Musicality Now

Musical U welcomes back Steve Nixon of FreeJazzLessons.com to discuss the art of playing in multiple genres, and the skills and knowledge that will help you shine in jazz, rock, pop, classical, and country music alike. Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 117 Links and Resources • The Rhythm of Success, with Steve Nixon • 7 Ray Charles Chords Every Musician Must Know • 13 Gospel Piano Chords + 1 Must Have Progression • Slick Gospel & Blues Piano Riff Tutorial Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it! Click here to rate and review

Today we're joined by Anne Mileski of Anacrusic.com and The Anacrusic Podcast. Anne is trained in several of the musicianship approaches we've covered here on the show before, including Kodály, Orff, Dalcroze and Music Learning Theory, and her mission is to make music teaching as purposeful, sequential, and joyful as possible for music teachers everywhere. Anne really stands out as someone who draws on each of those approaches to musicianship training to develop her own very well thought-out material. And she shares this with other music teachers through in-person workshops as well as her popular website and podcast. We really enjoyed getting the chance to talk to Anne about her experience and observations of the various approaches to musicianship training, and we'll throw in our normal disclaimer that although some of the specifics we'll be talking about are geared towards music teachers and early childhood music education, if you are an adult and/or a student yourself, keep listening! There are plenty of insights and valuable nuggets for you in here. We talk about: • Anne's own musical upbringing and a few key experiences, both positive and negative, that influenced her own musicality and how she approaches her teaching • The relative strengths of Kodály, Orff, Dalcroze, and Music Learning Theory • The importance of sequencing in teaching and learning - and the two timescales you need to be thinking about for designing effective music learning sequences. Anne is a great story-teller and we know her stories will resonate with you, as well as her insights on singing, sequencing, improvising and more. Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 116 Links and Resources • Anacrusic • The Anacrusic Podcast • Book: Teaching General Music: Approaches, Issues, and Viewpoints Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it! Click here to rate and review

The Musical U team discusses the importance of taking it step by step in music - and breaking your practice down into "chunks" that make sense for you. Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 115 Links and Resources • Unlocking Your Musicality: Part One • Unlocking Your Musicality: Part Two • About the Message in the Music • About Listening as the Route to Musicality • About the Importance of Joy and Pleasure • About Exploring Without Self-Judgement • About You Being Musical Inside Already • About Keeping it Simple Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it! Click here to rate and review

Today we're joined by Jeff Schneider, award-winning composer and music educator whose YouTube videos for saxophone and piano, online courses, and blog and email lessons are helping musicians around the world to wrap their head around everything from equipment to technique to music theory and listening skills. In this conversation we cover a ton of interesting topics, including sight-reading, improvisation, what makes for effective practicing, and the entrepreneurial requirements of being a professional musician today. Jeff shares: • How many hours a day he practiced growing up, one activity that was central, and the one thing he thinks is essential to practice effectively • One resource he's found really useful to help him balance his creativity with the desire to make a living as a musician • And several punchy tips on improvisation, sight reading, jazz and rhythm. We know you'll enjoy this one and it'll inspire you to check out Jeff's website and sign up for his email list - and don't miss the unforgettable name that email list has, we talk about it towards the end of the interview. Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 114 Links and Resources • Jeff Schneider's website • Jeff's YouTube channel • 7 Things I Wish I Knew When I Started Playing Music • How to Practice Effectively • Learning to Sing in Tune, with George Bevan • About Finding Your Note • About Your Voice Sounding Weird • About Singing as a Tool • About Mindfulness for Musicians • Learning, Playing, and Thriving, with Elisa Janson-Jones • 1,000 True Fans, by Kevin Kelly Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it! Click here to rate and review

The Musical U team discusses the messages contained in music, inspiring your listener to feel something, and finding something you want to express through your instrument. Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 113 Links and Resources • Unlocking Your Musicality: Part One • Unlocking Your Musicality: Part Two • About Listening as the Route to Musicality • About the Importance of Joy and Pleasure • About Exploring Without Self-Judgement • About You Being Musical Inside Already • About Keeping It Simple Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it! Click here to rate and review

Today we're talking with Josh Plotner, a man who plays seemingly pretty much every woodwind instrument, from saxophones to flutes to recorders to clarinets - and a ton of world instruments you may never have heard of. Josh works on Broadway and also provides recording and arranging services both in person and online, drawing on his amazingly broad wind skills. And he came across our radar because he also produces two fantastic kinds of YouTube video, one in which he very punchily explains the must-know rules for arranging for particular instruments in a sensible way, and the other in which he arranges popular music such as TV themes for a variety of instruments - and then plays every part himself! We wanted to know what had gone into the music education of a person who could do all this, and the conversation was truly enlightening. You're going to hear about: • Josh's early days and the surprising attitude that let him quickly learn more instruments than most of us have dreamed of ever playing • The one critical thing Josh says is the essence of his attitude to learning and which is simple - though perhaps not easy. • And the amount of daily practice it took to juggle an endless array of ensembles and groups during his high school years, as well as the way he thinks about practicing now that lets him stay in shape on all those instruments. We know you're gonna enjoy this episode and we think it might provoke you to think differently about your own route in learning music - or to better understand the route you have chosen. And we must insist that you go immediately after finishing listening, and check out some of Josh's YouTube videos. We'll have a few recommended favourites in the shownotes for this episode. Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 112 Links and Resources • Josh Plotner's website • Josh's YouTube channel • Game of Thrones Theme - Woodwinds Only • This is Halloween - Woodwinds Only • How to Write for Clarinet in 2 Minutes • Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, by Carol Dweck • The Dunning-Kruger Effect Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it! Click here to rate and review

The Musical U team tackles the topic of active and deliberate listening, and the benefits it brings to your musicality. Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 111 Links and Resources • Unlocking Your Musicality: Part One • Unlocking Your Musicality: Part Two • About Active Listening • About Learning Faster by Recording Yourself Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it! Click here to rate and review

Today we're joined by Marc Gelfo, a self-described "Neuro-symphonic Hornist" who has played French Horn in some of the top symphony orchestras and is the creator of the Modacity app which helps you practice music more effectively and enjoyably. When we first came across the Modacity app, we were impressed. But quite often the research and literature around music practice seems to end up being quite divorced from the actual expressive and creative nature of music itself, so since it's quite a scientific and sophisticated app, our first assumption was that the creator was probably quite a technical guy. In fact, we discovered that nothing could be further from the truth! Marc's a fascinating guy and in this conversation we talk about: • What an epic road trip taught him about what his French Horn could do • How you can start connecting with the more expressive side of music-making, even if you don't consider yourself creative or artistic • The principles that can transform the effectiveness of your music practice and get you better results faster, and in a more enjoyable way. Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 110 Links and Resources • Marc Gelfo's website • Modacity • Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, by Carol Dweck • About Deliberate Practice in Music • Interview with Prof. Anders Ericsson Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it! Click here to rate and review

