Musicality Now

We've had an incredible year at Musical U! Since switching from audio-only to video interviews at the beginning of 2019, we've had the opportunity to speak with amazing musical experts from all over the world. In this special Rewind episode of MusicalityNow, the Musical U team reflects on some of the episodes from 2019 that had a big impact on our musical lives. We've all learned so much and were really excited to share some of our a-ha moments with you! We are so grateful to have the honor of gaining insight from such powerful musical minds - and we don't want you to miss any of the golden nuggets of information and inspiration packed into the vaults of the Musicality Now catalogue. Dive in to this special Rewind episode and unlock an excitement for musicality to propel you to your musical goals! Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 217 Links and Resources • Musicality Now - How to Earn Your Inspiration, with Mark Cawley • Musicality Now - More Mindful, More Musical, with Susanne Olbrich • Musicality Now - Boosting Musical Brainpower, with Josh Turknett (Brainjo) • Musicality Now - How Composers Improve, with Matthew Ellul (School of Composition) • Musicality Now - In Perfect Swinging Harmony, with The Quebe Sisters • Musicality Now - Nature, Nurture, and your Duvet of Music, with Robert Emery • Musicality Now - How to Learn Like a Genius, with Gregg Goodhart • Musicality Now - What Music Practice Really Means, with Jonathan Harnum, PhD (The Practice Of Practice) • Musicality Now - Emotion and Efficiency, with Marc Gelfo Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it! Click here to rate and review

Today we're excited to share another Pathways story with you! We are joined by Musical U member Sharilynn Horhota. Before her engineering career and three children, Sharilynn was headed towards becoming a professional flute player. Now she has returned to the flute in a surprising way. Sharilynn has been sharing her journey on her Musical U Progress Journal. The Progress Journal, or PJ, is a system we use inside the Musical U site for members to share their progress, ask questions, and get feedback and support from the Musical U team and Musical U community. Sharilynn has made fantastic use of her PJ so we had some sense of her interesting backstory and all the cool activities she's been up to - but as you'll be hearing, Musical U is just one part of all the resources she's been drawing on and all the ways she's been stretching herself since returning to flute. In this conversation we talk about: • How studying Alexander Technique in Finland let her feel much freer in her playing and opened up her sound • The specific resources and exercises that have helped Sharilynn start to improvise, and in a way that feels like she is truly expressing herself, rather than just improv-by-numbers following chord tones. • And the two clever variants on traditional exercises, scales and long notes, which she now gives her flute students to help them improve faster and enjoy practicing more. Part of the intention with this Pathways series is to share stories of music learners who are perhaps more relatable than the world-leading experts we're so fortunate to have the chance to interview here on the show. But we're not sure Sharilynn quite fits that bill, because as you'll discover, she is one seriously impressive music learner! You will surely find a lot to relate to in her story - and pick up some handy ideas and pointers that you can apply in your own musical journey. Have you picked up useful ideas or techniques in your own musical journey so far that you think could inspire or help others on their path of exploring their musicality? Get in touch by dropping an email to [email protected]! We are always looking for new guests for Pathways and would love to share your story next. Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 216 Links and Resources • The Complete Guide to The Alexander Technique • Michael Lake - Alto Bone • Aimee Nolte Music • Musicality Now - Explaining the Musical Ear, with Aimee Nolte • Jeffrey Agrell books • Musicality Now - Making Improv a Game, with Jeffrey Agrell • David Reed - Improvise For Real • David Reed - Sing the Numbers • Musicality Now - How to Improvise For Real, with David Reed • Brent Vaartstra - Learn Jazz Standards • Musicality Now - How to Stop Doubting and Start Performing, with Brent Vaartstra • Learn Jazz Faster - How To: 25 Great Ways To Maximize Your Jazz Improvisation Practice • Musicality Now - Boosting Musical Brainpower, with Josh Turknett Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it! Click here to rate and review

Today we're talking with Dr. Jonathan Harnum, whose PhD research was focused on the topic of music practice. Dr. Harnum studied how a wide variety of musicians think about and execute practice to be able to reach such high levels of ability. The result of Dr. Harnum's research is a book called The Practice Of Practice, which we strongly recommend checking out. The Practice of Practice is a highly-readable treasure trove of all the latest ideas, understanding, techniques and insights on what makes for effective music practice and how you can learn better and faster. From a classical upbringing to an exciting 2-year road-trip of discovering improvisation, Jonathan Harnum's own musical journey is fascinating! We were excited to have the chance to speak with him and share some of the ideas from The Practice of Practice to inspire and accelerate your music learning. If you heard our recent interview with Gregg Goodhart on the topic of practice then you'll find this is a beautiful counterpoint. Although the broad topic is the same, this is a very different conversation - but similarly packed with insights and nuggets that can pay off for your own music practice. In this conversation you'll hear about: • A simple way to reframe how you think about difficult things which can immediately transform frustration and helplessness into empowered eagerness. • The neurological research which proves that watching live music can be a highly valuable form of practice too. • How "guerilla practice" can help you fit in genuinely effective music practice even amid the busiest of lives. You're going to really enjoy Dr. Harnum's insights on improvising, creativity, broadening the idea of what music practice can be, and some of the very specific actionable ideas he shares along the way. Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 215 Links and Resources • The Practice of Practice • Practice Like This by Jonathan Harnum PhD (Free PDF) • Jon Harnum - Author, Teacher, Musician • Dr. Jonathan Harnum - Books on Music Theory and Trumpet • Kenny Werner - Effortless Mastery • The Musician's Ear - Active Listening Course • Musicality Now - How to Learn Like a Genius, with Gregg Goodhart Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it! Click here to rate and review

Today we're joined by one of the leading Gordon-trained music educators and author of Music Moves for Piano, Marilyn White Lowe. Music Moves is an innovative approach to teaching piano, which from the very beginning incorporates all of the "inner skills" we focus on here at Musical U, such as improvising, playing by ear, composing your own music and collaborating with other musicians. Music Moves uses Dr. Edwin Gordon's Music Learning Theory, which codifies how the human brain learns music, as the basis for designing how musicianship can most effectively be taught. "Music Learning Theory" has previously been featured on Musicality Now, most notably in our interview with Professor Cynthia Crump-Taggart, President of the Gordon Institute for Music Learning. We've discussed several times on past episodes the idea of audiation, which is a word Edwin Gordon originally coined. Audiation has detail and depth that goes far beyond simply "imagining music in your head". Marilyn brings a wonderful new perspective to audiation for us, as educators applying it directly in the context of teaching an instrument. Drawing on ideas from Orff, Suzuki, Dalcroze, and Kodály, The Music Moves For Piano method incorporates listening, singing, movement, audiation, and notation, on top of the pure piano technique skills - and as you'll hear in this conversation it develops the student into a fully-fledged and well-rounded musician - not just a piano player. In this conversation we talk about: • Why clapping, tapping or walking may not be the best ways to internalise the pulse and the rhythmic patterns of music. • The specific rhythm and pitch frameworks which give students the "vocabulary" they need to improvise and be creative in music. • Why the age of 9 is a turning point in music learning, and what that means for adult music learners. A lot of the concepts we talk about here at Musical U are brought to life in this conversation. If you've ever wondered what it would look like to learn an instrument in a way that truly incorporates musicality training, rather than having it be off in its own separate area, this episode will inspire your music learning. Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 214 Links and Resources • Music Moves For Piano • Music Moves Books • Music Moves Videos • The Gordon Institute for Music Learning - Music Learning Theory • Edwin E. Gordon - Learning Sequences in Music • Edwin E. Gordon - How Children Learn When They Learn Music • Gerald Eskelin - Lies My Music Teacher Told Me • Eric Bluestine - The Ways Children Learn Music: An Introduction and Practical Guide to Music Learning Theory • Music Learning Academy • Musicality Now - Audiation and Thinking Music, with Cynthia Crump Taggart • Creative Piano Teachers Podcast - Forrest Kinney on The 4 Arts of Music Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it! Click here to rate and review

