – and with whom we have a relationship, so that we can actually learn directly from them, not just admire from afar.

Often we assume they’ll be doing it for free, out of the goodness of their heart – and generally because mentors are substantially older than you and so may not be working any more. But paid mentoring is also common in certain arenas and can get you access to people who you don’t have any personal relationship with.

The value a mentor provides is in sharing their own wisdom and experience and offering their opinion on your best course of action. They’re probably not going to be telling you facts and explaining things the way a teacher does, or working through performance or mindset challenges with you like a coach. But by sharing their own experience or opinions they can help you see how to replicate their success in your own way.

In music mentoring most often happens for the career side of things. If you’re wanting to be a professional musician or you are already and want more career success, or perhaps you’re a recording artist wanting to break into the music industry, then often a mentor can help guide you based on their own experiences of becoming successful. But mentoring can happen outside the professional world too, for example many people choose to take instrument lessons with a particularly impressive performer, and that person is acting as a bit of a mentor as well as their teacher.

And one thing I should mention is that mentoring can happen sideways too – in the sense of peer mentoring. For example I’m good friends with other online music education experts, like Scott Devine from Scott’s Bass Lessons, the biggest bass guitar learning website in the world. Tim Topham, who runs one of the top online sites for piano teachers to become more creative in their teaching. Or Steve Nixon who runs the very popular freejazzlessons.com and who’s been a guest on the show before. And I wouldn’t consider any of them a mentor, as such – but we’ve certainly had conversations which fit that mentor model, where they’re not teaching me or coaching me but I’m learning a ton from their experience and wisdom.

So I just wanted to note that: don’t assume mentoring has to happen from an older, wiser, official “mentor” figure. Look for mentoring from anybody you admire, who might be right alongside you in their overall journey, but further ahead in certain aspects.

Teachers, Coaches and Mentors

All three of these roles can be impactful for your musical life. We’re all very familiar with the role of “music teacher”. But are they an “instrument teacher”, a “music teacher”, a bit of both? Where does learning “musicality” skills like we cover on this podcast fit into the picture? If you’re learning your instrument, music theory or ear training from resources rather than from a person in live lessons, how well are those resources filling the role of teacher? We said teaching was about relating facts, explaining concepts and giving feedback on what you’re doing to help you improve your skills. Are you getting those three things?

Is your teacher, whether a person or a set of resources, also providing some coaching or mentoring?

Do you want a coach at this stage, someone who can help you get your head right for performances, or help you keep your mindset strong while working through the challenges of building a music career?

Or perhaps what you need now is a mentor and it’s time to reach out to someone you look up to and see if you can accelerate your own journey with more success and less frustration by discovering exactly how they did what you want to do. And perhaps benefitting from their wisdom by asking for their opinion on your own plans.

Often it makes sense to progress through drawing on these three roles. Certainly in music, but it goes for other areas of life too, such as career or personal development. Early on you need a teacher to get the fundamental skills in place and begin your journey. Then once you’re up and running you probably need some help operating at the best possible level with the skills you’ve learned. And over time you find that you’re working fine within your own abilities but you could move further faster if someone else showed you which paths to follow or avoid.

I think there is a natural sequence there. But it’s definitely not strict! We should all be continually seeking to learn new skills from teachers, and sometimes good advice from a mentor or a powerful conversation or two with a coach can ensure you’re on the right track from the beginning so that the skills you’re developing and the effort you’re putting in aren’t wasted, and get you where you most want to go.

Hope these definitions help you have a clear mental framework for thinking about these things

For example at Musical U it’s really helpful for us to know that the core of what we provide is teaching.

Our modules provide information and explanation and practice material and feedback. And our team is on hand to provide the personal help to make sure that all works well for each member. Our teaching focuses predominantly on musicality skills – with a bit of theory included along the way, and with our Instrument Pack option to help with the instrument skills if you want that too.

Then coaching is something we offer as a separate service. We have a Platinum Coaching program providing high-level guidance for those who really want to improve quickly with the time they have available for their musicality training. It’s for people who are already members of Musical U with access to our teaching – but want coaching to help them be more effective and successful in that learning journey.

Actually if I’m being fully honest we blur the lines a bit there and do provide some teaching as needed. We’re not going to be sitting there running interval drills with you on your coaching call but if there’s something you don’t understand or want to know then our coaches are all Musicality experts and so can provide the explanations you need to keep moving forwards

And at Musical U we don’t do mentoring. Members are welcome to connect with each other and that may well lead to mentor/mentee relationships forming in the community. Especially of the “sideways mentoring” type I mentioned earlier.

But Musical U and the MU team are not there to mentor members. We offer teaching with personal support, and optionally coaching too.

And so that’s really helpful for us to understand and have be clear for our team and our members.