The Musical U team gets together to talk about the importance of having fun on your musical journey, and how it ties in with creativity, satisfaction, and achievement. Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 109 Links and Resources • Unlocking Your Musicality: Part One • Unlocking Your Musicality: Part Two • Sara's Music Studio • About Exploring Without Self-Judgement • About You Being Musical Inside Already • About Keeping It Simple Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it! Click here to rate and review

Today we're talking with David Barrett, one of the world's leading harmonica teachers and experts in blues music. David is the author of over 70 music education books including Mel Bay's main harmonica tutor books, he is the founder of bluesharmonica.com, the leading online training provider for learning blues harmonica, and he has also somehow found the time to found and run the world's only music school dedicated to the blues, the School of the Blues in San Jose, California. He is also a Grammy-Nominated blues harmonica player who still regularly performs and records. We were really eager to pick David's brains on harmonica, the blues and also improvisation, and he delivered 110% on all three. In this conversation you're going to hear: • Why harmonica is both a very difficult and also a slightly easier instrument to figure out by ear • Why it is that harmonica and the blues are so closely associated with one another • What characterises blues music • And how David teaches his students to go beyond just memorising licks and riffs and build musically-meaningful improvised solos that will connect with the audience This is definitely not a conversation only for those of you into blues music or who play the harmonica. There is a ton packed in here that's relevant for any instrument and style of music. That said, we suspect that by the end you may have had your mind and ears opened to the possibilities that blues and harmonica might hold for you, too... Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 108 Links and Resources • BluesHarmonica.com • School of the Blues • David's Harmonica Masterclass • David's harmonicas of choice: Hohner Marine Band Harmonicas customized by Joe Filisko Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it! Click here to rate and review

The Musical U team discusses the practice of exploring and pushing the boundaries of your musicality without self-judgement - and the wonderful breakthroughs it can lead to. Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 107 Links and Resources • Unlocking Your Musicality: Part One • Unlocking Your Musicality: Part Two • About Keeping It Simple • About You Being Musical Inside Already Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it! Click here to rate and review

Today on the show we're joined by a musician, music teacher, entrepreneur, author, online summit host, small business coach, podcaster and band director. Which might sound like we have a crowd of guests assembled, but in fact these are all one person: Elisa Janson-Jones. Elisa is the host of the Music Ed Mentor podcast, organiser of the International Music Education Summit and author of "The Music Educator's Guide to Thrive", and through these projects and more she is on a mission to help music teachers discover the non-musical skills that can empower them to succeed. As you'll discover in this episode though, a lot of what Elisa has to share is just as applicable to the hobbyist or professional musician as it is a music teacher. In this conversation we talk about: • Elisa's own musical upbringing and how she came to play a huge number of different instruments. • The unique challenges of conducting an orchestra or band, and how you can actually learn to hear and follow dozens of different musical parts at once without needing to be born with some magical gift. • The 8 aspects of wellness that you should be thinking about if you want to enjoy your musical life to its fullest … And Elisa also shares how she came to not only take up playing the ukulele recently, but actually build one from scratch herself! Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 106 Links and Resources • Elisa Janson-Jones' website • International Music Education Summit • The Music Ed Mentor podcast • The Music Educator's Guide to Thrive, by Elisa Janson-Jones • The Miracle Morning, by Hal Elrod Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it! Click here to rate and review

In this roundtable-discussion episode, the members of the Musical U team discuss the idea that everyone is already musical inside - all it takes is equipping yourself with the tools and mindset to unlock this musicality. Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 105 Links and Resources • Unlocking Your Musicality: Part One • Unlocking Your Musicality: Part Two • About Keeping It Simple Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it! Click here to rate and review

One of the main skills we teach at Musical U is the ability to recognise chords by ear in music. This is a really cool skill to have, whether you play chords yourself, like on guitar or piano, or you want to improvise over them, like on sax or trumpet, or you're a songwriter or composer, or even just music fan who wants to better understand the harmonies in the music you love. The approach we teach is based on taking advantage of the fact that there are certain theory concepts and rules which mean that certain chords go together, and certain sequences of chords are more common than others in the music we hear each day. That, coupled with the fact that the ear doesn't much care what key it's hearing music in, allows you to very rapidly learn to recognise the chords in a large number of songs by ear, without needing to master each and every possible chord and combination. So it's no surprise that this idea, of the "one, four, five and six" chords and how powerful they can be, has come up several times on the show before - and we've even dedicated a whole episode to it, we'll put a link to that in the shownotes. Today we're joined by Austin Brentley, the man behind a fantastic new website which, among other things, allows you to immediately find out what songs use certain chords. There are a bunch of cool applications of this idea, including: • Taking the set of chords you know already, and finding a bunch more songs you'll be able to play right away • Figuring out what one chord you should learn next to open up even more songs for you, and • Providing an easy middle step to learning to recognise chord progressions by ear, using songs you know and love. It was really cool to get to talk with Austin and learn where this project came from and how people are using it and aside from those ideas we just mentioned, we're sure you're going to come away inspired with some ways it could be useful in your own musical life. Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 104 Links and Resources • ChordGenome.com • 1,576 Easy Ukulele Songs That All Use the Same Beginner Chords • About the I, IV, V, and vi Chords Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it! Click here to rate and review

In this roundtable-discussion episode, the members of the Musical U team discuss the idea of "keeping it simple", with anecdotes from their musical lives to illustrate the benefits of this mindset. Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 103 Links and Resources • Unlocking Your Musicality: Part One • Unlocking Your Musicality: Part Two • The Musicality Podcast Power Pack • Roadmaps at Musical U Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it! Click here to rate and review