Today's guest, Gregg Goodhart, specializes in taking all the latest research and understanding of how the human brain can most effectively practice, and actually putting it to practical use, in music lessons and classrooms. Through his innovative Practiclass project he's able to prove by on-the-spot demonstration with real students, just how effective these techniques can be for breaking past longstanding plateaus and reaching new heights of instrumental ability. Gregg's YouTube channel and project is called Learn Like A Genius, and with good reason. When you see the virtuoso instrumentalist, the person who seems like a musical genius, and wonder how they got so good, the chances are that they either consciously or unconsciously have been using some of the learning techniques that Gregg shares today. We talk about: • The two disastrous ways that the idea of "talent" sabotages music learners and can hold you back from reaching your true potential. • Gregg's simple three-word summary of the powerful idea of "deliberate practice", and how it can be the key to fast progress. • The counter-intuitive but foolproof way to break past plateaus where you just can't seem to play a certain passage correctly at full speed. You're going to come away from this episode seriously inspired about what could be possible from your music practice in the future - and to make sure you're able to really follow through on that, we've got a couple of fantastic ways for you to dive into using these ideas in a practical way. Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 213 Links and Resources • Gregg Goodhart - Learning Coach • What is a Practiclass? Sax, cello, guitar, The Learn Like A Genius Institute • Learn Like A Genius - Piano Practiclass (Full), Houston, TX with Gregg Goodhart • Learning, Competence, and Talent, with Gregg Goodhart • Making things hard on yourself, but in a good way: Creating desirable difficulties to enhance learning • Geoff Colvin - Talent Is Overrated • Effective Practice: Lessons from Neuroscience and Psychology, with Gregg Goodhart • Practical Ways to Play Better Now, Right Now, C'mon, Go Do It! • Why an "A" is not enough Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it! Click here to rate and review

Today we have the honour of talking with one of the top authors of piano books over the last nearly 35 years: Dennis Alexander. With over 400 publications and recordings on Alfred Music, including Alfred's flagship piano method Premier Piano Course, Dennis is one of the world's most prolific and popular composers of educational piano music for students at all levels. In 2015 he was awarded a "Lifetime Achievement Award" by the National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy in recognition of his extraordinary service to the music teaching profession. Mr. Alexander provides a rich learning experience for his students by bringing awareness to the importance of musicality. Often dull topics like music theory and reading notation are brought to life with a creativity and a consciousness of musical expression. In this conversation we talk about: • How Dennis' background in playing by ear and improvising feeds into how he approaches composing. • The main difference between children and adult learners and one great way to make learning more enjoyable and improvisation less intimidating if you're an adult learner. • And the specific aspects which you should have in mind to bring a rendition from a strictly-correct but unmoving one through to a compelling, musical performance. Enjoy this glimpse into what makes one of the top piano methods much more than just "playing the right notes at the right time". Even if you're not a piano player you don't want to miss all of the deep musical insight in this interview! Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 212 Links and Resources • Dennis Alexander Online • Premier Piano Course • Keys to Stylistic Mastery • Keys to Artistic Performance • Dennis Alexander on Alfred Music • Dennis Alexander Compositions Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it! Click here to rate and review

In more than 200 episodes, Musicality Now has brought you interviews with the world's leading experts on musicality as well as teaching segments on crucial topics to your music learning. But while we've been inspired by the accomplishments of educators and musicians who seem to "arrived" musically, something very important has been missing. What is really going on in the day-to-day musical lives of passionate music learners who are still very much on the Pathways to reaching their musical goals? Well, today we have the first in a new series of episodes in which we'll be talking with folks just like you, reaching out, inspiring each other, and lending each other a hand in our musical journeys. Every day inside Musical U we see the power of peer-to-peer learning, and how much we can all gain from being among the right community of music-learners. And so we're going to be inviting the Musicality Now audience as well as our members at Musical U to come on and share their own music-learning journey, and the resources, insights and breakthroughs that have helped them along the way so far. If you've had a musicality breakthrough - small or large - please get in touch by sending an email to [email protected] - we want to hear your story! Today we're joined by Nick Cheetham, a podcast listener who got in touch after our recent "Intimidating - or Inspiring? You Choose" episode to share some of his thoughts on the topic, and he had such interesting things to say we decided to invite him on the show to share his journey so far. In this conversation you're going to hear about: • What caused Nick to pick up the violin for the first time at age 40 despite worrying he might be "tone deaf" • How Nick's been able to achieve several significant goals over the last 18 months and how that relates to the choice of "intimdating vs. inspiring" • And how after 10 years of learning Nick made some adjustments and was quickly able to get off the page and into playing by ear, improvising, and playing in groups. We hope you'll enjoy this new kind of episode - let us know what you think, and maybe we can share your story next. Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 211 Links and Resources • Musicality Now - Intimidating – or Inspiring? You Choose • Musicality Now - Explaining the Musical Ear, with Aimee Nolte • Musicality Now - How to Improvise For Real, with David Reed • Musicality Now - How to Stop Doubting and Start Performing, with Brent Vaartstra • Coursera - Fundamentals of Music Theory from The University of Ediinburgh • Carol Dweck - Mindset: The New Psychology of Success • Improvise For Real • Creative Strings Academy • The Mind Over Finger Podcast • The Jazz Violin Podcast • River Of Suck • Learn Jazz Standards Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it! Click here to rate and review

Today we have the pleasure of talking with Dr. Don Greene, one of the world's leading experts and practitioners of performance psychology. In his 30-year career Dr. Greene has coached more than 1,000 performers, including top-tier symphony musicians and Olympic gold medalists. Dr. Greene has written eight books, two of which we discuss in this conversation, Performance Success and College Prep for Musicians. He also publishes articles covering all aspects of peak performance psychology for music, sports and all performing disciplines on his website, Winning on Stage. You may be familiar with some of the ideas in this interview, such as visualisation and positive self-talk. However, If you're like most music learners, you've probably come across these ideas in vague blog posts or conversation. You're going to find it hugely valuable to hear from a performance psychologist who's worked with world-class performers across several disciplines for many years. We talk about: • Why trying to feel relaxed is not actually the route to reliable performance under pressure • The five areas you can assess yourself on, to know how best to improve your own performance abilities. • The importance of a so-called "pre-shot routine" that can help you perform at your best even when your heart is pounding This conversation is going to equip you with some valuable new insights and strategies to apply in your musical life and open your eyes to what might be possible for you! Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 210 Links and Resources • Winning On Stage • Winning On Stage Articles • Dr. Don Greene's Books • Performance Mastery Assessment • Centering Training Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it! Click here to rate and review

Today we're talking with Caroline Whiddon, the co-founder of Me2/Orchestra, the world's only classical music organisation created for those with mental illnesses and the people who support them. The mission of Me2/Orchestra is to erase the stigma surrounding mental illness, including addiction, through supportive classical music ensembles and inspiring performances. As a society we are only just beginning to figure out how to talk sensibly and openly about mental illness. In this interview we wanted to be respectful and tactful while also addressing head-on some of the stigma that Me2/Orchestra is trying to mitigate, such as the assumptions people have about how an orchestra of people with mental illness can actually function. We talk about: • Caroline's own story of music and mental health and how it led to her meeting the co-founder of Me2/, Ronald Braunstein. • How after studying with the likes of Karajan and Bernstein, Ronald was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and encountered the stigma and discrimination which ultimately inspired the Me2/ project. • And the specific ways Me2/ benefits its players and enlightens audiences - not in any kind of preachy way but simply by virtue of its existence and musical excellence. One thing to clarify before we dive in - you might associate the phrase "Me Too" with the recent #MeToo movement about sexual assault but Me2/Orchestra was founded in 2011 and there's no connection between the two. The name came from Ronald's experience sharing his mental health diagnosis with other musicians and being surprised to hear them say "me too". Mental health is something we should talk more openly and honestly about. We are glad to have the opportunity to showcase this wonderful project. Whether this topic is of interest to you or not, there is a ton of insight packed into this conversation and we can all learn a lot from how Me2/ approaches running an orchestra. Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 209 Links and Resources • Me2/Orchestra Online • Orchestrating Change - Documentary Film about Me2/Orchestra • NY Times Article - Fighting the Stigma of Mental Illness Through Music • Al Jazeera news report on Me2/Orchestra Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it! Click here to rate and review