I hope that talking through this has helped you to understand what each of these roles could offer you in your musical life and how they each relate to one another. You will often find the words and roles being interchanged or overlapped – and that’s fine. But now you understand what each role can provide, so that if you are considering learning, being coached, or adopting a mentor – you’ll know what to expect and can get confirmation of that up front.

Of course if what you’re looking for is online teaching in musicality then please do consider becoming a member of Musical U, we would love to help you. And I mentioned our Platinum Coaching program there – that’s not something you’ll find offered publicly, it’s only available to existing members of Musical U. But if you’re interested to know more just drop an email to hello@musicalitypodcast.com and put “Platinum Coaching” in the subject line and we’ll get you some more details on that.

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The post About Teachers, Coaches, and Mentors appeared first on Musical U.

https://www.musical-u.com/learn/how-to-play-chords-by-ear-roadmap/
Have you wished you could hear a song and instantly know what the chords are? It is possible to learn to recognise chords by ear, and if you take the right approach you might be surprised how quickly you can start doing it. https://www.musical-u.com/learn/how-to-play-chords-by-ear-roadmap/

https://www.musical-u.com/learn/deliberate-practice-for-musicians/
You’ve heard it before: “practice makes perfect!” The truth is, practice itself doesn’t make anything perfect. It’s more correct to say “Perfect Practice Makes Perfect.”

Let’s talk about deliberate practice for musicians. https://www.musical-u.com/learn/deliberate-practice-for-musicians/

https://www.musical-u.com/learn/what-is-kodaly-and-how-does-it-relate-to-ear-training/
Ready to expand your musical understanding? Because it focuses on the expressive and creative skills of musicianship (rather than the theory or instrument skills) the Kodály approach is very closely related to the world of musical ear training.

Learn more about what Kodály can do for you. https://www.musical-u.com/learn/what-is-kodaly-and-how-does-it-relate-to-ear-training/

In this article, I’ll be discussing the incredible variety of podcasts out there and the purposes they serve, and recommending some to get you started. We’ll also look at why the format and delivery of podcasts makes them the perfect tool for furthering your music education. Lastly, I’ll also be sharing the story of my own podcast, Tune In, Tone Up!, and delving into the myriad of ways that podcasts can take you from listening to performing – as outlined in our episode, Taking Your Playing from the Woodshed to the Stage; from Podcast to Performance.

The Advent of Podcasts

Podcasts are pre-recorded audio and less often video shows, involving a series of episodes which usually follow a familiar pattern rather like a radio show. The format may be to build a collection of interviews, to explore a theme and share information, to release new and entertaining episodes or to develop a story. They can be produced professionally, perhaps as an extension to a radio show, or they can be made by anyone with some recording equipment and a desire to share something with the world.

They have gained in popularity in recent years, probably both due to the fact that more people have suitable recording equipment and also in the convenience and ease of their use. All of this makes podcasts a superb medium for enthusiasts to have a voice and to share their knowledge and experience with whoever wishes to tune in and listen, wherever they are in the world. This in turn means that there is a huge catalogue of podcasts out there to choose from and explore.

I started exploring podcasts following some suggestions from friends and perusing the recommendations of the Apple podcast app, searching for podcasts in line with my interests and hobbies, namely music and guitar. I discovered a wealth of information and a variety of forms – so much so that it encouraged me to start my own podcast, Tune in Tone up! Free Guitar Lessons, which I’ll talk about below.

Why Podcasts?

The advantages to using podcasts are countless. Seeing as there’s so many interesting people with a skill, story, or interest to share, you will find yourself learning about things, building new understanding, finding humorous and engaging content, and developing new interests and hobbies. Podcasts are a great stimulus for deep thinking, questioning, and personal development. Listening to podcasts is also a wonderful communal experience – listening to a podcast with others raises fascinating conversations about topics discussed in the podcast.

Listening to podcasts is a great way to make good use of “dead” time. I find myself looking forward to a drive into town or a longer journey so that I can listen to a podcast on the way.

Finding that long daily commute a bore? Why not download a podcast episode or two, plug your headphones in and listen to enthusiastic people talking about your favourite interest? Have a radio in your kitchen but finding that the shows are not always inspiring or interesting? Simply plug in your phone in using an aux cord, and listen to podcasts while tidying up, cooking, washing up or doing other chores.

Finding that you want something to listen to while you are in the gym, going for a run or spending some time on that exercise bike? Make exercise a time when you are also learning and tuned in. The opportunities really are endless.

What are the advantages to listening to podcasts over engaging with content over YouTube, radio, or other channels? As outlined above, podcasts make multitasking a breeze – you’re not glued to a screen. Podcasters rarely make money directly from their show, so rather than being financially motivated by a desire to be the next YouTube sensation, the creators of podcasts are usually motivated by a purer desire to simply share information. Podcasts also inspire me to broaden my horizons – while I listen, I often find myself looking for further information on the internet or in books to improve my understanding, and get ideas for further study and research.