We always love when we have a guest on the show is hugely passionate about their subject of expertise, and we think that goes double when the subject is music theory. Because it's a subject that can be so wonderful - but is so often taught in a dry, boring way, much like the ear training that we focus a lot on at Musical U. So when we discover a music theory educator who can bring it to life and make it fun, easy and effective - that's really exciting. Glory St. Germain is one of those people. The Ultimate Music Theory program she created and continues to co-author is one of the most widely used and well-respected resources for music teachers to learn to teach theory. And when we say that you might be thinking about dry, mathematical-type material, all very serious and academic - nothing could be further from the truth. This is a program that teaches the true fundamentals and everything that's important to know - but as you'll hear in this episode Glory has a real knack for bringing it to life and making it a genuine pleasure to learn. One quick thing to explain - Glory makes mention of the ARCT, which stands for Associate of the Royal Conservatory, a teaching qualification provided by the Royal Conservatory of Music in Canada. In this conversation we talk about: • The three ways to learn music theory and why most people are missing out by just using one • How the combination of practical learning growing up and formal study later on let Glory understand both the "what" and more importantly the "why" of music theory • And she shares one neglected practice which can help you learn 30-40% faster. Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 102 Links and Resources • Ultimate Music Theory • 7 Minute "Learn Rhythm & Rests" video • Full online courses at UMTCourses Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it! Click here to rate and review

Welcome back to this special pair of episodes celebrating hitting the 100 mark of the Musicality Podcast! If you haven't already heard Episode 100 then make sure you go back and listen to it too because both that one and this one are jam-packed with incredible insights from over two-dozen expert guests, answering the question: "What's one thing you've learned that could help musicians to tap into their inner musicality?" In the last episode we heard from 11 experts whose answers to this question were varied and fascinating. There were some common themes, some of which you'll hear coming up again in this episode, but each guest also brought their own unique perspective and insight to the question. We'll talk a little more at the end of this episode about those recurring themes and how we can learn more from them. We said last time that we'd tried to group the experts to make for two great episodes to listen to, but apart from that there's no meaning to the order - so the line-up for this episode is just as impressive as the first one. In this episode you'll be hearing: • Bill Hilton, author of "How to Really Play the Piano" talking about the level of instrument technique required to sound truly musical. • Book author, podcaster, song-writer and musician David Andrew Wiebe of MusicEntrepreneurHQ.com revealing three things that can help you sound more like a pro. • Innovator in school music education Casey von Neumann of Eclectic Music and CaseyMcCann.com sharing the tip that let her sound just as musical as her incredibly accomplished teacher. • Leading teacher-of-teachers Sara Campbell of SarasMusicStudio, and our Resident Pro for piano here at Musical U, explaining why young children are often more in touch with their inner musicality and what we can learn from that. • Practice expert Chris Owenby from PracticeHabits.co talking about what it takes to become an accomplished musician like the greats we admire. • Rising star singer-songwriter Kendra McKinley pointing out the thing you're probably forgetting to listen to which could make you sound more musical. • Actress, singer, writer and cabaret expert Fiona-Jane Weston discussing the relationship between technique and artistry, and how to unlock the potential in a piece of music. • Composer and guitar educator David Wallimann on escaping the constraints your instrument might be placing on you. • Author of the must-have handbook for aspiring musicians, "The Musician's Way", Gerald Klickstein, on one activity that will transform your musicality and why it's more vital for music than other artforms. • Music technology expert Katie Wardrobe on one non-tech thing she does to develop her musical understanding. • World-leading vocal expert and sight-reading pro Jeremy Fisher on how to overcome tricky spots and learn music faster. • Creative music teaching expert Leila Viss on the mindset shift required to uncover your own creative voice. • Music theory innovator Scott Sharp on the special way of thinking about keys and chords that can let you understand what's going on in the music you hear and play. • And Vincent James, the man behind some of the most inspiring events and books in the world of music tops off our episode with some counter-intuitive advice for connecting musically with your audience. Are you excited? We've already heard all these and we're excited all over again just talking through them! Before we dive in, if you're somebody who relishes this kind of musicality insight and knowledge then you are not going to want to miss the special edition we've put together to celebrate this 100th episode. It's called the Musicality Podcast Power Pack, and we've taken the first 100 episodes of the podcast plus some clever extra resources to help you get maximum value from each and every episode, AND some super cool bonuses contributed by our expert guests. And we've packed it all onto a USB thumb drive you can put in any computer or laptop and instantly get access to everything. No waiting for downloading, no worrying that the episodes might not be available any more in future - you've got everything you could want and more, all in the palm of your hand. We would really love for every single listener to the show to have a copy of this - so we've made it really affordable and we're including free worldwide shipping to help get this out to as many people as possible. So if you enjoy the show and want the Power Pack yourself, or if you have a friend or family member who you'd love to hand it to as an amazing musical gift, please head to musicalitypodcast.com/celebrate - that's musicalitypodcast.com/celebrate - for all the details. This is a very time-limited offer to celebrate this 100th episode, so don't miss your chance to grab a copy of the Musicality Podcast Power Pack - head to musicalitypodcast.com/celebrate today! Okay, with that said, let's dive in. Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube Full Show Notes and Transc

Welcome to episode 100 of the Musicality Podcast! It is hard to believe - but we have reached Episode 100 of the podcast! It's been just about a year since we launched the show and it has been an absolute blast. We knew it would be fun to connect with interesting people and talk about musicality, but we had no idea just how incredible it would be. We've been blown away by the amazing people who've joined us on the show so far. We wanted to do something special to mark Episode 100 - and we'll tell you in a minute what we've got for you, it's truly something remarkable. So we talked about what to do in the team. And we're all hugely appreciative of *you* and everybody who listens to the show. So we thought about asking for listener contributions of comments or questions. But the thing is, for the most part, you guys are pretty shy! We know from the download numbers that there are a ton of people listening, but it's relatively rare that we get a new review or someone reaches out by email or leaves us a voice message. And we get that! Hey, a big part of what we do at Musical U is helping people become more confident in music and be proud that they're actively learning the skills that most people assume require musical "talent". But we know a lot of you listening aren't there yet - So it would be a bit nuts to expect our podcast listeners to be rushing forwards bravely to put themselves out there and get in touch! So we didn't do that. But we did just want to mention it here so you all know how much we appreciate you, remind you that you are always welcome to get in touch at musicalitypodcast.com/hello - and give us the opportunity to say a big thank you for listening to the show. A special thank you of course to our *members* at Musical U who've trusted us with their musicality training and provide the financial support we need to put this podcast out for free every week. So when we were talking with the team about what we could do to celebrate hitting Episode 100 the other idea that quickly came up was that we could recap some of the stand-out lessons and quotes from our amazing interviewees. Which would be cool. But you know what would be even cooler? If we could get those same superstars to contribute something fresh and new - and something that would be really impactful on *your* musical life. So that's what we did. And a huge thank you to all our past guests who contributed a clip. We were hoping to get a handful back - and ended up with 26 contributions! The question we asked was: "What's one thing you've learned that could help musicians to tap into their inner musicality?" So what you have here - and these are going to run into a second episode too because there were so many! What you have here is an incredible collection of the most punchy insights and wisdom from more than two dozen of the world's leading music educators and musicality experts, all in one place. We have Gerald Klickstein, author of the must-have handbook for aspiring musicians, The Musician's Way. We've got the guys from the Music Student 101 podcast, my favourite podcast for learning about music theory. We have #1 Billboard hit singer and award-winning song-writer Judy Rodman. We have David Reed, the man behind the terrific Improvise For Real method for learning to improvise. We have Forrest Kinney, author of the immensely popular Pattern Play series of piano books. And I could go on and on... This might actually blow your mind a little bit, we know that we had to take breaks when listening to the clips to let things sink in a bit before absorbing more! And we're going to be splitting this episode in two, because there's no way you could sensibly absorb all of this in one go...! And speaking of jam-packed with amazing insights - before we dive into those answers from past guests, we must let you know about the Musicality Podcast Power Pack. To celebrate hitting episode 100 and all of the amazing guests we've had, we went back into all the archives, collected together all 100 episodes and then we found and created a bunch of cool extra bonus resources and material to help you get the maximum possible impact from everything in the podcast so far. We've put it all on a handy USB thumb drive so you can literally have the world's top musicality experts in the palm of your hand. We're making this available for a limited time only with free worldwide shipping. To get your copy, visit musicalitypodcast.com/celebrate - and of course not only will you be getting this fantastic resource to accelerate your own musicality training, you'll also be supporting the show. We should also mention this would be an awesome gift for a musical friend or family member. So if you enjoy the show, and whether you've listened to one episode or all hundred, please go check out musicalitypodcast.com/celebrate and see all the cool stuff we've packed into the Musicality Podcast Power Pack for you. This will be available for a limited time so go take a look today! Ok