Today we're speaking with Joseph Alexander, the man behind Fundamental Changes, the leading publisher of guitar books on Amazon with over 100 titles in their catalogue and over 150,000 copies sold last year. Joseph's own backstory is a really interesting one and reveals some great insights about learning effectively in the modern era, whether self-taught or with a teacher. Fundamental Changes has been leveraging the dramatically changing landscape in the world of book publishing to provide exciting new opportunities for students - and potential authors! In this conversation we talk about: • The three factors that helped Joseph go from struggling in learning music to really enjoying and improving consistently. • The specific advantages a modern indie publisher has over traditional book publishers and how that helps authors and students alike. • What their publishing process looks like when they work with a musician or music educator who has something interesting to say - and how different that is from the status quo in the publishing industry. If you've ever wondered how a music book comes to be, or whether learning from a print book or ebook can really match up against in-person lessons or YouTube videos - you won't want to miss this one. Fundamental Changes are currently seeking new authors - if you're a musician or music educator with something interesting to share, be sure to get in touch via the contact form on the Fundamental Changes website! Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 208 Links and Resources • Musicality Now - Welcome to the Musicality Podcast! • Fundamental Changes • Musicality Now - From Mechanics to Organics, with Bradley Sowash • Musicality Now - Nature, Nurture, and your Duvet of Music, with Robert Emery • Musicality Now - A Simple Tip for Indecision and Analysis-Paralysis Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it! Click here to rate and review

For this episode of Musicality Now, we turned the tables on our usual format. Adam Liette, Musical U Operations Manager is taking over for our normal host, Christopher Sutton – and Christopher is our guest! Adam sat down with Christopher and asked him two important questions: 1. One that many musicians think they know the answer to: "What is ear training?" 2. And one that is a sticking point for most music learners: "Why isn't ear training working?" If you're watching or listening to this show, you know the benefits of a great musical ear. But how do you get there? If you, like many others, find ear training hard or frustrating, you won't want to miss this conversation. Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 207 Links and Resources • Ear Training For Beginners • Musicality Now - About the Ear Training Trap • Musicality Now - About Perfect Pitch • Musicality Now - What Is Musicality? (Revisited) • Tim Topham's Creative Piano Teaching Podcast - Forrest Kinney On The 4 Arts Of Music Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it! Click here to rate and review

Today we are welcoming back Dave Isaacs, "The Nashville Guitar Guru"! We interviewed Dave on episode 60 of the show, where we talked about his own musical journey from aspiring classical guitarist to learning improv, switching to playing popular styles including country rock, teaching. He shared his major lessons learned as a musician and music teacher, which he shares at Nashville Guitar Guru. Dave is the author of the brand new book, The Perpetual Beginner, A Musician's Path to Lifelong Learning. It's a thoroughly enjoyable read that will be relevant and impactful to anybody who enjoys Musicality Now. We are excited to have Dave Isaacs back on the show to share some of the powerful ideas and stories from "The Perpetual Beginner". In this conversation we talk about: • Why so many music learners find themselves stuck in the "beginner" phase, even after months, years or even decades of learning. • The painful experience that opened Dave's eyes to the downside of respecting tradition and having reverence for doing things in the most technically correct way. • Why some teachers discourage students from returning to earlier, easier material - but the two important reasons you should be doing this regularly. Plus: we're so keen to get this book into as many music learners' hands as possible, we're giving away five copies, shipped to your door, absolutely free! Listen for the details in the episode. If you've ever found your enthusiasm and motivation waning, or you've been frustrated not to reach a higher level faster, or you've felt torn between doing things "the right way" and doing things "your way" - you're going to love how this episode helps you. Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 206 Links and Resources • Nashville Guitar Guru • Dave Isaacs - The Perpetual Beginner • Musicality Now - Follow Your Ear, with Dave Isaacs Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it! Click here to rate and review

Today we're talking with Nick Bottini, a career and performance coach who has worked with high performers from around the world including child prodigies, competition winners, rock stars, entrepreneurs, international sportspeople and elite music college students. Nick is the author of Just Play: The Simple Truth Behind Musical Excellence, a best-selling book which challenges the current thinking on performance psychology and offers a fundamentally different way of thinking about the experience of learning music and how to achieve our full potential. Nick's teaching is deep. Depending on your background it may seem very odd, or it may be exactly what you've been desperate to hear someone put clearly into words. His successful techniques are rooted in long-standing spiritual traditions yet there's no dogma or belief system required to benefit from these ideas. Nick brings it all home to roost with practical ways to shift your mindset and successfully achieve the musical levels you desire. As well as some deep and profound ideas, we also make sure to cover the very practical implications of it all in the context of learning music. For example we talk about: • Why most musicians never feel fully settled or at home in their musical lives or identity as a musician, and how that relates to performance anxiety and impostor syndrome. • The "elephant in the room" when it comes to modern performance psychology - and what the alternative is. • Two unorthodox but effective ways to flip how you approach music practice - and, unlike some of what you may have heard on this show in the past, this is not about "enjoying practice more" The lessons in this episode can positively affect not just your musicality and musical potential, but your life and potential in general. That's why we're so excited to share this with you! Enjoy. Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 205 Links and Resources • Nick Bottini Online • Nick Bottini - "Just Play: The Simple Truth Behind Musical Excellence" • Musicality Now - How to Stop Doubting and Start Performing, with Brent Vaartstra • Musicality Now - More Mindful, More Musical, with Susanne Olbrich Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it! Click here to rate and review

Today we have the pleasure of speaking with Robert Emery, a concert-pianist turned conductor and Musical Director. He's worked at venues from London's Royal Albert Hall to the Sydney Opera House and with some of the top names in the world of music such as the UK's best-selling classical artist Russell Watson and Stewart Copeland, drummer from The Police. He's also the host of Backstage with Robert Emery, a new podcast featuring behind-the-scenes interviews with star musicians and top-level performers. If you're a member of Musical U or familiar with this show then you'll know we have a pretty firm stance on the idea of musical "talent" and its implications for the adult music learner. We're always excited when we have the chance to interview someone who's considered "talented" or "gifted" and see what we can learn from their backstory and their own attitude to music learning. On paper, Robert's a classic case of the child prodigy, a talented musician who saw great success at an incredible pace as both a pianist and then a conductor. And I wouldn't for a second detract from that or question his amazing abiltiies. But as you'll be hearing, there is some interesting subtlety to the story. And as Robert would be the first to tell you, all of his accomplishments and the praise he receives - it has been earned through hard work, not just an effortless "gift". He's also a very experienced music teacher and so has some very helpful insights and advice for the adult music learner in particular. We talk about: • How to choose the right instrument - and how to know whether you have or not. • The particular challenges of learning music as an adult and how to overcome them - the pep talk he used to give his new adult students on day one that proved to be worth its weight in gold for them. • Robert's views on talent, nature versus nurture, and what that means for the average adult music learner. It comes across clearly in his own podcast that Robert is a lovely guy with wisdom aplenty to share and so I knew this conversation would be a fascinating one. Enjoy. Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 204 Links and Resources • Robert Emery Online • Backstage With Robert Emery • How To Choose A Musical Instrument • Asana Management Tool • The 12 Week Year Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it! Click here to rate and review

