For Episode 100, I say thank you to all of you who have listened to even 1 episode, let alone all 100!  In this episode, I recap the tools of musicianship, and I celebrate moments like my favorite episodes that didn't have as high of listener numbers that I think you might have missed.  I also share announcements like a new name, a new focus, and a new episode frequency.  One spoiler in case you miss it: This is the last episode of 2024.  This podcast will return early in 2025! Let me know...

Professional musicians often have to confront obstacles from job changes...to a piece they're practicing that isn't getting better...to possible existential threats such as streaming services and AI.  To be a successful musician for a long time requires knowing when and how to pivot.  Hopefully this episode will help you answer both questions. Let me know your thoughts on this episode as a voice message to possibly share on a future episode at https://www.speakpipe.com/MusicianToolkit  If you...

Planning is good, but doing is better!  Whether it's composing your next piece, practicing something hard or accomplishing a career goal, it's possible to become a doer and not just a planner even if that hasn't been your natural inclination.  In this episode, I share what has worked for me. Let me know your thoughts on this episode as a voice message to possibly share on a future episode at https://www.speakpipe.com/MusicianToolkit  If you enjoyed this, please give it a rating and review on...

Reading for self-improvement is a common habit among successful people in all kinds of fields, and this is definitely true for musicians!  However, good reading is more than just staring at words on pages.  Besides types of books, it's important to invest time, energy and techniques to get the most out of what you're reading.   Let me know your thoughts on this episode as a voice message to possibly share on a future episode at https://www.speakpipe.com/MusicianToolkit  If you enjoyed this,...

On Episode 90, I chatted with Bob Moore about the tools of being a church music director.  At the time, I was 20 months removed from being a church music director myself.  However, one day after this episode releases, I will be starting a new job as a church music director.  In this episode, I share my goals and action lists to help ensure that I get off to a great start.  Hopefully this can give you ideas as well if you're looking to do similar work. Episode mentioned: The Tools of Church...

If you're a composer or an arranger, it is invaluable to have plenty of references to help you study and improve your craft.  I share 4 types of books that I think every composer should have on their bookshelf, and my personal favorites of each kind. Let me know your thoughts on this episode as a voice message to possibly share on a future episode at https://www.speakpipe.com/MusicianToolkit  If you enjoyed this, please give it a rating and review on the podcast app of your choice.  You can...

On August 26, 2024, the long-time popular notation app called Finale announced that it would be permanently discontinuing all of its software, leading to very vocal anxiety and panic among its many veteran users.  Professional composers and arrangers, as well as educators all need a good notation app, but Finale is no longer a choice.  Jason Loffredo of Conquering Finale returns to chat about what steps Finale users should take to migrate as well as how to navigate the other choices,...

Recently, I spoke for 5 episodes about the four core performance skills, the musical skills that will allow you to play well in any situation for any genre.  If you're a beginner or you teach beginners, how early can you get started with these skills?  Check out why I think that not only can you start right away, but you actually should.  Also listen to find out how you can begin practicing the core skills with no prior musical training. Let me know your thoughts on this episode as a voice...

Whether it involves practicing, composing, or any other creative goals you have, there's a way that I've found that actually works to allow you to accomplish everything you wish.  It's called batching, and it satisfies the brain's need to get and maintain a flow state.  Check out this episode to find out how batching can make a real difference in your productivity! Let me know your thoughts on this episode as a voice message to possibly share on a future episode...

How can you plan a music rehearsal that is efficient and effective? In the world of musical theatre, the music director is responsible for planning music rehearsals to teach all vocal parts to a cast where not everyone sings on every song.  There's also only a few rehearsals available to teach everything.  Planning good music rehearsals requires organization and creativity.  In this episode, I use recent productions of INTO THE WOODS and ROCK OF AGES as different examples of how I prepare for...

One possible part-time or full-time job for many musicians can be as a music director for a church.  Bob Moore is a composer with much experience as a music director for Catholic and Episcopalian churches.  David Lane is a composer with much experience as a music director for Baptist and Methodist churches.  In this episode, we chat about the musicianship tools needed to do the job well. Bob Moore's website is: https://www.bobmooremusic.com/ Technical note: The microphone sound for the host...

If you want to succeed in music, how important is talent?  I shared a strong opinion on this way back on Episode 3 of this podcast.  I've thought about it a lot since then, and have since changed my mind about some of it but still feel strongly on other points.  With the 2024 Summer Olympics being a recent event that featured a lot of developed talent, I thought this would be a great time to revisit the topic.  Talent is a real trait that has a real say in what opportunities there are for you...

