Author: musicalitywrld

Creating a chord progression may be easy, but not all chord combinations sound good together, and if you created one at random, it’s unlikely that it would sound memorable or satisfying.

If you’re trying to write the “perfect” chord progression, bad news – someone has beat you to it, and countless other someones have written songs based around this earworm of a chord progression:

This particular progression is known as the I-V-vi-IV, and it’s no accident that thousands of songwriters have used it to great effect – it’s been described as a progression that sounds satisfying, hopeful, complete, and sentimental.

It turns out, there’s a whole stack of these common chord progressions that gained their fame through their strong sense of purpose, direction, and resolution.

Stay with us as we take you through a bit of theory to explain where these chords come from, look at the most popular ways in which they’re strung together, and explore how you can use these progressions to write your own unique tune without falling into the trap of music cliché.

Table of Contents

1. A Bit of Theory
2. What makes a chord progression sound good?
3. Popular Chord Progressions
4. Transposing Chord Progressions
5. What makes songs with the same progression sound different?
6. Writing Songs with Common Chord Progressions
7. One Chord In Front of the Other

A Bit of Theory

We know that some chords sound good together, and some… not so much.

So why do some chord progressions pop and others flop?

Scales and Chords

To understand this phenomenon, we turn to the scale.

Every major and minor scale has seven pitches, and a chord can be built on each of the seven pitches. These chords are known as diatonic chords, and can be thought of as a family of chords belonging to one key.

Each of these chords follows the key signature of the key, and therefore there is a lot of note overlap – every chord uses three out of a possible seven notes, which means that these seven chords tend to sound pretty good together.

We can name these seven chords by using numbers:

Naming Progressions

As you may have figured out, naming a progression is as simple as stringing together the numerals representing the chords you’re playing.

Here’s a ii-V-I in C major:

Now that we understand where chords come from and how we name them, let’s look at how they’re often strung together. If you’re looking to absorb a bit more theory on the matter, Spread Worship has an excellent primer on scale degrees and chord nomenclature.

What makes a chord progression sound good?

If we consider songwriting to be telling a story with music, then the order and selection of chords matters just as much as what words you put where – the order and context of the chords can mean the difference between a strong musical statement and a forgettable phrase.

A Path to Resolution

The chord built on the first degree of the scale, or the tonic (I) chord, functions as “home base”, or the resting place, of the key. As you’re about to see, many progressions get their power from creating a path to resolution to the tonic.

If we’re thinking about it in terms of a story, we can create a chord progression that follows a sequence of stability – departure – tension – resolution – stability, with “stability” of course representing the tonic.

The dissonance and suspense that a good chord progression will create relies on strategic movement away from and towards the tonic.

How do we know what chords will sound good after the tonic? How about the chords that will sound good right before a tonic?

A Natural Order

As it turns out, some chords naturally “pull” towards others. Understanding precisely why this happens is beyond the scope of this discussion. If you want to go deeper into how this pull works, look into The Circle of Fifths. Otherwise, let’s acknowledge the fact that some chords sound “natural” and “more right” after others, and let our ears confirm it.

Though of course there are infinite ways in which you could place chords in front of one another, this chart conveniently summarizes the pathways you can use to build the strongest progressions:

As we’re about to see, the most common chord progressions follow this chart almost to a tee.

Popular Chord Progressions

Without further ado, let’s dive into the tried-and-true chord sequences that have wormed their way into thousands of songs and millions of ears. We’ll include a little cheat sheet for each one with the corresponding chords in each key, for easy playing.

The Popular Kid: I-IV-V Progression

The I, IV, and V chords, respectively called the tonic, the subdominant, and the dominant chords, are the strongest chords. Together, they form a trinity with which countless hits have been written.

This progression is the poster child of that “resolution” our ear seeks out in chord progressions. We begin at the tonic, move away from “home” with the IV (subdominant) chord, create tension with the V (dominant chord), and finally resolve back to the I chord.

Pro tip for songwriters: This progression works especially well in uptempo country, pop, and rock songs – think the Beatles and the Ramones. If you’re trying to write a catchy, high-energy tune, this progression is a good way to go.

Give it a listen:

It’s impossible to navigate the world of Western music without bumping into this progression. It shows its face in rock, pop, country, Blues, classical, and jazz. It sounds incredibly pleasing to the ear, and you’d be hard-pressed to find a more harmonically solid sequence of chords.