In this episode, we tackle the seemingly intimidating topic of writing your own music, and give you tips on how you can share it with the world. Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 099 Links and Resources • Interview with Todd McCarty • Heat on the Street • Approaching Improvisation module preview • Podcast episode: Approaching Improvisation • Podcast episode: Improvising Rhythm • Podcast episode: Improvising with Scales and Chords • Podcast episode: Improvising with Structure and Phrasing • Podcast episode: Learning to Improvise • Lisa McCormick's website • Interview with Leila Viss • Interview with Marshall McDonald • Interview with Bree Noble • The Female Entrepreneur Musician podcast • Ira Glass on "having taste" Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it! Click here to rate and review

Today we're joined by Todd McCarty of the Heat On The Street blog where he shares insider insights on the music industry and how to find fans for your music. You might be wondering why we're discussing music industry stuff here on the Musicality Podcast, where we normally focus on the music side rather than the business side of being a musician. Well, we're not suddenly making a shift to focus entirely on career topics, but we were really keen to feature Todd on the show because we know that a lot of musicians, particularly hobbyists, would love to get their music heard - but are either intimidated or overwhelmed by the modern landscape of music publishing. Streaming services can in theory provide immediate listeners - but may not. And record labels are still doing what they did in the 1950s - or are they? We wanted to ask Todd about the real story behind the successes in the music industry and what the opportunities are - not for the rare "talented" virtuoso, but for the passionate amateur musician who just wants to get some fans. Todd was a professional drummer who went on to act as tour manager and promoter, run a record label and be a Senior VP of Sales at Sony Music. He has several platinum and gold sales awards to his name and so he's certainly a man who knows what it takes to make it in the music business. In this conversation we talk about: • Todd's own background as a professional drummer and how a pivotal audition hammered home an important lesson about the music business • We find a polite way to ask Todd: What's the point of record labels these days? • And he reveals the one thing that musicians get absolutely backwards when it comes to getting fans Todd has a refreshingly clear and frank perspective on the music industry, something that can all too often seem confusing and overwhelming, and he provided some really big insights and mindset shifts that we know will help you, whatever stage you're at in getting your music out there. Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 098 Links and Resources • Heat on the Street • About Teachers, Coaches, and Mentors • 35 Ways to Make Money with your Music • How to Get Followers on Spotify • Sign up for the Heat on the Street mailing list Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it! Click here to rate and review

In this episode, we discuss the value of using your voice as a training tool to hone your instrumental skills - and how your voice is closely tied to rhythm, phrasing, and storytelling in music. Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 097 Links and Resources • About Singing as a Tool • Learning to Sing in Tune, with George Bevan • Making Music with Ease, with Gerald Klickstein • Inside the Jazz Mind, with Marshall McDonald of the Count Basie Orchestra • Musical Storytelling and the Art of Cabaret, with Fiona-Jane Weston Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it! Click here to rate and review

Today on the show we're excited to be joined by one of London's leading cabaret performers, Fiona-Jane Weston. Fiona-Jane has created and performed several highly-acclaimed cabaret shows in the UK and internationally, including "Wartime Women", about the roles women have historically played in warfare and "Looking For Lansbury", celebrating the life, heritage and career of actress Angela Lansbury. Cabaret is a performing art that we've enjoyed but never really known a ton about and we were really curious to see what an expert like Fiona-Jane might be able to share, since it would likely channel musicality in a different form than that of a performing musician. It really lived up to that expectation, there were some really interesting ideas here that we haven't talked about on the show before. In this conversation we talk about: • What defines cabaret, and what makes for "good" cabaret • Story-telling through song, the importance of it both in cabaret and in music more generally, and • Connecting with your audience and what we can learn from the uniquely intimate environment of cabaret Something that came out of our discussion that we weren't expecting was why cabaret might be more accessible to you, or any passionate amateur musician, than you might have imagined... Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 096 Links and Resources • FionaJaneWeston.com • Fiona-Jane Weston's Wartime Women • Fiona-Jane Weston's Looking for Lansbury • Sign up for Fiona-Jane's email list Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it! Click here to rate and review

Have you ever felt confused by musical modes? In this episode, we discuss how you can understand these fascinating scales through active listening and a simple yet eye-opening exercise. Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 095 Links and Resources • The Many Moods of Musical Modes • Interview with Marshall McDonald • Crazy Easy Weird (Modal) Improv Trick • The Ultimate Guide to the Dorian Mode • The Lydian Scale: Seeking the Ultimate Mysteries of Music Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it! Click here to rate and review