We're joined by Hulda, Grace and Sophia, The Quebe Sisters, a progressive western swing band that have been blowing people away and winning fiddle contests from an early age - and have been growing a large and devoted fanbase ever since. They have been featured in Musical U tutorials on harmonic ear training because of their unique style of three-voice fiddle playing as well as vocal harmony. In a past interview solo pianist Michele McLaughlin talked about how she and her sister refer to really touching music as music that "makes your heart hurt". The Quebe Sisters song, "Georgia On My Mind" is a great example of music that makes the heart hurt, while simultaneously making the ears cheer with delight. You'll hear more about this in the interview, but just know if you're looking for music that's a rich and beautiful environment to explore with your ears, there are few better choices than The Quebe Sisters. We were excited to dig into the backstory of their musicality and the sisters were honest, open and generous with what they shared. In this conversation we talk about: • The challenges of starting to sing together after years of only playing fiddle - and the one practice habit that was painful - but hugely effective for helping them improve. • How exactly they each think about writing and arranging harmony parts and the relationship between ear skills and theory. • What the "progressive" in "progressive western swing" means and how they've been developing their sound for the new record. We hope you'll enjoy this peek behind the scenes and into the minds of The Quebe Sisters. Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 203 Links and Resources • Musicality Now - Welcome to the Musicality Podcast! • The Quebe Sister Online • The Quebe Sisters - "The Quebe Sisters" on Amazon • The Quebe Sisters - "The Quebe Sisters" on Spotify • The Quebe Sisters - "The Quebe Sisters" on iTunes • The Quebe Sisters - "My Love, My Life, My Friend" • The Quebe Sisters - "Pierce the Blue" • The Quebe Sisters - "Georgia On My Mind" • Musicality Now - 100% Emotion, with Michele McLaughlin • A Cappella for Ear Training: How • Seth Riggs - "Singing For The Stars" • Rosanna Eckert - "Singing with Expression: A Guide to Authentic & Adventurous Song Interpretation" • Ray Price - "Night Life" Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it! Click here to rate and review

Today on the show we have the pleasure of interviewing one of our favourite people in the world of music education, Jeffrey Agrell. He has pioneered a game-based approach to learning improvisation and written 9 books on the topic, including "Improvisation Games for Classical Musicians" which by itself features over 500 games you can use to learn to improvise in an easy and enjoyable way. Jeffrey was a professional French horn player, to the level of becoming a college professor in horn at the University of Iowa in 2000 - before realising that his heart just wasn't in it for years and decades of repeating the same classical music repertoire and performances. That led to his exploring and developing ways for classical music players to begin improvising, not by switching their attention to jazz, but in ways that were fully compatible with their classical music perspective but set them free of the sheet music. When we interviewed Jeffrey for EasyEarTraining.com back in 2016, we called the post "Game Your Way To Impressive Improvising" - because we wanted to make the point that a game-based approach to learning to improvise is not just a frivolous way to have fun but a highly effective way to learn to improvise. Improvising is not a distraction or diversion from becoming a great musician, but in fact could be a critical and generally-missing part of it. Jeffrey is a master of metaphors and analogies and this conversation is packed with taxi drivers, fish on bicycles, talking babies, brontosaurus anatomy, 10,000 eggs and more. He paints vivid pictures of the limitations and problems with traditional classical music training and what learning to improvise can look like. He shares: • A simple idea and range of examples of how you can transform practicing scales into something enjoyable, creative, and ultimately even more effective for improving your technique. • Exactly how much theory knowledge, instrument technique and aural skills are required to improvise music. • How and why to learn improv with a musical friend, even if neither of you have any knowledge or experience of improvisation before starting. Whatever your relationship with improvising, whether non-existent or highly developed, you're going to discover some fresh inspiration and guidance in this episode for how to more fully express the musician you have inside through the art of improvisation. Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 202 Links and Resources • Jeffrey Agrell - Educator, Performer, Composer, Author • Jeffrey Agrell - Improvisation Games For Classical Musicians • Musicality Now - Game Your Way to Impressive Improvising • Classical Improv Jam Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it! Click here to rate and review

Have you heard of the Circle Of Fifths? If you're like most musicians you have heard of it, you've probably read about it, you maybe understand it, you haven't yet memorised it and you only know one thing it's useful for. The result: you're not actually using it anywhere in your musical life. The Circle Of Fifths is simply the 12 notes of Western music arranged in a certain order around a circle: C G D, A E B, F♯ C♯ G♯, D♯ A♯ and F - and of course those sharps can be named with flats too. Write those notes in that order around a circle in 12 positions like a clock - and you have the circle. Simple as that. So why all the fuss? In this episode Christopher, Andrew, and Anastasia from the MU team get together for an informal and unscripted chat about why most musicians have been missing out on the full power, beauty and potential of the circle in their musical lives - and what you can do about it. Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 201 Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it! Click here to rate and review

What does "Musicality" mean? Naturally we have our own ideas here at Musical U but a recent survey revealed that maybe we've actually missed the mark a bit… In this episode we share exactly what "musicality" means to our Musical U members - and what it could mean for you. Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 200 Links and Resources • Musicality Now - Welcome to the Musicality Podcast! • Musicality Now - Unlocking Your Musicality: Part One • Musicality Now - Unlocking Your Musicality: Part Two • Musicality Now - A Mindset for Musicality, with Natalie Weber • Musicality Now - Discover Your Own Musical Creativity, with Forrest Kinney • Musicality Now - The Musicality of Sitting on a Rock, with Andrew Bishko • Musicality Now - About You Being Musical Inside Already • Musicality Now - The Musicality of the Beatles • Musicality Now - More Mindful, More Musical, with Susanne Olbrich Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it! Click here to rate and review

When we think of music learning, we often think of the really hard work that goes into learning any instrument. Or that our goals are a long way off and will take years of dedication just to get there - But, what if we took the approach that the simple process of learning music is fun and filled with enjoyment? In this special rewind episode of Musicality Now the Musical U team discusses Ease and Joy in Music Learning. Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 199 Links and Resources • Musicality Now - Ease and Joy in Music Learning • Musicality Now - Tell Your Own Story, with David Wallimann • Musicality Now - Practice, Performance, and Powerful Levers, with Josh Wright • Musicality Now - Folk, Frameworks, and Fun, with David Row • Musicality Now - Creativity, Composing, and Confidence, with Sabrina Peña Young • Musicality Now - Note2Self: "I Love This!", with Lisa McCormick • Musicality Now - 100% Emotion, with Michele McLaughlin • Musicality Now - Rewind: Singing • Musicality Now - Rewind: A Mindset for Music Theory • Musicality Now - Rewind: Practicing Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it! Click here to rate and review

Today We're speaking with Matthew Ellul, the man behind School Of Composition, an online resource for anyone who wants to learn to compose music, offering free tutorials as well as eBooks and personal tutoring for aspiring composers. Composing and song writing are often the end goals which inspire people to join our membership here at Musical U and so we're very conscious of the things which tend to hold people back from really pursuing or succeeding with writing their own music, and we're always eager to talk with those who specialise in teaching these skills. Like music theory, composing is often taught in a dry, abstract rule-based way which sucks all the musicality out of it. On his site, School of Composition, Matthew tackles both topics in a way that helps nurture creativity - rather than stifle it. In this conversation we talk about: • Two simple insights which helped Matthew stop comparing himself to others in an unconstructive way • The music theory topic which was a big "aha" moment for him and helped stop his own compositions from meandering aimlessly • How singing, playing an instrument, playing more than one instrument, and mastering notation software can all contribute in different ways to becoming a better composer We also talk about the big thing which holds us back from sharing our own musical creations - and Matthew recommends one effective way to fix that. We often encourage people to try composing or song writing even if they don't expect to pursue it in a serious way - because just like improvising, composing can be a terrific vehicle for applying your inner musicality and exploring what you're capable of in music. Whether you're currently excited by the word "composing" or not, you'll enjoy this conversation with Matthew - because there are a ton of valuable ideas and insights here for any musician. Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 198 Links and Resources • School Of Composition • School Of Composition - How to Get Better at Music Composition (15 Do's and 5 Don'ts) • School Of Composition - Cadences in Music: Beyond the Harmonic Formulas • Musicality Now - About Singing as a Tool • Musicality Now - The Instrument Inside You, with Ben Parry • Musicality Now - About Playing Like Singing • Musicality Now - Find and Make Peace with Your Voice, with Nikki Loney • Musicality Now - Learning to Sing in Tune, with George Bevan • Musicality Now - How to Sing Smarter, with Meghan Nixon • Musicality Now - Singing that Sounds Good – and Beyond, with Davin Youngs • Musicality Now - All Things Vocal, with Judy Rodman • Musicality Now - Rewind: Singing • Musicality Now - Intimidating – or Inspiring? You Choose Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it! Click here to rate and review