The I-IV-V is important for another reason:  a slight variation on this progression forms the backbone of one of the most influential styles Western music has seen…

The 12-Bar Blues

Whether the blues song you’re listening to is about loneliness, a cheating wife, or an empty wallet, there’s a high chance the chord progression behind the words looks a little something like this:

The progression can be illustrated as follows:

Though there’s a return to the I chord after the IV, there is tension built up through this “incomplete” return, which is resolved at the end of the pattern once the progression returns to the I chord at the start of the first bar.

The history of this progression is deep and fascinating, and its uses are not limited to strictly blues music! Learn all about the origins of the blues and the uses of the progression with 2 Minute Guitar.

This may be the most popular iteration of the 12-bar blues, but it’s not the only one – Guitar Chord showcases some fascinating spins on the classic progression, including a blues jazz progression and a minor 12-bar progression. If you’d rather stick with the original, Fredrik Hertzberg shows you how to change the groove of the blues progression with some tiny tweaks.

The Sensitive One: I – V – vi – IV Progression

Take the I-IV-V progression, shuffle the order a bit, introduce the minor vi chord, and you get the I-V-vi-IV progression. This added chord brings with it a layer of emotional complexity and depth.

This progression gives you a bit more leeway than the I-IV-V in terms of writing vocal lines – the progression is versatile and can support a lot of different melodies.

Just watch how many popular songs have used it to create songs that tear at the heartstrings:

This chord progression has been described as comforting, hopeful, confessional, and, well… sentimental. Little wonder, then, that it’s the darling of the Billboard Hot 100.

Pro tip for songwriters: Trying to tell a story with your song? This progression gives you some room to fit in a nice narrative, both with lyrics and melody – perfect for that power ballad you’ve always wanted to write.

The Jazz Cat: ii – V – I Progression

This one won’t be new to anyone familiar with jazz standards – in fact, some describe it as the workhorse of the genre, in the same way that the 12-bar Blues are built on that modified I-IV-V pattern.

The V chord creates the tension needed to resolve to the I chord, and the ii minor chord is the perfect setup (refer back to the chord progression chart!):

Outside jazz standards, you’ll find this progression used in R&B, pop, rock, and country.

Pro tip for songwriters: You can play around with this progression by bouncing between the ii and the V chords several times – and venturing to other chords as a tangent – before finally resolving to the I chord. It’ll make the resolution that much more satisfying and strong.

The Canon: I – V – vi – iii – IV – I – IV – V Progression

This progression was initially found in Pachelbel’s Canon in D Major, a piece that was largely ignored after the composer’s death:

The chord progression enjoyed renewed popularity starting in the 1970’s, when songwriters started to repurpose it for use in pop songs. This trend continued well into the early 2000’s:

Though it may appear complicated, this progression is basically just an extended I-IV-V. The result? Much of the same punch of the classic I-IV-V remains, with some added movement and feeling.

Pro tip for songwriters: Something about this progression seems to invoke a kind of bittersweet nostalgia. Do with that what you will…

Further Progressions…

You’ll be amazed with just how many songs use those progressions. Numerous other progressions are mere variations or rearrangements of the above progressions.

Here’s a quick list of some other common chord progressions for you to listen for and play. Which of the above common chord progressions do they remind you of?

• I-vi-IV-V
• I-IV-V-IV
• vi-IV-I-V
• I-IV-ii-V
• I-IV-I-V
• I-ii-iii-IV-V
• I-III-IV-iv
• i-V-i-iv
• vi-V-IV-III (also called the Andalusian Cadence, as Guitar Endeavour explains)

Transposing Chord Progressions

Referring again to our favourite I-vi-V-IV medley, the guys at Axis of Awesome have transposed each of the “four chord songs” into the same key to prove a point.

The originals are written and played in a variety of keys, usually to suit the vocal range of the singer.

Looking to quickly transpose? Simply refer to our handy cheat sheets above. When doing this, it’s often easier to find the tonic (I) chord and use that as your point of reference.

Transposing on Piano

With all the keys laid out in front of you to see, transposition on piano is straightforward if you can count tones and semitones.

Say you’re trying to play our favourite I-V-vi-IV. Start with your root chord. Count five semitones down – there’s the root note of your V chord. Two semitones up from V is your vi chord, and four down from your vi chord is your IV.

This semitone pattern applies in any key. Once your hands get used to the movements, you’ll barely need to look at your hands to plunk out the progression – muscle memory will kick in. Just remember to watch those key signatures!

Flowkey’s fantastic guide demonstrates just how to get your fingers (on both hands!) moving on the keyboard, using the I-V-vi-IV progression as an example.