Today we have the distinct pleasure to talk with someone who we think it's fair to say is one of the top jazz musicians in the world today and who has played with and learned from some of the true masters: Marshall McDonald, who has been playing for 20 years with the legendary Count Basie Orchestra, and currently plays lead alto sax in that band. He's also performed in the Duke Ellington Orchestra and with Lionel Hampton and Paquito D'Rivera. We'll admit that we were a bit nervous going into this interview. Marshall has had an amazingly impressive career, and although we're jazz fans we're not jazz musicians ourselves - and we know that jazz cats often have an encyclopedic knowledge of jazz records, jazz history and the jazz musicians behind it all. And Marshall's certainly no exception! But fortunately he is also the most kind and humble guy and it was an absolute pleasure to chat with him - and he certainly didn't hold back on the amazing stories and insights on teaching and learning jazz - and music in general. One might assume that a world-leading alto sax player would talk mostly about the specifics of jazz and sax - but as you'll hear, Marshall's got a breadth of wisdom and insight that cuts right across music itself. There is a ton in here for any musician to learn from. In this conversation we talk about: • Talent, and how he and the amazing musicians he's worked with and learned from think about talent • We ask him about learning to improvise, and the balance of preparation versus spontaneity to improvise in a way that moves the listener • And he helps Christopher shrug off a grudge he's been harbouring for 20 years and realise some advice that he got back then was actually pretty solid! Marshall's a natural story-teller, so this is a really fantastic interview - and we take no credit for that! He's also a skillful educator, offering private lessons online and giving masterclasses, so he really knows how to explain what he does. Between the stories and the insights, we know you're going to love this one. Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 094 Links and Resources • Marshall McDonald's website • Study with Marshall McDonald - all levels of saxophones, clarinet, and flute • Contact Marshall McDonald Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it! Click here to rate and review

In the second instalment of our series on frequencies in music, we discuss the two major reasons why frequencies matter, and how sound can be understood, defined, and manipulated in terms of its frequencies. Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 093 Links and Resources • About Frequencies in Music, Part One • Interview with Jeremy Fisher • Frequency Fundamentals • Contact us! Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it! Click here to rate and review

On the show today we're joined by Leila Viss, author of the 88PianoKeys.me blog and the book "The iPad Piano Studio". In her own piano studio Leila specialises in helping students be more creative on keyboard and together with Bradley Sowash at 88 Creative Keys she runs workshops and provides online training to help other teachers to empower their students creatively. As you'll hear in this episode, Leila knows from personal experience what it's like to not feel creative as a musician, and to learn it step-by-step in a practical way and it was fascinating to hear how she did this and how she now helps others to do the same. In this conversation Leila shares: • Three pivotal experiences that opened up a route for her to become more creative • Why it might be okay to steal from musicians you admire - and what it means to "steal like an artist" • One simple exercise she uses with her students to help them start being creative on the keyboard We find Leila really inspiring in how she approaches playing and teaching music, and we think you're going to enjoy hearing the specific ways as well as the overall mindset that have enabled her and her students to transform from on-page sheet music readers into free and creative musicians. Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 092 Links and Resources • Leila Viss's website • 88 Piano Keys • How a classically trained pianist learned to improvise • Steal Like An Artist, by Austin Kleon • The Practice Revolution, by Philip Johnston • Tin Pan Rhythm app • About the I, IV, V, and vi Chords • About Scales and Their Flavours Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it! Click here to rate and review

In this episode, we discuss the roles that teachers, coaches, and mentors play in your musical growth, making connections and distinctions between each to help you understand what kind of help you'd like in your journey and how to get it. Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 091 Links and Resources • Interview with Andy Wasserman • Interview with Jimmy Rotherham • 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 [email protected] and put "Platinum Coaching" in the subject line Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it! Click here to rate and review

Recently on the show we did an episode on something called the Lydian Chromatic Concept of Tonal Organization (LCCOTO) with Andrew Bishko from our team. Andrew introduced me to this when he wrote a tutorial about the Lydian scale for our website, and in the process of putting that article together we came across a man called Andy Wasserman, one of just a handful of people in the world who is fully trained and certified to teach the Lydian Chromatic Concept. So we were really keen to invite Andy onto the show to share a bit more about this - but as you'll be hearing, Andy is actually a highly remarkable musician, composer and educator and we could have easily done a whole series of interviews with him! Andy is a professional pianist, composer, arranger, performer and producer, in genres as diverse as Jazz, World Music (meaning West African, Asian, Middle East, Native American, Latin & Afro-Cuban, South American), Fusion, Funk, Hip-Hop, Electronica, Blues, New Age, and Gospel. You will have heard his music on TV and radio. And he's had a fascinating journey to become the musician he is today. We tried to reign ourselves in and focus on just a few topics, so in this conversation you'll be hearing about: • The four music mentors that helped Andy become the musician he is today, and the specific impact each had • Andy's view on talent and what we can learn from paying attention to the music that resonates with us • And of course the Lydian Chromatic Concept created by his mentor George Russell, renowned composer and recipient of the MacArthur Foundation "Genius" Grant. It's a framework for understanding music, which Andy has spent decades helping to develop and teach. It's a bit of a mouthful of a name, but as you'll hear the Lydian Chromatic Concept is, in a way, quite simple - in the sense of being fundamental and universal. It's not something we could ask Andy to actually teach in a podcast episode like this but we talk in depth about what the Concept is, the way it can transform how you hear and play music, and how to go about learning more about it if you want to experience that transformation for yourself. Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 090 Links and Resources • Andy Wasserman Official Website • Piano Lesson City: Andy Wasserman's online one-on-one custom private lessons via webcam • Andy Wasserman's YouTube Channel • All About Jazz website's Andy Wasserman page • Jazz Monthly Interview of Andy Wasserman • George Russell's Lydian Chromatic Concept Tribute page at AW.com • George Russell Official Website • Official LCCOTO website and Forum (Lydian Chromatic Concept of Tonal Organization) • Jazz Profiles: Six articles on life, career, and music of George Russell by Steve Cerra • About the Lydian Chromatic Concept • The Lydian Scale: Seeking the Ultimate Mysteries of Music • Book: The Lydian Chromatic Concept of Tonal Organization: The Art and Science of Tonal Gravity (order from Concept Publishing only!) Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it! Click here to rate and review

In this episode Christopher and Andrew talk about the musicality of playing multiple instruments. How becoming more musical makes it easy to pick up a second (or third, or fourth!) instrument - and how playing more than one instrument can help you become more musical. Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 089 Links and Resources • Interview with Andrew Bishko • About the Lydian Chromatic Concept • Interview with David Row • Article: Seven Reasons to Learn a New Instrument Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it! Click here to rate and review