When you see an incredible musician - are you inspired? Or are you intimidated? Believe it or not, this reaction is not something that happens to you - it's something entirely within your control, and flipping from one to the other can have a massive positive effect on your musical life. Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 197 Links and Resources • The Truth About Talent, with Professor Anders Ericsson • Do You Have An "Inner Natural Musician"? Here's How To Know Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it! Click here to rate and review

Have you been losing your enthusiasm for learning music? Or perhaps you're loving it - but don't seem to be making much progress. Believe it or not, both of these can stem from the same root problem. And it turns out the famous painter Leonardo da Vinci has the solution for you... Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 196 Links and Resources • Musicality Now - A Mindset for Musicality, with Natalie Weber • Musicality Now - About You Being Musical Inside Already • Musicality Now - About the Importance of Joy and Pleasure • Musicality Now - Can't Improvise? There's just one thing holding you back • Musicality Now - How to Improve AND Enjoy Your Musical Life Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it! Click here to rate and review

Today's interview is among the most fascinating we've had on the show to date. We're joined by Dr. Josh Turknett, the neurologist, best-selling author and musician behind "Brainjo" - a music-learning methodology which originated on banjo but applies across all instruments, and which is designed to leverage modern scientific insights on how the brain actually learns. At the Brainjo Center for Neurology & Cognitive Enhancement Josh tackles the question "Is it possible to take any ordinary adult brain and turn it into the brain of a musician?" - and finds strong evidence that the answer is a resounding "Yes!" He is also the host of the terrific Intelligence Unshackled Podcast, which focuses on how to optimise the health and function of the brain, including its capacity to learn and change itself. If you've ever wondered how exactly the brain learns new things, or whether your music-learning process is really dialed in to help you learn as quickly and enjoyably as possible - you are going to absolutely love this one. In this conversation Josh shares: • A completely new way to think about how you're spending your music practice time • An explanation of how to use visualisation to help you improve faster - and when exactly to do that visualisation. • The "labyrinth technique" to focus your practice time on what will deliver the biggest impact. We also talk about how playing by ear on banjo is - and isn't - different from other instruments, how playing complex music by ear actually works, how the adult brain compares to the child's brain for learning - and a whole lot more. You will come away with several new ideas that change how you think about your music learning. Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 195 Links and Resources • The Immutable Laws of Brainjo • The Immutable Laws of Brainjo - Why Anyone Can (and should!) Learn To Play By Ear • The Immutable Laws of Brainjo - The Secret To Staying Motivated • The Immutable Laws of Brainjo - The Advantages of Having an Adult Brain • The Immutable Laws of Brainjo - The Most Important Skill You Probably Never Practice • Intelligence Unshackled Podcast • Intelligence Unshackled - Why You Should Embrace Your Ineptitude • David Epstein - "Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World" Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it! Click here to rate and review

Have you ever struggled to make a decision in your musical life? You don't want to miss this tip from a kid named James - it might just save you from indecision and "analysis paralysis" forever more… Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 194 Links and Resources • Summer Of Transformation Promotion Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it! Click here to rate and review

We are very excited to have Susanne Olbrich on the show! Trained by Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh, Susanne is a specialist in mindfulness for musicians. She is a musician herself and committed to exploring the benefits of mindfulness for musicians. In this conversation we talk about Susanne's own story and about mindfulness for musicians. But we go deeper than just the surface level you might be expecting… We talk about: • How mindfulness helped her and how it can help you • How to relate to the spiritual perspective on mindfulness if it doesn't resonate with you - especially if you're more scientifically minded • An important note about who should take care in exploring mindfulness • Deep listening and how it relates to mindfulness and the "active listening" we've talked about on this show before. Susanne also leads us through a "mindful moment" to give you a "taster" experience of what mindfulness is all about. We hope we can tempt her back to provide some training for MU members in future. As you'll hear her say, it's not a magic bullet cure-all as some in the media like to portray it as - but it certainly can be a musical superpower and one well worth adding to your own musical identity. Whether you've never heard of mindfulness, you've heard of it and thought it's not for you, you've been curious but never tried it, or you're already practicing mindfulness and enjoying the benefits in your musical life, we hope you'll enjoy this conversation and get a ton out of it. Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 193 Links and Resources • Susanne Olbrich - Pianist, Music Teacher, Mindfulness Facilitator • Free 10 minute guided mindfulness meditation • Susanne Olbrich music, including Marama Trio • Plum Village • The Difference Between Hearing and Listening: Deep Listening with Composer Pauline Oliveros • Jack Kornfield - "Meditation for Beginners" • Musicality Now - "About Mindfulness for Musicians" • Musicality Now - "Note2Self: "I Love This!", with Lisa McCormick" • "Ending the Vicious Circle of Negative Habits" - Dharma Talk by Thich Nhat Hanh Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it! Click here to rate and review

Today we're joined by Bradley Sowash, an educator specialising in creativity and improvisation who we've long admired in the world of online music education. Bradley is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, recording artist and educator. He's the author of That's Jazz, a nine-volume jazz piano method and is also known for his live online group jazz piano classes. He runs 88 Creative Keys along with Leila Viss, who's a past guest on this show. They host webinars and workshops helping music teachers bring more creativity into their lessons. In this interview we talk about, • The one piece of advice from a restaurant pianist that changed Bradley's trajectory from a sheet-music reader to a primarily by-ear player • How the piano can be seen as an orchestra with four distinct layers • How customising a melody can be an easy first step in improvisation, and 3 specific embellishments you can try right now on any melody you know how to play You're going to love hearing about Bradley's own musical journey and how that's all fed into the educator he is today, as well as the examples and demonstrations he provides along the way to illustrate what it means to bring creativity and musicality to your playing. Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 192 Links and Resources • Bradley Sowash Music • Bradley Sowash - "That's Jazz" • Musicality Now - Getting Under the Hood, with Leila Viss • 88 Creative Keys Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it! Click here to rate and review

Music theory is one of the most mystifying and confusing topics for many musicians. But, does it have to be this way? Today, we'll be discussing music theory and some mindset shifts you can take to open up the world of theory to your mind and ears. And make it a more accessible and enjoyable experience. Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 191 Links and Resources • Musicality Now - Why and How to Learn Theory, with Matthew Scott Phillips and Jeremy Burns • Musicality Now - How to Improvise For Real, with David Reed • Musicality Now - Fundamentals Over Flash, with John Hatcher • Richard Wagner - "Tristan und Isolde", Prelude Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it! Click here to rate and review

Today on the show we're talking with Michele McLaughlin, a contemporary solo pianist who has recorded 18 albums - roughly one each year since starting to release her music in the year 2000. She is one of the most popular solo pianists on Spotify and was recently interviewed in Rolling Stone magazine. Her music may sometimes get classified as "new age". However, as you'll hear in this conversation, that's a misleading label that doesn't do justice to the emotional variety and powerful storytelling of her music. It was fascinating to hear about her improvisational approach to composing and there are lots of ideas here for anyone interested in being more creative or expressive in their playing. We talk about: • The concert she attended at eight years old that inspired her to start creating her own music • Her "100% emotion" approach to improvising and the process that takes her from improvising to a finished piece on an album • How she thinks about learning and improving her skills year by year You'll love hearing Michele describe her music but you must go listen to it too! We'll have links in the shownotes, including for her latest album, Memoirs, or you can find it at michelemclaughlin.com. This is one of those interviews that will have you itching to run off and spend some quality time with your instrument exploring new possibilities - enjoy! Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 190 Links and Resources • Michele McLaughlin Online • Michele McLaughlin - "Memoirs" • Michele McLaughlin YouTube • Michele McLaughlin Spotify • George Winston Spotify • Chad Lawson Spotify • Ludovico Einaudi Spotify • Jim Brickman Spotify • Louis Landon Spotify Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it! Click here to rate and review