Finally and best of all, listening to podcasts is an intimate process in which not only are you being entertained or taught something but also picking up on subtleties of tone, pace, and humour of the hosts and guests.

Podcasts and Music Education

Podcasts are being used more and more for educative purposes. In the same way that languages are learned by first hearing a sound and then reproducing it and learning from it, a person’s musicality can benefit greatly from not just being told an idea, but also hearing it.

I find listening to podcasts to be an active, immersive process. The advantages of having access to discussion with experts is not unlike the benefit of attending formal music college. You are around great teachers, and get carried along by their enthusiasm and dedication.

Therefore, podcasts are a great way to develop your musical knowledge, increase your musical vocabulary, gain insight about equipment, and hear music professionals giving advice on business.

They are also the perfect way of multiplying the number of teachers you have. For instance, I take guitar lessons with Daniel Davies in Brighton; however, I also listen to the Musicality Podcast, which offers great insights from numerous other music educators across the world and I find having different ways of looking at things can help to resolve issues I’m having. Hearing similar ideas and suggestions from Daniel as well as other teachers can be very affirming, clarifying, and informative.

I distinctly remember the first time I typed “guitar” into the search engine of my podcast app, and saw how many results were returned – very quickly, I realised that this was a great way of picking the brains of musical experts. Further along my podcast journey, I discovered that podcasts were teaching me far more than how to copy songs, learn new techniques and develop my guitar skills. They were introducing me to the big picture of music, the lives of musicians, their doubts and passion, their jargon. They informed me about musicality and musicianship, some of the areas of which I hadn’t thought about before – for example, the value of learning to sing, audiate, and train your ear, as well as the kind of attitude that will help you to get along with other musicians.

Podcasts reassure you about things which you had come to realise by yourself, building your confidence, as well as dispelling musical myths that might hold you back. For example, I wish I had thought earlier about “talent” versus “practice”, as discussed frequently in the Musicality Podcast. Many players talk about the dedication, time, and effort which they have put in, yet still people wrongly believe that the greats just pick up their instruments and are overnight virtuosos.

Podcasts give you great golden nuggets of information and perspectives which stay with you. They lead you in ways which you didn’t previously anticipate, and help you to discover musical unknowns, give you practical tips, and show you the big picture – including the whole professional side, marketing, social media, and philosophy about music. And, as Adrian Legg said on No Guitar is Safe, you’re exposed to the idea of how good music should hit you emotionally.

The Role of Podcasts in Your Musicality

Of course, podcasts are just one part of the whole process – you will need to spend plenty of time practicing and learning music theory.

Podcasts play the role of helping you to make this time as valuable as possible, leading you to the best theory and tips for helping you practice deliberately.

To make the best use of technology, you should also explore lots of avenues such as YouTube and other forms of online tutorials. With regard to specific skills like ear training, transcription, rhythm training, singing, and sight reading, there are amazing programs, apps and websites out there like EarMaster, Transcribe, I Read Rhythm, sightreadingfactory.com, Sing&See, and SingTrue to help you along. When musicians spend a bit more time with these tools as part of their practice and get away from the idea of always needing an instrument in their hand, the time actually spent with their instrument actually becomes more meaningful and productive!

The first guitar-related podcast which really opened my eyes to the value of this medium was No Guitar is Safe. This podcast, hosted by Jude Gold for Guitarist Magazine, is a fantastic set of interviews with monster guitar players, who discuss their style, story, and sound. Each episode treats you to fantastic playing, valuable discussion, and a great introduction to new musicians, and you end up feeling like you really know the people involved in a way that written interviews do not always convey. Best of all, you learn without it feeling like work.

If and when you get to the end of the No Guitar is Safe podcast, a similar interview-based podcast with guitarists is Riff Raff, hosted by Shane Theriot. Music is Win is an interesting audio podcast from the YouTuber Tyler Larson. There are also loads of great interviews at Everyone Loves Guitar. Song Exploder is a great podcast if you want to learn the story about how tracks were created. The Everything Saxophone podcast by Donna Schwartz and Nick Mainella not only goes deep into the skills required for saxophone, but also has invaluable advice for developing your musicality in general.

For a more theory-based approach, Desi Serna’s Guitar Music Theory Lessons podcast is well worth a listen. This podcast is recorded by the author of Guitar Theory for Dummies and follows a really useful set of episodes in which he tackles the topic of music theory.

Interested in the business side of music? Tune into the Live and Teach Guitar podcast for perspective on making money as a music teacher. The Modern Musician podcast, meanwhile, has some fantastic insights into the industry and the business side of music. The NAMM Foundation’s Talking Up Music Education podcast includes chats with artist advocates, teachers, parents, students, and business and community leaders who share stories about creating music learning opportunities.

