Musicality Now

Latest Episodes:

207: What Is Ear Training? (and why does it normally fail?) Oct 17, 2019

Show notes

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.

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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

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206: Your Connection To Music, with Dave Isaacs (The Perpetual Beginner) Oct 15, 2019

Show notes

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.

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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

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205: Unlock Your Potential By Understanding Your Mind, with Nick Bottini Oct 09, 2019

Show notes

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.

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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

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204: Nature, Nurture, and your Duvet of Music, with Robert Emery Oct 02, 2019

Show notes

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.

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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

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203: In Perfect Swinging Harmony, with the Quebe Sisters Sep 25, 2019

Show notes

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.

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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"

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202: Making Improv a Game, with Jeffrey Agrell Sep 18, 2019

Show notes

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.

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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

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201: About the Circle of Fifths Sep 11, 2019

Show notes

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.

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Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 201

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200: What is Musicality? Sep 04, 2019

Show notes

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.

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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

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199: Rewind Ease and Joy Aug 28, 2019

Show notes

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.

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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

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198: How Composers Improve, with Matthew Ellul (School of Composition) Aug 21, 2019

Show notes

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.

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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