Everything's going great, the music's flowing through you, the audience is enthralled, and then argh! - You play a wrong note! What do you do in that moment? How do you handle the mistake with grace and recover in the best possible way? In this episode we share two mindset tips and two practical tips for that, both in a performance situation - and in the bigger picture of your overall musical life. Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 189 Links and Resources • Musicality Now - About Recovering From Mistakes • Musicality Now - Is Aiming For Perfect Actually Holding You Back? • Musicality Now - Making Music with Ease, with Gerald Klickstein • Gerald Klickstein - "The Musician's Way" • Cheat Sheet - How To Handle Musical Mistakes With Grace Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it! Click here to rate and review

Today on the show we have the pleasure of talking with Michael Compitello, a celebrated percussionist, composer and educator. It was Michael's innovative projects "New Morse Code" and "Unsnared Drum" which first caught our attention - but as we learned more about him we realised the biggest opportunity to help you guys with this conversation was actually to pick his brains on music learning and practicing music. This episode is packed with ideas. Some you may have come across before, including in past episodes of this show. But I suspect some will be new to you and you're going to love how Michael brings it all together into a really coherent picture of what these various tools and mindset shifts can do for your music learning. For example, we talk about: • The value of taking a "growth mindset" to music learning • Tools that can help you handle negative self-talk when it arises • How a habit of reflection can help you past sticking points, improve your practice efficiency and accelerate your progress That's just a taste - we also discuss learning online and being your own teacher, mindfulness and bringing awareness to your practice, setting and reaching goals, and we ask Michael about the concepts behind the percussion-cello duo "New Morse Code" and the ground-breaking solo snare drum project "Unsnared Drum". As always, please listen with the question of "How could this apply in my own musical life?" - and we guarantee you're going to find some really high-impact ideas in here. Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 188 Links and Resources • Michael Compitello's Website • "Unsnared Drum" • "New Morse Code" • Matt Sharrock - Marimbist/Percussionist • Carol S. Dweck - "Mindset: The New Psychology of Success" • Anders Ericsson and Robert Pool - "Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise" • Todd Meehan - Liquidrum • Musicality Now - Music Learning at Warp Speed, with Jason Haaheim • Musicality Now - The Truth About Talent, with Professor Anders Ericsson • Musicality Now - Letting the Music Play You, with Paul Wertico • Musicality Now - About Deliberate Practice in Music • Musicality Now - About Mindfulness for Musicians Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it! Click here to rate and review

Aiming for perfection is admirable - perfection is wonderful! But is music ever really perfect? Is it possible that aiming for perfect is actually holding you back from your true potential as a musician? In this episode we're going to explain the two meanings of the word "perfect" - and why focusing on playing the "right notes" might actually be a mistake. Stay tuned! Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 187 Links and Resources • Musicality Now - How to Earn Your Inspiration, with Mark Cawley • Musicality Now - Song Writing: Start and Succeed, with Alex Forbes • Musicality Now - Writing Songs the Beatles Way, with Matt Blick Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it! Click here to rate and review

Today on the show we have the honour and the pleasure of sitting down with Paul Wertico. If you're at all familiar with the all-time great drummers of the world or you're a jazz fan then you'll know his name and his work. Paul is a 7-time Grammy Award winner, perhaps best known for his almost 20 years playing with jazz guitarist Pat Metheny where his distinctive "flat ride" cymbal style became a defining part of some of the group's best known recordings. Paul is an innovative musician and a devoted educator, including his role as Associate Professor of Jazz Studies at Roosevelt University's Chicago College of Performing Arts, and as author of a new book entitled "Turn the Beat Around". As you'll hear us say in this interview, Paul is a man frequently associated with the very word "musicality" and so it was such a delight to get to speak with him and unpack what exactly it means for a drummer to be "musical" and exhibit "musicality". We talk about: • How Paul learned the drums and the influential music educator who helped encourage him in developing his own unique identity as a musician. • What it means to "turn the beat around" and how playing what he calls "front beats" can bring a unique flair to a piece of music. • And how it's possible for his group Wertico Cain and Gray to perform 100% improvised compositions together with no prior discussion, ranging from 30 seconds to several minutes long which have a coherence and structure that mean the listener would never guess they were improvised. We also talk about practicing with a metronome versus a backing track, what role the drummer plays in different genres and situations, and how he ended up ditching the drums to just play cymbals on a tango record in Italy. This was a blast and there's a ton of insights and wisdom here for drummers and musicians of all stripes. Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 186 Links and Resources • Paul Wertico Online • Paul Wertico - "Turn the Beat Around: A Drummer's Guide to Playing "Backbeats" on 1 & 3" • Cream - "Sunshine Of Your Love" • Derek And The Dominos - "Bell Bottom Blues" • Chicago - "Woman Don't Want To Love Me" • If - "Forgotten Roads" • The Emotions- "A Long Way To Go" Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it! Click here to rate and review

Imagine a new musical future, where you can approach your music with ease and joy. What you're about to hear is the third of three live sessions we did this week talking all about ease and joy. And how having more ease and joy in your music learning can be the fastest route to results. Hopefully you've already heard parts one and two, or you were with us live. If not go back and listen. And if you're all up to date enjoy part 3. Oh, and you'll hear us mention a special link we were putting in the Facebook comments for people attending live. As a podcast listener, you can find that link in the shownotes for this episode in your podcast player. Or visit musicalitynow.com and check out the shownotes there. Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 185 Links and Resources • Foundations of a Musical Mind Special Offer • Ease and Joy in Music Learning • What's Going On In Your Head? • About Choosing An Online Music Course • About Succeeding With Online Courses • Pillars of Autumn - "Grandeur and Virtue, Pt. II: Regret" (May Contain Explicit Lyrics) Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it! Click here to rate and review

Is there a big mental barrier that might be holding you back from ease and joy in learning music? What you're about to hear in this episode is the recording of a Facebook live session we did this week. We explained a bit more in yesterday's episode of the podcast. If you didn't hear that one yet, we do recommend listening to that one first, and we're talking all about ease and joy in music learning. So without further ado, please enjoy the recording of the second live session from this week. It is informal. It is unscripted. We're just hanging out and talking about this topic with some Musical U members, with Foundation students, with our email audience, and with you, the podcast listener. Enjoy. Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 184 Links and Resources • Foundations Of A Musical Mind • Musicality Now - Ease and Joy in Music Learning • Free cheat sheet on enjoying practice • Musicality Now - The Roots of Greatness, with Scott Devine Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it! Click here to rate and review

Today, we've got something a bit different for you. Now, hopefully you are on our email list so you already know all about this, but in case not, this week to mark reopening the Foundations of a Musical Mind course, we are hosting three live sessions on Facebook talking about ease and joy in music learning. So how to make your music learning easier, how to make it more joyful and particularly how that's actually the route to better results. It's not just a cop out. It's not just fun for the sake of it. This is actually the way to get the best results in music. That's what we're talking about this week and what you're going to be hearing in a minute is the recording of the first of these three sessions. Now, if you're listening to this episode as it comes out, you can join us for parts two and three. I would love to see you there. You'll find all the details in the show notes for this episode at musicalitynow.com or head to facebook.com/musicalu and you'll find them there. A couple of things to mention about the recording of part one that you're about to hear. The first is that this was taken from the live stream, so unfortunately the audio is not quite as high quality as you're hopefully used to on this show, but it's still utterly listenable, we hope. And the second thing to mention is this is a bit long. It's quite different in style to what you're probably used to on this show. This is not a punchy 10-minute summary of the topic. This is me hanging out live for an hour with a bunch of MusicalU members and foundations course students and people from our email list talking about this topic of ease and joy, finding ways to relate it to your musical life and setting you up for transforming your experience of learning music with more ease and joy. So I hope you'll enjoy it, this very different kind of an episode. And if you're listening to this as it comes out, please do join us for parts two and three this week. We'd love to see you there. Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 183 Links and Resources • Foundations Of A Musical Mind • Musicality Now - Unlocking Your Musicality: Part One w/Brent Vaarstra • Free cheat sheet on enjoying practice • Musicality Now - Hey! Where Are You Going? • Musical U on Facebook Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it! Click here to rate and review