Finally, The Musicality Podcast is one of the most interesting and informative podcasts which I have found on the topic of musicality and the wider skills of musicianship. The podcast host, Christopher Sutton, has a great grasp of questions which elicit the maximum information from his guests. Musical U, the maker of the podcast, has a really strong underlying vision about music which introduces forward-thinking ways of viewing music education and how to develop areas of your musicality which will benefit you long down the line.

A great place to start is the Anders Ericsson episode, which provides excellent perspective on the debate of talent versus hard work. In the episode, Prof. Anders Ericsson and Christopher Sutton propose deliberate and purposeful practice as being more significant than the amount of time spent with your instrument. It serves as a great reminder that being goal-oriented and intentional in your practice will help you progress faster. This was an episode that in many ways underpins my own motivation and inspiration for playing music.

The Musicality Podcast has developed my understanding of so many essential musical ideas like ear training, intervals, solfa/solfège, tone, audiation, the Lydian Chromatic Concept, the value of singing, and so much more. And perhaps most importantly, it is a huge affirmation to hear how many of Christopher’s guests do not class themselves as having natural talent, and also found their early music learning challenging!

These podcasts are all inspiring and informative, and it’s just a matter of getting to the heart of what you want to hear about – I recommend you start listening and see where it takes you.

The Tune In, Tone Up! Podcast

Dan Davies, Music Teacher and one-half of the team at the Tune In, Tone Up! podcast

It was November 2016 when I first said to my guitar teacher (Dan Davies of Brighton and Hove) that it would be really helpful for me to record our lessons, and asked if he would be interested in me trying to put those lessons together into a podcast.

I didn’t think that whole lessons were being recorded in this way and I was struggling to remember and recall all the information, even though I was religiously keeping notes. He saw the value of me listening back to our recordings and how this would help me to improve as a musician.

And so, the Tune In, Tone Up! podcast was born. Now, a year and a half later, we have a great resource which is also a record of my own musical journey – useful to me and many other people around the world.

It seems incredible that we have managed to continue releasing episodes with regularity and lots of new and useful information within. This is a testament to the time which Dan has put into his own learning, his wealth of experience playing live, and how generous he has been with his time in the creative, well-paced lessons we release.

We tend to avoid copying and reproducing songs and tabs, and rather focus on the mentoring side of musicianship, technique, and professional skills. The lessons are recorded live and then edited to form an episode usually based on a theme, style, musician, or method.

Our lessons are really organic and although there are plenty of more popular earlier episodes such as the ones on Blues, Chord Melodies, Tone Controls, Tom Petty’s music, and Songwriting, I would start with some of the episodes I list in this downloadable PDF in order to see the best of what we have released. Have a listen, rate, review and subscribe and get in touch.

Some of our episodes are organised into playlists on our SoundCloud account:

1. A focus on rhythm
2. On modes
3. A really useful set of lessons on the tone and volume controls 
4. All our lessons

From Podcast, to Practice, to Performance

Some of our recent lessons at the Tune In, Tone Up! podcast have been in response to a listener interested in precisely this topic. We have taken him through some steps to conquer his performance-related fears, and he ended up performing an open mic night! As a result, he realised that his rhythmic playing and choice of songs needed some work, but he is going back to it and we are sure he will make good progress as a result of his positive attitude.

Our episode From Podcast to Performance: Becoming a Performer focusses on why you’d want to play your music in a live setting, and how to prepare yourself for the gig. Dan explains that when you avoid playing live and instead focus only on raising your skills to a certain level, you are putting off performing for far too long and missing out on a hugely important part of music – the social side!

After all, when you learn a language you do so in order to be able to create something with it and have a conversation. The same is true of music: you gain so much from the social aspect of performance that avoiding it because of internal fears will mean you learn more slowly and in a different way to those out there sharing their music. I hope that this podcast episode will communicate this nugget of wisdom.

Sharing Musical Stories

As you listen to your podcasts and read about other people’s journeys, it is useful to hear what they have to say about their early performances and how they persevered to become better musicians.

You can gain a lot by opening yourself up to the stories of others and so many are out there to be heard. There are often tales of early performances and competitions remembered with trepidation and discomfort. You will hear musicians say things you may not want to hear, such as take a job in a guitar shop or become an instrument techie or roadie – this facilitates meeting the right people and putting yourself into a position where your music might be heard. David Gilmour was a roadie for Pink Floyd before Nick Mason asked him if he would join the band as a guitarist, and Noel Gallagher was a roadie for Inspiral Carpets before he joined Oasis, after all.

Gary Shilladay is an enthusiastic guitar student and secondary school teacher based in the UK, who is passionate about music education, advancing his guitar skills, and every facet of learning. He shares his lessons with his guitar teacher Dan Davies on the podcast Tune In, Tone Up.

The post Podcast to Performance, with Tune In, Tone Up appeared first on Musical U.

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