Today we're joined by David Row of the Make Moments Matter website and podcast. David is an elementary music teacher in the US who specialises in the Orff method of music teaching. Orff is something we've mentioned a couple of times on the show before because it's one of a few approaches that really puts musicality at the heart of music learning. And although these days it's mostly used for early music education and David's experience is predominantly with young children, we think you'll find there's plenty of interesting ideas here for the adult music learner too. In this conversation we talk about: • David's two quite different experiences of learning music growing up, singing harmony in church and taking piano lessons, and what he learned from each • Why David chose to study the Orff approach to music education even though he had already qualified and started working as a school music teacher • The specific benefits of the Orff approach for children and for adults. We found this one really enlightening - so whether you've wondered about Orff or never heard of it before we hope you'll enjoy it too. Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 088 Links and Resources • Make Moments Matter • Make Moments Matter podcast • Interview with Casey McCann • Interview with Jimmy Rotheram • Elementaria: First Acquaintance with Orff-Schulwerk, by Gunild Keetman • David's blogpost on Rhythm Syllable Systems Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it! Click here to rate and review

In this episode, we introduce you to frequencies in music, discuss why they're important, and give you a simple primer on the fascinating science behind them. Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 087 Links and Resources • Interview with Allan Hubert-Wright • Interview with Jeremy Fisher • About the Word "Tone" • About the Word "Tone", Part Two Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it! Click here to rate and review

Today we're joined by Allan Hubert-Wright, the founder of Le Chanteur Moderne, one of the most respected voice training institutes in France, and one which is remarkable for using modern voice science to help singers and singing teachers be more effective by leveraging what we actually know about the human voice. He is also the director of the voice department at the prestigious IFPRO performing arts school in Paris and conducts ongoing research into vocal function. We recently had the chance to see Allan give a presentation, and we came away determined to have him on the show, because he shares the kinds of thing that can save years of frustration, confusion and wasted effort. So whether you don't sing at all yet, you're at the beginning of learning to sing, or you've been singing for years, you're going to want to pay attention! In this conversation we talk about: • Why being told he was a bad singer as a child didn't hold him back • How he helped one singer finally find her own authentic voice after years of imitating various singers and styles • And we bust three big myths in singing: about breathing and support, about what to eat and drink, and about how to correctly produce vowel sounds. This conversation was such a pleasure and we know it's going to be an enlightening one for any of you listening who sing or who would like to - but find some of the teaching a bit confusing. Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 086 Links and Resources • Le Chanteur Moderne • Le Chanteur Moderne on Facebook • Singing and Teaching Singing: An Holistic Approach to Classical Voice, by Janice Chapman • Vocology, by Ingo Titze • Principles of Voice Production, by Ingo Titze Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it! Click here to rate and review

Choosing the perfect online course for you is half the battle. The other half is ensuring that you stay engaged and motivated so you can complete the course and get as much out of it as possible. Learn all about how you can be proactive and smart about your course to maximize your odds of success. Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 085 Links and Resources • About Choosing an Online Music Course • Interview with David Asher Brown • Contact us Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it! Click here to rate and review

One of the parts of musicality that we haven't covered so much on the podcast so far is the topic of performing, and finding ways to share the music you love, perhaps even music you've written yourself, with an audience. If you've been listening to the show for a while then you know we're not about to tell you that there is one single correct path to follow and that all serious musicians should do it a certain way when it comes to performing or publishing music. But we do think that whatever way, shape or form it may take for you, music is fundamentally about the human connection, and finding a way to share your music-making is one of the most rewarding things you can do in your musical life. Today we're joined by Bree Noble, who as well as being an award-winning singer-songwriter is the founder of the Female Musician Academy and host of two popular podcasts, Women of Substance Radio and the Female Entrepreneur Musician podcast, both of which we listen to ourselves. Bree is a total expert on a couple of topics that may be of interest to you, if you've had the urge to perform as a musician, or to share music you've created yourself - but you haven't known where to start, you've worried it's too late for you, or you've wondered if it might even be possible to make some money with your music. In this conversation we talk about: • Bree's own journey of struggling to figure out how to make a living with her music • The barriers and concerns that hold musicians back from getting their music out there and getting paid • And the sheer variety of options available today for getting your music heard, building up your presence as an artist and making some money with the music you love. We also ask Bree something you might have wondered yourself on hearing the names of her projects a moment ago, which is why she is particularly passionate about helping female musicians specifically, and the advantages that come from focusing specifically on women in music. This is a conversation which is sure to open some new doors in your mind and spark new inspiration about what your own musical life could look like, so please enjoy. Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 084 Links and Resources • Female Entrepreneur Musician podcast • Bree Noble music • Female Musician Academy • Profitable Musician Summit • How To Go From Unknown Indie Artist To Profitable Professional Musician In 5 Steps Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it! Click here to rate and review

Not everything is in 4/4! Learn about polyrhythms, or rhythms where two (or more) rhythms occur simultaneously. Musical U's Anastasia Voitinskaia gives a rundown of polyrhythms, where they're found, and how to count them, and why you should make them a part of your musical repertoire. Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 083 Links and Resources • Polyrhythm for Beginners • Playlist of songs with polyrhythm Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it! Click here to rate and review

Today we're joined by Kendra McKinley, a San Francisco singer-songwriter who we interviewed on our website last year after a cover song she recorded made us sit up and pay attention. Her music has been described as having a "striking musicality" and we think that's a great way of putting it, so we were delighted to have the opportunity to sit down with her and learn more about where that musicality came from and how she goes about writing and recording her songs. Kendra is a perfect example of a musician that will be called "talented" and whose music will make you think she has gifts that make it all come easily. But as you'll hear in this interview, those abilities have come through dedication and very thoughtful pursuit of music-making, and the opportunities and projects she's enjoyed haven't been dropped in her lap by luck or fate, she's been out there putting in the time and efforts and making it happen. In this conversation we talk about: • Kendra's musical upbringing and the one pivotal experience that made it suddenly clear that she wanted to be a musical performer as a career • The process of recording her first album, Treat, and why it turned out to be such a wonderfully varied "buffet" of songs • Her recent artist residency in Big Sur, an incredible and unique experience that produced a new EP and helped inform who she's becoming as a musician Kendra's album, Treat, really lives up to its name, as being a treat for your ears to enjoy, and this conversation was no different. It was fascinating to get to speak with Kendra and understand where this music has come from and what she has coming up next, so we hope you'll enjoy it as much as we did. Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 082 Links and Resources • Kendra's website • Kendra's Facebook • Kendra's Instagram • Musical U's interview with Kendra Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it! Click here to rate and review

Did you know that it's possible to practice your musical repertoire even when you don't have your instrument in your hands? Learn all about the skill of audiation, a.k.a. imagining music in your head, and how it can improve your musical memory, your understanding of the music itself, and even your performances. Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 081 Links and Resources • Interview with Sharon Mark-Teggart • Interview with Gerald Klickstein • Interview with Donna Schwartz • Gordon Institute of Music Learning • About Active Listening Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it! Click here to rate and review