Have you wondered if you have an instinct for music, or worried that you don't? What if all the seemingly-natural skills of music like playing by ear, improvising, singing in tune, collaborating with others - could be yours. Not by learning them but by simply connecting with a natural musician that's already inside you? In this episode we explain how you can know whether you have an "inner natural" and how to tap into it to unlock these skills for yourself. Stay tuned! Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 182 Links and Resources • Foundations Of A Musical Mind Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it! Click here to rate and review

Today we're joined on the show by Mark Cawley, a hit U.S. songwriter whose songs have been hits for artists like Tina Turner, Joe Cocker, Diana Ross and even The Spice Girls. With over 16 million records to his name, Mark now provides online coaching to songwriters at all stages through his website iDoCoach.com, and has recently released a book, Song Journey, which is a treasure trove of advice and techniques for writing and selling songs, with a liberal sprinkling of personal anecdotes and Mark's own career lessons along the way. If you've been listening to or watching this show for a while then you'll know we are big believers that valuable learning often comes in indirect ways - and whenever we have a guest who plays a certain instrument or specialises in a particular kind of musicality, we like to encourage you to stay tuned even if it doesn't seem on face value to apply to you. This conversation was equal parts entertaining and enlightening and so we know you're going to enjoy it, and learn some valuable new ideas for your own musical life. We talk about: • How playing alongside Fleetwood Mac brought Mark clarity on what kind of career in music he wanted. • The four-stage framework which lets you quiet your inner editor and avoid writer's block. • And how writing a song for Tina Turner did not result in her recording it - and what he did later on that did actually lead to a Tina Turner hit... Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 181 Links and Resources • i Do Coach • Mark Cawley - "Song Journey" • Scott Barry Kaufman The 4 Stages of Creativity Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it! Click here to rate and review

Do you want to become a more confident and capable singer? The Musical U team rewinds to past guest experts as we explore singing. Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 180 Links and Resources • What Your Voice Can Do, with Jeremy Fisher • All Things Vocal, with Judy Rodman • Christian D. Larson - "Promise Yourself" • Rewind: Practicing • The Story of the "Fifth Beatle", with Kenneth Womack • Find and Make Peace with Your Voice, with Nikki Loney • Singing that Sounds Good – and Beyond, with Davin Youngs Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it! Click here to rate and review

Today on the show we're joined by Sarah Jeffery, host of "Team Recorder", the top YouTube channel for recorder players, with over 40,000 subscribers. Sarah creates wonderful tutorial videos there and although her target viewer is the adult recorder player, so much of what she teaches is rich in musicality and relevant across instruments that we were really eager to invite her onto the show. Sarah studied recorder at a university level for 9 years, in the United Kingdom and in Amsterdam, among the world's top players and teachers, and she started Team Recorder with the mission of making that wealth of knowledge she'd had the privilege to learn be accessible to anyone in the world who wants to know more about recorder. If you have had this idea that the recorder is quite a simple instrument used mostly in children's music education, then Sarah's channel will blow your mind, and this conversation is going to show you just how fascinating and versatile an instrument it can be. In this conversation we talk about: • The big difference it makes to play music by heart rather than from sheet music - and how to make that memorisation process easier. • How it's possible to sing and play recorder at the same time - and why you might want to do that… • And as well as her YouTube work, Sarah is a professional performer and recording artist, and we discuss her recent recorder-centered album, Constellations, and how contemporary recorder music can be more accessible as a listener than you might expect. We hope that after today's episode you're going to be going out and telling all your musician friends about these cool ideas you picked up from a professional recorder player… or that you might even be tempted to pick up a recorder yourself! Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 179 Links and Resources • Sarah Jeffery Website • Team Recorder YouTube • Sarah Jeffery - "Constellations" • Tone Deaf Test Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it! Click here to rate and review

Have you found yourself losing enthusiasm for music practice? It might sound surprising, but whatever instrument you play, it's possible that the musical role played by *bassists* actually gives them a unique insight into how to keep practice interesting and effective... In this episode I'm going to share three big lessons from three of the world's top bass educators. Stay tuned! Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 178 Links and Resources • Scott's Bass Lessons • The Roots of Greatness, with Scott Devine • Adam Neely on YouTube • The Power of Curiosity, with Adam Neely • Steve Lawson's Website • About Interleaved Practice • Forget Being Realistic – Do This Instead • Hey! Where are you going? • How to Improve AND Enjoy Your Musical Life • About Deliberate Practice in Music • Creativity Is The Vehicle, Not the Destination Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it! Click here to rate and review

You are tuned in to the very first episode under our new name - formerly The Musicality Podcast, this show is now called simply "Musicality Now" which we think better captures the spirit and variety of the show and where we'll be taking it in the future. When we made the switch to video back in January we were delighted to have our first interview be with Sabrina Peña Young, someone we know well and who has deep insights, which made for a long and fascinating converation. We're excited now to kick off this new incarnation of the show similarly, with a particularly meaty episode that is going to have a big and positive impact on your own musicality journey. Our guest today is Scott Devine, the man behind Scott's Bass Lessons, the #1 website for learning bass guitar - they have over 650,000 YouTube subscribers, and have trained over 25,000 bassists to date. If you play bass, then you know Scott - he'll be all over your Facebook, your YouTube, and there's a good chance you're already a member of the Academy site where they provide extensive training, masterclasses and live calls with a faculty of the top bass educators in the world. In this conversation we talk about: • How spending six months at sea transformed Scott's bass playing. • The simple piece of advice that immediately put an end to Scott's umming and ahhing over what to study next in his own bass learning. • And, after talking to, interviewing, and studying with dozens upon dozens of the world's top bassists and musicians, the one thing Scott has learned they all have in common - and (spoiler alert) it's not "talent"! Scott also gives a fantastic mini tutorial on a particular bass technique, walking basslines, which is something that's really valuable to understand, whether you play bass or not - you're going to hear these everywhere, and after today's conversation you're going to understand how exactly they're put together. There is a ton packed in here and you guys are in for a treat… Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 177 Links and Resources • Scott's Bass Lessons • Scott's Bass Lessons On YouTube • Scott Devine's Bass Picks • All Things Vocal, with Judy Rodman Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it! Click here to rate and review

Hello and welcome back for part two of this special on active listening and how to hear like a musician. We're joined by Andrew Bishko from the Musical U team. In part one we tackled the "what": What is active listening? What does it mean to have a musician's ear? And in this part we're going to follow that up, assuming you're already super excited to know about active listening by talking about the nitty gritty of how to do it. Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 176 Links and Resources • The Musician's Ear • Productivity Academy Episode 22 - Mindset or Mindfulness - Setting The Stage Internally With Christopher Sutton Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it! Click here to rate and review

Have you ever wondered whether trained musicians simply hear music in a different way to you? Well, it turns out they do. And in this episode we're joined with Andrew Bishko, to talk about what exactly that means, and how it can help you. Stay tuned! Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 175 Links and Resources • The Musician's Ear • About Active Listening • How to Stop Doubting and Start Performing, with Brent Vaartstra Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it! Click here to rate and review

We have come to the end of Beatles Month here at Musical U and in this final episode I'm going to recap the major learning points from each of our expert guests and share the major running theme that seemed to be at the center of the Beatles' phenomenal story - and what you can learn from that. Stay tuned! Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 174 Links and Resources • DeconstructingTheBeatles.com • Mattblick.com • Clarion Faculty Profile for Dr. Scott Kuehn • AaronKrerowicz.com • KennethWomack.com • HardDaysNight.net Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it! Click here to rate and review

