Accelerating Musicality (Meet The Team, with Almut Spaeth)

Christopher: Today, I want to introduce you to the newest member of the Musical U team, Ms. Almut Spaeth, also known as @AlmutS, inside the members website – where she’s been amongst our most active and beloved members back since January of 2021, I believe. Say a quick hello, Almut!

Almut: Hello, it’s great to be here.

Christopher: So today we’re going to be diving into Almut’s perspective on musicality, some of her own backstory, and talking a bit about her role here on the Musical U team. All that and more on today’s episode!

So Almut, you’ve been with us for going on – I can’t do maths on the spot, but – three, three and a half years. And I’m so excited to share your story, just because it’s quite remarkable in the journey you’ve had with us at Musical U. You know, you came in, I think, on the Foundations course and then took some of our other courses, on to Musical U membership, and the Living Music program. You were among our first cohort of the Next Level program, which was super exciting. And now, to everyone’s surprise and delight, you are a member of the Musical U team yourself!

I can’t wait to discuss this more with you and share some of the behind-the-scenes goings-on of that journey with our audience today.

As you know, I love to open with the same question. It’s always the same question, but every answer is always very different, which is what makes it a fun one.

So let me ask you: what does “musicality” mean to you?

Almut: Oh, that’s a hard one to start with! To me, musicality means being able to connect, and for me, it means being able to connect to music. So listening to music, feeling emotions when you’re listening to music, and it also means being able to connect to others through music.

So, yeah, I would say musicality is being able to connect.

Christopher: Perfect. And I love that question because it reveals a little bit of someone’s musical personality, I think, their philosophy and their perspective and their attitude.

But it also, I think, immediately makes you want to know, where did that come from? Where did that perspective on musicality come from?

So if you wouldn’t mind, tell us a little bit about your own musical backstory, where you’ve come from as a musician.

Almut: I think my own musical backstory is quite different to many stories you’ve heard on this podcast before. I started off playing the recorder when I was a little girl, and I took recorder lessons for quite some time, and I never really got the hang of it, and I always had the feeling I couldn’t do it.

I was really bad at reading sheet music and I couldn’t remember things and I didn’t enjoy it particularly much. I’ve always been singing, so I’ve been in choirs all of my life, really. And that seemed to be different kind of musicality, that was something that came easy to me. But playing an instrument was really, really difficult.

And my parents wanted me to play the recorder, so they paid for the lessons, they wanted me to go and it was really difficult to tell them, no, I don’t really want to do it.

So after about more than five years, maybe, of playing the recorder, I decided to stop and I got a guitar and I started playing the guitar and I had to teach myself. There were no guitar teachers where I lived and there was no Internet at the time. And I really loved it and I couldn’t stop playing, so I played for days. And I also played in a band. I played bass in a band for some time. I think we were the worst band in the world! But we had fun.

Yeah. And then I hit a kind of plateau. I just couldn’t progress anymore with a guitar.

I tried to find a teacher. I couldn’t find one. I tried out different books and methods and I just had the feeling that I was just not musical and I couldn’t do it.

But I had this idea that I wanted to do music as a job. So I was dreaming of actually studying music at university and I was telling some people about it. But the reaction was very negative and the reaction was more like ”well, you should do something proper instead”, and “you don’t have the skills to do that”. And I thought, well, that’s true. I don’t have the skills and I’m not talented enough to get the skills, so that might not be something for me.

So I ended up going to medical school and then switched to occupational therapy. And, well, I have been an occupational therapist and have been teaching occupational therapy as well for nearly 20 years.

So, well, my musical story, I continued playing in singing in choirs, but I stopped playing the guitar because I thought, it’s something I’m not good at. And I stopped for about 15 years.

I had children at the time and there were other things in my life I needed to do and I sort of forgot about it.

And then all of a sudden I had the feeling I need to do something with music. And I picked up that guitar and I couldn’t let go and I just had to play a lot and explore things and learn a lot.