Today we're joined by Sharon Mark-Teggart, who along with Dr. Sally Cathcart runs The Curious Piano Teachers, one of the leading organisations training up the next generation of piano teachers. And as you'll discover in this episode they're leveraging the latest research into what makes for effective learning and teaching to help those new teachers be more successful, enjoy their teaching more, and be continually developing and improving throughout their teaching career. On the face of it you might think this interview is one for aspiring piano teachers only, or perhaps just music teachers. But we would strongly encourage you to take the kind of attitude Sharon talks about in this conversation: one of curiosity. She talks about how she would sometimes go along to training courses that didn't seem directly applicable to her, for example ones designed for classroom music teachers - but by being open-minded and curious she found she would always come away with a ton of new tools and inspiration to apply in her own teaching. In the same way we would encourage you to listen to this conversation and not just take it at face value. When we talk about teachers and students, try to consider how it all could apply not just to your own role in a student-teacher relationship, but also when studying resources online by yourself, or even when you sit and practice and you act as your own teacher. We think you'll find that all the insights Sharon shares in this conversation can be very relevant to you in one context or another in your own musical life. In this conversation we talk about: • The transformation Sharon went through in her own teaching, and why she is now so passionate about changing the status quo in piano teaching. • What it means to bring curiosity to your teaching and learning, and why that can be so powerful. • The teaching toolbox she has built up and now shares, including the surprising variety and power in the questions you can ask to accelerate learning. We also talk a bit about the online course and teaching diploma training they have developed, and so if you're a teacher yourself or know somebody who is, you won't want to miss the details of that. Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 080 Links and Resources • The Curious Piano Teachers • Online Teaching Diploma course • "Let's Play" course • Dr. Sally Cathcart's website Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it! Click here to rate and review

The world of online music education is ripe with opportunity for a musician interested in self-directed learning. In this episode, we explore the factors that should go into choosing an online course that is compatible with your musical goals and vision. Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 079 Links and Resources • Interview with David Asher Brown • Interview with Jeremy Burns and Matthew Scott Phillips • Interview with Chris Owenby • Interview with Prof. Anders Ericsson • Interview with David Isaacs • Christopher's interview on the Learn Jazz Standards podcast • Musical U Roadmaps Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it! Click here to rate and review

Today we're talking with composer David Asher Brown, who is also the man behind PianoCub.com, a website that can help anybody to start learning piano online. David's work as a composer is wonderful and varied, and well worth a listen - but as you'll be hearing, that's just one clue as to the fascinating variety of projects and interests David has explored during his musical career so far. We'll give our usual disclaimer that although David's the man behind Piano Cub, this conversation runs much broader than piano, and certainly has something to interest any type of musician. In this conversation we talk about: • The two big experiences that truly tested David's commitment to a life in music, and what helped him through. • How long it took him as a piano player to learn to play church organ when he was called in last minute for a gig in France. • How David's website Piano Cub tackles possibly the biggest challenge in online learning, keeping the student motivated and engaged. This conversation is packed with wisdom and insights from an experienced composer and innovative music educator, so there's sure to be something that will add value to your own musical life. Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 078 Links and Resources • David's composer website • David's SoundCloud • David's YouTube • Piano Cub • Yiddish Music Collective • About Good Music Habits Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it! Click here to rate and review

With so many possible uses, it can be difficult to know exactly what we mean when we say "tone". In part two of our series about tone, we look at three more common uses for this multipurpose word, and how to contextualize them in music. Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 077 Links and Resources • About the Word "Tone" (Part One) • Interview with Donna Schwartz • Donna Schwartz's course on saxophone tone • Series on Bass Tone • Tuning Your Instrument • Hearing Tone, Timbre, and Texture Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it! Click here to rate and review

Today we're joined by Jeremy Fisher, one of the co-founders of Vocal Process, one of the most impressive and useful websites for learning how to develop your singing voice and sing better. Through blog posts, live in-person training, online webinars, books and even an app, Vocal Process covers all the most in-demand topics for singers, ranging from how to get started and sing in tune, through extending your vocal range, through developing your singing style and even passing auditions. Jeremy himself has had a fascinating career and one thing that made me particularly keen to have him on the show was that he was an instrumentalist first and foremost, and we think that's given him a particular perspective on the musicality of singing that's distinctive. The other component of that is definitely his focus on the science and analytical approach to how the human voice works and how to improve your singing. There was a lot that we wanted to quiz Jeremy on and we had to hold ourselves back a bit so as not to produce an epic 5-hour podcast - but we still crammed a ton of interesting stuff in! In this conversation we talk about: • How his brain works as an expert sight-reader, and the process of learning to do the same thing yourself • The "Trombone exercise" that can help you learn to sing the right notes and land on them in tune. • And why wanting to help singers led to Jeremy discovering a love of having a camera stuck up his nose. This is one of those episodes that packs a whole bunch of different subjects and a ton of expertise into a short conversation, so whether you're an instrumentalist, a singer, or a bit of both, you're going to take at least one - and probably several - really useful ideas or insights from this. Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 076 Links and Resources • Vocal Process • This is a Voice Book • Vocal Process Webinars • Singing Express book series • How to Sing Legato eBook • One Minute Voice Warmup app • 7 ways to change your style without changing your sound • About the four stages of pitch matching • About the relationship between singing voice and speaking voice • Blog post: About onsets and offsets • Easy top notes - how to stretch your voice • Learning and memorizing lyrics and lines • Interview with Gerald Klickstein • Interview with Ben Parry • Podcast episode: About Your Voice Sounding Weird Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it! Click here to rate and review

The major scale may get all the attention, but have you been introduced to its close relative, the Lydian scale? In this episode, Musical U's own Andrew Bishko discusses the Lydian and the associated Lydian Chromatic Concept - a theory that may change the way you think about the major scale forever... Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 075 Links and Resources • Interview with Andrew • The Lydian Scale: Seeking the Ultimate Mysteries of Music • The Lydian Chromatic Concept, by George Russell • Tension and Release in Music Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it! Click here to rate and review