Welcome back to Beatles Month! Today we have the distinct pleasure of talking with not one but four Beatles experts! Mike Muratore, Frank Muratore, John Auker and Patrick Gannon, the members of Hard Day's Night. Hard Day's Night is rated among the top national Beatles tribute groups performing today, a full catalogue touring Beatles Tribute act focusing on performing songs exactly as the Beatles themselves did. The band has performed on national television, at America's top Beatles festival, and at the Beatles' own Cavern Club in Liverpool, England. We were eager to find out what goes into being one of the top Beatles tribute acts in the world and how the four members of the group think about the musicality of the Beatles. We talk about: • What exactly the band would do to learn a new Beatles song note-perfect • How performing as the Beatles compares to playing in a non-tribute band • And we ask, as four people who've studied and played the songs of the Beatles more carefully than almost anyone - why do they think the Beatles have had such a lasting impact over time? It was really cool to hear about how each member of the group came to love the Beatles and perform in Hard Day's Night, and how thoughtfully and carefully they approach their work in performing as the Fab Four. There's a lot to be learned here about musicianship that goes way beyond tribute bands or Beatles specifics - so please enjoy! This is The Musicality Podcast, and you're tuned in to Beatles Month at Musical U. Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 173 Links and Resources • HardDaysNight.net • Hard Days Night on Facebook @HDNTribute • Hard Days Night on Twitter @hdntributeband • Hard Days Night on Twitter @hdntribute • Hard Days Night on YouTube Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it! Click here to rate and review

Welcome back to Beatles Month! We're joined today by Kenneth Womack, author of a two-volume biography of George Martin: the label head and record producer who worked with The Beatles from the beginning of their recording career and was so instrumental to their success that he is often referred to as "The Fifth Beatle". Ken's two books were amazing to read and tell a familiar story from a perspective that was completely new to us, so we were really excited to talk with Ken and learn more about the role George played - and the conversation fully lived up to our high expectations. We talk about: • The similar background and particular blend of two character traits which George had in common with the four members of the band • The surprising state of The Beatles' original songs when they met George, how he reacted to them, and how they managed to salvage a very inauspicious start! • And what changes George made to their songs after the height of Beatlemania that is perhaps the reason they are still so renowned now, fifty years on. Preparing for this interview really made us realise really made us realise just how little we'd known about the part George Martin played in the trajectory of The Beatles and just how pivotal he was to their great success. It really casts a new and interesting light on it all, and we hope you'll enjoy learning about it as much as we did. You're tuned in to Beatles Month at Musical U. Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 172 Links and Resources • KennethWomack.com • Kenneth Womack - "Sound Pictures: The Life of Beatles Producer George Martin, The Later Years, 1966–2016" • Kenneth Womack - "Maximum Volume: The Life of Beatles Producer George Martin, The Early Years, 1926–1966" Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it! Click here to rate and review

Welcome back to Beatles Month! Today we're talking with Aaron Krerowicz, the one and only full-time Beatles scholar who focuses specifically on the music of The Beatles. Meaning he dives deep into the lyrics, the chords, the notes used in melodies - all the stuff that musicians are perhaps most hungry to hear about but is quite rarely discussed in such a dedicated way. This was a super cool conversation. We know you're going to be itching for more from Aaron so you'll be pleased to hear he's written several short, easy-to-read books, and published a ton of bite-sized videos on the topic too which you can find at Flipside Beatles. In this conversation we talk about: •The special way in which the music of the Beatles is "sophisticated" - and when that all began •How the Beatles learned from and re-imagined the music of the time to create their most remarkable songs •And what we can learn from looking at which of the group wrote each song, and the way the music and lyrics relate. Plus: Aaron shares a quite shocking statistic about the apparent overnight success of the Fab Four. Aaron brings a unique perspective to analysing The Beatles and I know you're going to enjoy this conversation just as much as we did. You're tuned in to Beatles Month at Musical U. Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 171 Links and Resources • aaronkrerowicz.com • Flip Side Beatles • Aaron's Beatles Minute videos • Aaron Krerowicz - "The Beatles & The Avant-Garde" • Mark Lewisohn - 'Tune In" Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it! Click here to rate and review

Welcome back to Beatles Month! Today we're talking with a Beatles expert who also happens to be a member of Musical U. As a Professor of Communications at Clarion University, Scott is trained in the study of semiotics: the meaning within media such as pop music. And he's taken this lens of analysis to the music of the Beatles and specifically in the "Beatlemania" years of the early sixties when teenage girls would scream and faint at concerts and TV performances - to find out what exactly the band did that produced such extreme reactions. And how they carried that on throughout their career in ever-changing ways. In this conversation we talk about: • The combination of music and visuals that led to Beatlemania and the specific techniques the Beatles used to stoke that hysteria • Whether the Beatles did all these clever things instinctively and subconsciously or if it was an intentional, conscious process • And how the Beatles' use of musical elements to support the message of the lyrics changed over time through the five distinct eras of their music that Scott identifies We love when an interview on this show provides a new way of looking at or listening to music, and we think you're going to enjoy the little "homework" exercise Scott sets at the end of our conversation as a way to open your mind and your ears to what made the Beatles so effective and so successful. Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 170 Links and Resources • Alan Pollack "Notes on …" Series • Scott Kuehn on Facebook • Clarion Faculty Profile for Dr. Scott Kuehn Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it! Click here to rate and review

Welcome back to Beatles Month! Today we're joined by Matt Blick, who is the man behind the Beatles Songwriting Academy, a website dedicated to analyzing every single Beatles song to learn what makes them tick. Since founding the site in 2009 Matt has written over 500 detailed posts on what he's learned from studying the songs of the Beatles - and he's written over 300 songs himself. You see, unlike some song analysis websites you find, Matt's site is particularly notable for being very practical in its focus. Although it's fascinating to read his posts purely for interest, every one is written with the active song writer in mind, to inspire and guide them to better and easier song writing, inspired by the principles used by The Beatles themselves. In this conversation we talk about: How The Beatles could obey and break the conventional rules of songwriting so expertly if they never learned music theory. Some specific ways The Beatles modified chord progressions to be more effective and distinctive in their songs. Matt also shares what actually causes writer's block and how to fix it. We also talk about the ways Matt has benefitted from all his Beatles studies in his own songwriting, including specific examples of songs he's written using particular principles he learned from the Fab Four. You're tuned in to Beatles Month at Musical U. Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 169 Links and Resources • Mattblick.com • Beatlessongwriting.com • Matt's "Be-altetudes" • Ticket to Write 1: Use the flat 6 (bVI) chord in a major key song • Ticket to Write 33: Subvert a 12 bar blues by altering the chord sequence • Ticket to Write 67: Repeat Verse 1 • Ticket to Write 24: Repeat words and sentence structures Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it! Click here to rate and review

Welcome back to Beatles Month! Today we're talking with Scott Freiman, the creator of Deconstructing the Beatles, a series of uniquely revealing multimedia presentations about the composition and production techniques of the Beatles. Scott has spoken about the Beatles to sold-out audiences, on college campuses and for companies around the USA. He skillfully draws on original multitrack recordings to reveal exactly how the songs we know and love were put together, drawing out new and fascinating insights about the Beatles and their music. Scott is also a professional composer and distilled some of the songwriting lessons he'd learned from the Fab Four into a terrific online course, "Learn the Songwriting Secrets of The Beatles". It's a great resource even for those who have no aspirations to write songs themselves but just want to understand music better. As a composer himself he said that what the Deconstructing the Beatles project really showed him was how much work went into this music that we know and love. Just how creative the Beatles were and how that creative process happened, step by step - not just individually but collaboratively. That's what we dig into in this interview: If these songs didn't magically spring into being overnight, what were the elements that made the band so unusually able to consistently write incredible songs that have stood the test of time. Scott has fantastic insight and there's a ton to learn here for song writers, composers and for musicians and music fans as well. We talk about: • The development and growth the Beatles had already gone through as musicians before their recording career began • How his training as an editor has influenced how Scott sees their music and how the Beatles themselves combined editing with experimentation • One specific technique you can listen for in any music but which the Beatles utilised in new and unusual ways. There's some really instructive and inspiring ideas in this conversation that you will benefit from in your own music making and music listening. And it will make you hungry to go watch Scott's full presentations and maybe check out his songwriting course. You're tuned in to Beatles Month at Musical U. Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 168 Links and Resources • DeconstructingTheBeatles.com • Save 10% on any Deconstructing The Beatles presentation with coupon code: DTBFRIEND • Qwire, revolutionising music licensing • Learn the Songwriting Secrets of The Beatles • About Active Listening Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it! Click here to rate and review