And, I mean, luckily for me, I had moved to a bigger city and there were music teachers, so I took guitar lessons, I took voice lessons, and luckily there was the internet. And after time, I came across Musical U. And that’s how the journey with Musical U started.

Christopher: Gotcha. Yeah, I knew some of that story, but not all of it. That’s really great to hear.

And it’s funny, I was reminded of something Zac shared on a Coaches Corner episode recently. He was talking about how how to know if you have music inside you. And as you know, many of our members would say, you know, I don’t have the talent or I’m not going to ever write music or compose or improvise, even though they’d love to.

And Zac was sharing how that urge to make music and that need to be involved in music is the evidence that you have music inside you. When you talked there about, you know, how you came back to the guitar and you couldn’t put it down, I love that as an illustration of how, you know, if you’ve got the bug for music, it’s not going to let you go. Even if the people around you are saying it’s not for you, even if you take your career in another direction, you always find your way back. And it’s definitely to everyone’s benefit that you did find your way back! Talk a little bit about your first experiences at Musical U, maybe. You mentioned it came across your radar. I think, I looked up this morning, you came to us via the Foundations of a Musical Mind course.

How was that for you? How did it factor into what you were doing in music at that time?

Almut: I was really surprised because I thought that music theory was so difficult to learn and that it wasn’t for everyone, that you had to go to university to study it. And suddenly so many things fell into place. I had been learning many different skills, but I couldn’t connect them.

I couldn’t understand how they were linked or how they fit together. And that’s why I couldn’t progress in my learning, because I couldn’t see the whole picture. And that was something that changed completely through the learning I did with Musical U, which was just a real “aha!” moment. One, I can do it, and the other, it’s quite simple, it’s learnable.

Christopher: Fantastic, yeah. And I think you very quickly became prominent as one of our most active and enthusiastic members. And as you’ll know now, as a member of the team, our team are very conscious of those people who are really giving it their all and supporting each other and contributing in the discussion boards and so on.

And you quickly stood out as one of those. And I know the team were just bowled-over delighted when you applied for the Next Level program back when we launched that. Talk a little bit about that, because I imagine even if you were enjoying things at Musical U, it must have felt like a bit of a leap to join that program in particular?

Almut: It was a great leap because when I started doing courses at Musical U, I didn’t like to share my music. I didn’t. I really had to make myself contribute in the discussion forums as well.

And after a while, I found that it was so helpful to share my progress with others and to help others along on their journey and to listen to others’ music. And so I think during that time, when I was a member of Musical U, I just opened up and just loved collaborating with others and doing things together.

And then this opportunity came up with a Next Level coaching. And I think it was like a turning point in my life because I had the feeling that I really had to immerse myself more into music and to give it the priority in my life that I hadn’t been giving to music for the past years. And, yeah, so I decided to really give it a go and to make the most of the year of this Next Level coaching and apply.

And when I applied, I was so worried that I might not be “good enough” to be accepted, that my skills wouldn’t be good enough and that my knowledge would be too basic to be able to profit from what I was learning.

And so there were lots of doubts as well. Yeah.

Christopher: Thank you for sharing that. Yeah, we do our best to try and convey that there is an application process, but it’s not an “audition” process. Like, we’re not there to judge you. It’s really just about making sure there would be a good fit and that you would be set up to thrive in the program.

But at the same time, you know, it is a real commitment. And so I think everyone feels like it’s a bit of a leap and it is a bit anxiety-inducing for a lot of people, but it’s definitely a leap that can pay off in great dividends.

It’s funny, I often think of that Steve Jobs quote, that you can only join the dots looking backwards, and I feel that way about hiring from our community. I love nothing more than when we can add a new team member from someone who’s already in our Musical U community. And I think at least half the team, if not more, fit that mold.

And it’s funny because you look back and you’re like, well, obviously, they were going to join the Musical U team. I feel that way about Zac, for example, and certainly about yourself, where now we look back and you’re like, you know, we’ve Almut thriving as a member, thriving in Next Level, graduated Next Level, was making music more and more her life. Of course, she would end up on the Musical U team!