The final core performance skill to explore is the ability to improvise.  This is a skill that is very natural to some musicians (and even non-musicians) and very mysterious and perhaps even scary to others.  And yet, it's the oldest of all the skills, the earliest way to create music.  It's also essential for every genre other than classical (and there was a time it was expected there as well).  Finally, it's the most pure way of learning how music works by disassembling it and putting it...

Transposing is unique among the core skills in that it's the only one that is dependent on one of the other skills.  Being able to play well while reading music or by listening is required to give you a starting point.  The ability to take a piece of music from any source and change it to any of the other keys is a distinctive skill because it focuses on understanding music from a relative sense rather than absolute.  It requires you to think about WHY you're playing a certain note or chord...

The 4 Core Performance Skills are the big skills that every musician should strive to master to be the most balanced and well-rounded musician possible, and to have success as a performer in EVERY situation.  The second of these core skills is playing by ear, or playing music with accuracy after hearing it played elsewhere but having no written score.  Whether you're a professional or a dedicated amateur, playing by ear is freedom.  You don't HAVE to find sheet music in order to play...

The 4 Core Performance Skills are the big skills that every musician should strive to master to be the most balanced and well-rounded musician possible, and to have success as a performer in EVERY situation.  The first of these core skills is sight reading.  Sight reading not only gives you essentially a head start on learning new music, it is ESSENTIAL for many jobs such as accompanists, studio session players, and theatre musicians.  Orchestral musicians get such little time with their...

There are many skills you need to become a great musician such as developing good technique, being good at ear training, and having a good knowledge of music theory.  None of these are the Core Skills but they help improve all four.  The 4 Core Performance Skills are the 4 types of situations that you might be expected to do in a performance.  Most people are better at one than the others, and only a small percentage of musicians take the time to become excellent at all 4.  If your practice...

Simply put: you can't play music well unless you're subconscious mind is driving the bus.  If you're aware of having to think about each note, each rhythm, each aspect of the music before you play it, then you're still practicing with your conscious mind.  When you train your technique and repertoire beyond the point of awareness where your hands just seem to play by themselves, you have entered the subconscious zone with your music, and this is where the fun begins!  In this episode, learn...

Have you ever thought you had a piece memorized only to play it for someone and you start having memory slips?  This is one of many common problems that can be solved through a process of troubleshooting, the same that an auto mechanic or computer technician might use.  Dr. Larry Weng of Wake Forest University talks about this approach of problem solving for your practice to find out what is really going on when surprises happen.  We also discuss a common question of high schoolers:  "SHOULD...

There are so many things a musician must develop to be a success.  There's technique, fluency in music theory, composition and arranging skills, the skill of marketing, the skill of networking, staying up-to-date with the industry, and much more.  However, there is ONE SKILL that is important for you to develop first that makes all of these other skills more manageable, and this is our topic in Episode 81. Let me know your thoughts on this episode as a voice message to possibly share on a...

Bob Marks has been a renowned vocal coach for well over 4 decades.  His former students is a wall of fame roster and includes: Ariana Grande, Britney Spears, Sarah Jessica Parker, Lea Michele, Laura Bell Bundy, Ashley Tisdale, Debbie Gibson, Natalie Portman, and more. In this episode, Bob talks about what his role is as a vocal coach in contrast with a vocal teacher, and how those two roles have blurred in recent years among the elite teachers of each field.  We also discuss the importance of...

As David Lane shares, an attempt to create a true master calendar, accounting for all 168 hours in a week, is a sobering lesson.  Chances are that you, like he, have too many interests, too many obligations, and/or too many goals.  It's also easy to crowd out the main thing that drives you as a musician - whether that be playing your instrument, conducting, or composing - because it might not be a significant source of income.  If you want fulfillment as an artist of any kind, it's important...

Paul Baron is an active performer on the trumpet.  He is currently touring on the Broadway National Tour of Disney's Frozen.  He has also appeared on many albums by world-famous pop and rock artists such as Aerosmith, David Lee Roth (from whom he learned an important musical lesson), Michael Buble, INXS, and many more.  In this episode, we talk about what it's like to be a session musician and also recap a conversation from the Life in the Pit podcast where we focused on Paul's extensive work...

It's human nature to want to learn all the music, listen to every album, read every book, watch every movie, and visit every city.  However, there's not nearly as much time as we'd like to do even a fraction of any of this.  And since we can't do everything, it's much more powerful to savor than to sample.  Listening again and again to music that inspires you, reviewing music you learned a while back, or re-reading a meaningful book several times is going to be much more enriching than just...