Today we have the distinct pleasure of interviewing one of our own team members at Musical U. Andrew Bishko is our Content Editor and Product Manager at Musical U, which means he's in charge of overseeing everything we publish and also the teaching material we continue to expand and improve inside Musical U itself. But as you're about to discover, despite his huge contributions at Musical U, this represents just one small part of a long and fascinating career as a musician, composer, author and music educator. Andrew has performed and toured professionally in a number of bands, taught private instrument lessons, published a book and taught university courses in the US. He's played a wide variety of instruments, from piano to accordion to flute and Native American flute to a recent new addition, the guitarrón. He's played in styles as varied as classical, folk, reggae, jazz, Klezmer - and even a Pink Floyd tribute band. In this conversation you'll discover: How he went from classical Chopin recitals on piano to touring the world playing flute in a reggae band. The one genre of music that resonated most deeply with him emotionally and caused him to focus on it for 15 years. Why the best way to learn to improvise might involve being taught how to go sit on a rock. This one runs long! And that was with us being very self-controlled and not diving into any one of several topics along the way which we would have loved to pick Andrew's brains on further. After 90 minutes we felt like we'd barely scratched the surface, and there are a ton of interesting and useful insights packed into this conversation for you. You'll see why we consider it an honour and a privilege to have Andrew on the Musical U team. Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 074 Links and Resources • HeartWinds World of Music • Mariachi Flor de Missouri • How to Sit on a Rock • Napasha Music • Take lessons with Andrew • The Sound of Klezmer Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it! Click here to rate and review

You may be surprised to learn that a large part of learning to play by ear is in fact trial and error! However, you can accelerate your learning by adding some method to the madness - with the proper tools and training! Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 073 Links and Resources • Interview with Chris Owenby • "Start Playing by Ear" module preview • About Perfect Pitch • Interview with Professor Anders Ericsson • Roadmaps at Musical U Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it! Click here to rate and review

Today we're speaking with Chris Owenby, the man behind the website "Practice Habits" where he shares blogposts and videos to help musicians and especially piano teachers with their students to form more effective and enjoyable practice routines. As well as running Practice Habits and its corresponding members website for piano teachers, Chris is also an award-winning composer, and the creator of The Online Piano Course, which as you'll be hearing in this episode is an interestingly different approach to learning piano, both in what is covered and the way it is taught online. In this conversation we talk about: • The unusual musical journey that led to him being equally comfortable in the worlds of sheet music and playing by ear • How to find patterns in the music you play, and why that's useful • The clever way Chris has managed to reconcile the importance of adapting teaching to fit each student with providing an online course for learning piano We expected to focus mostly on practice tips and tricks in this interview but it turned out to be so rich in interesting ideas and advice about playing by ear, improvising, and finding your own way through music learning that we think we'll have to invite Chris back for a part two in future! Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 072 Links and Resources • PracticeHabits.co • Expedition Piano • The Online Piano Course • Free Piano Mini-Course • 5 Brilliant Practice Habits • About the I, IV, V, and vi Chords • Interview with Sara Campbell Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it! Click here to rate and review

There's a slew of obvious and not-so-obvious benefits of playing music. From boosting your self-esteem to improving your brain's ability to multitask, music is the gift that keeps on giving - whether you're a child starting piano lessons, a college student joining the school choir, or someone picking up an instrument in retirement. Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 071 Links and Resources • Interview with Jimmy Rotheram • Infographic: The Benefits of a Music Education • 20 Important Benefits of Music in our Schools • 9 Ways Learning an Instrument Strengthens Your Brain • Benefits of Learning a Musical Instrument After 50 • Fighting Dementia with Music • Singing Their Way through Retirement • Why Retirement Can Be an Excellent Time to Learn to Play an Instrument • Why You Should Learn a Musical Instrument as an Adult Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it! Click here to rate and review

Today we're talking with Jimmy Rotheram, the man behind an incredible success story in the UK school system. Last year Feversham Primary Academy made headlines after transforming from one of the worst-performing schools in the country to well above average, in just a few short years. After being singled out for its unacceptably poor student attendance and academic results in 2010, Feversham now has 98% student attendance and is in the top 1% of schools nationwide for student progress in reading, writing and mathematics. So why are we talking about this on the Musicality Podcast? Well, it turns out that a large part of their success is attributable to a greatly increased and improved music education programme for all students. We were so impressed with Jimmy's story and the results that he and his colleagues at Feversham have managed, so we were excited to have the chance to speak with him. And as you'll learn in this interview it wasn't just "adding music" that made the difference. It was a particular kind of music education which focuses on developing the inner musicality of each child - and which can be equally powerful for adults too. In this conversation we talk about: • The specific kind of music education Jimmy adopted for use at Feversham • Why this kind of music education was initially a real struggle for Jimmy personally, given his own musical background, and why it's the exact opposite, a fun and easy experience, for his students • Whether it was the kind of music education or the increased amount that produced such amazing results A couple of things we mention which we should probably explain in case you're not familiar with the UK system: the "PGCE" qualification is the main teaching degree for UK primary and secondary schools, and "Ofsted" is the official body which evaluates schools in the UK. This is a really interesting and inspiring story even if you don't have a particular interest in childhood music education yourself, so whether you're a parent, a teacher, or just a musician yourself, we know you'll get a lot out of this one. Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 070 Links and Resources • Feversham Primary Academy • Improving school results not with maths, but with music • Jimmy's YouTube channel • British Kodály Academy • About Solfa • Jimmy's Twitter Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it! Click here to rate and review

What does "tone" mean in music? This multipurpose word can actually take on some very different uses depending on the context it's mentioned in. Learn about how "tone" can refer to a note, a frequency, or an interval. Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 069 Links and Resources Interview with Donna Schwartz About Chord Tones How Frequencies Work About Whole Steps and Half Steps Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it! Click here to rate and review

Today on the show we're joined by Donna Schwartz, one of the best-known saxophone teachers online. As you'll be hearing though, Donna's expertise goes deep on sax but also wide on other instruments and musicality in general. Along with past podcast guest Nick Mainella, Donna hosts the "Everything Saxophone" podcast, and is the creator of several interesting online courses, including "Get a Killer Saxophone Tone", "Practice Smarter" and "Jazz Improvisation Explained". In this conversation we talk about: • how learning a second instrument helped Donna overcome crippling performance anxiety on her primary instrument • the revolutionary approach to teaching and learning music which really shouldn't be all that revolutionary and • the surprising key to producing a good tone that really projects This was one of those conversations where we had to keep holding ourselves back because we could have happily dived into any of several areas Donna touched on and spent hours just talking about that! So we know you'll enjoy this and go away keen to explore Donna's website, courses and podcast for more of her insights and expertise. Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 068 Links and Resources • Donna Schwartz's website • Donna's online courses • The Everything Saxophone podcast • Gordon Institute for Music Learning • Learn and Sing: Your Way to Great Musicianship, with Donna Schwartz Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it! Click here to rate and review