And, you know, when people stand out like you did, I definitely have that instinctive urge of, like, grab them, get them. They could be an amazing part of our team. They should be part of Musical U in a more, more formal, bigger way.

And so I was so excited that this opportunity opened up for you. Talk a little bit about your role at Musical U and what you’re up to on the team.

Almut: I’m doing mostly Member Success work. That means I read what the members are writing on the discussion boards and I answer and I encourage them and I just help them on their journey in the different courses. And, yeah, that’s my main role at the moment.

Christopher: And I’ll ask you the question, I’m sure people are curious to know if they are one of our members. To see someone like you go from being a member of the community to the other side of things and see kind of behind the scenes, what’s it been like to be on the Musical U team? And you can answer very honestly. If it’s been a nightmare, tell us!

Almut: It’s been a total nightmare! No. It’s been so inspiring to be part of the team because everyone on the team has their own skills and their own interests, and everyone is sharing what they are passionate about and helping each other, and yeah, it’s wonderful to be part of the team.

Christopher: That’s a relief. Good. That was a risky question to ask on a live broadcast! And what would be your favourite thing to do in your role at the moment?

Almut: I really love the interaction with the members, so whenever I can read about their progress or hear some of their recordings, or if I answer a question and then I get a message back saying “oh, this was really helpful, and it clicked”.

And that’s the nicest thing for me at the moment.

Christopher: Fantastic. And you’ve recently started co-hosting our drop-in calls, live calls as well, and that’s something you’ll be doing more of. And sneak peek exclusive, I don’t think we’ve officially announced this anywhere, but you’re also training up at the moment to become a Next Level coach yourself. Talk a little bit about that.

Christopher: That’s a quite exciting new step.

I mean, I’ve been coaching for a long time, but I’ve been coaching therapists. So combining this coaching with music is going to be really exciting. But I love to do that. And I’m really looking forward to being part of people’s musical journey for such a long time. I mean, being with them for a year and meeting them every week and just seeing what’s going to develop in this time. So I’m really looking forward to that.

Christopher: Absolutely. Yeah. And I know our coaching team are loving having you in that department and contributing to the discussions there already.

And we – I don’t think we put a date on it, but we’re hoping in the next few months you will be officially part of the roster. And I know that having said that, now on this episode, we’re going to have a whole host of applications being like, “I want to be on Next Level, I want Almut as my coach!” So it’s possible. It’s possible if it’s the right fit.

Wonderful. And Almut, I love to wrap up these conversations with an opportunity for you to share something a bit left field, a bit out of the mainstream, something that you found really valuable or effective that people might not be thinking about in their own musical training. What’s one tip or trick or technique you could share to help people?

Almut: I think what was most valuable for my own learning was that I had to realise that I don’t have to be perfect to make music, and that if you can let go of this desire to be perfect, and if you can instead focus on the music and really listen to the music and listen, what does the music need at this moment? Don’t think about technique, don’t think about theory, but just think about the music.

What does the music need? And that makes a great difference in playing.

Christopher: Fantastic. That’s a really great insight and one I think we can all do with being reminded of on a regular basis!

It’s definitely something we see people tripping up over in Musical U, isn’t it? That perfectionism and that intense self-consciousness that can actually hold you back from the free-flowing music making you could be enjoying. Thank you for sharing that. Wonderful.

Well, Almut, thank you so much for joining me for this brief Meet The Team interview. I know our whole community are going to love the chance to get to know you a little bit more and potentially even meet you in Next Level coaching in the future! If not on a live call or in the discussion boards before that. Thank you so much, Almut.

Almut: Thank you for having me, Christopher.

Christopher: On our next episode, I will be giving you a sneak peek of the candidate book covers for our forthcoming Musicality book. I’m super excited to be able to share those with you.

I’ll be back with that on our next episode. Until then, cheers! And go make some music!

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