Transposing on Guitar

Playing chord progressions on guitar is effectively an exercise in muscle memory.

Capos make it possible to play any chord in any shape you want – so take advantage of this when transposing.

This chart outlines the chord changes that occur when you capo specific frets:

Simply clamp your capo down on the fifth fret and arrange your fingers in the same shapes as before – you’ll be playing different chords, but there’s no new muscle memory required!

Ukulele players, we haven’t forgotten about you: though capoing isn’t nearly as common

What makes songs with the same progression sound different?

Let’s take another look at the Axis of Awesome video:

Though the progression I-V-vi-IV is undoubtedly a repeat offender, there’s something that keeps all these songs from sounding the same.

Melody, Lyrics, and Phrasing

In nearly all of the featured songs, the vocal line plays a very prominent role and massively contributes to the song’s status as an earworm.

As mentioned above, the I-V-vi-IV is a fairly versatile progression and can support many different melodies overtop – the four chords give some room for experimentation with the melody of the vocals and with the phrasing, or how you sing the lyrics in the rhythm and structure of the song.

Compare Elton’s John’s “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” [1:12] to Jason Mraz’s staccato-like lyrics in “I’m Yours” [0:45]. The progression supports both vocal lines wonderfully, but to very different effects.

Instrumentation, Tempo, and Genre

The underlying piano line of “Don’t Stop Believin’” makes for quite a different sound than the pop-punk sound of Avril Lavigne’s “Complicated”, shared chord progression or not.

In their video, the Axis of Awesome use similar instrumentation for each song to draw attention to the similarities in chords. However, listen to the original versions of each song, and you’ll start to notice how different instruments help invoke specific musical moods in the same way that different chord progressions can – for example, a string section can mean the difference between a pop song about love and an epic ballad.

Rhythm and Tempo

Though the boys from the Axis of Awesome maintain a constant rhythm and tempo throughout their medley, the originals vary greatly in their rhythm, drum patterns, and BPM.

Toto’s “Africa” takes obvious cues from the drumming traditions of the continent, lending it a lively, playful feeling. In contrast, OneRepublic’s hit “Apologize” features R&B percussion that gives a more laidback, rolling rhythm.

Rhythm affects the overall “vibe” of a song just as much as the melody does – it can separate a dance track from a folk tune, and a punk rock jam from a good ol’ country song… even if they share a tempo and a time signature!

Writing Songs with Common Chord Progressions

“Common” does not have to mean cliché – the staying power of these progressions is undeniable, and with some creativity and experimentation, these popular progressions can be your songwriting partners-in-crime.

But let’s get real. There is a definite element of cheesiness in many (if not most) of the songs that the Axis of Awesome employs for their satirical purposes.

How do you avoid the cheese and strike songwriting gold?

With your unique lyrics, phrasing, rhythm, instrumentation, melodies, and other embellishments, of course! LearnGuitarMalta takes a look at building unique songs using the above progressions, with sheet music of famous examples to help guide you.

When writing a song, deciding how to end it can be a hand-wringing decision – do you repeat the chord progression you’ve been using for one final hurrah, or throw in a twist? The Musician Training Center gives you some ideas on how to go out with a bang at the end of your song.

Songwriting Tools

Call in some friends for help in the form of tools specifically designed to help you write a hit.

The Circle of Fifths is an excellent compositional tool, as Subaqueous Music explains, and has the added bonus of helping you understand exactly where these chords are coming from.

The beat might be the most important part of a dance track, but melody comes in at a close second. For the producers out there, SoundShock Audio teaches you the chord theory you need to know to write a hit.

Remember: a chord progression is a mere skeleton of a song. Everything that you build up around it is meant to decorate, highlight, and enhance the bare bones.

One Chord In Front of the Other

Let’s do a little recap with the main takeaways:

• Some chord progressions possess a powerful, memorable quality
• These progressions have been used extensively in Western music to write popular, impactful songs
• These progressions can be easily transposed to any key, enabling you to comfortably sing along, regardless of your vocal range
• Two songs with an identical progression can sound radically different as a result of differing rhythms, instrumentation, tempo, and vocal lines

Whether you are approaching your study of chord progressions from the angle of learning theory, playing popular songs on your instrument, or writing your own music, the popular progressions outlined here are an excellent starting point to understanding the traditions and genres of Western music as a whole. These progressions are not the be-all and end-all of modern music as we know it – but they sure are an indispensable part of the foundation.

The post Exploring Common Chord Progressions appeared first on Musical U.

However, if we can pinpoint exactly what frustrates us and impedes our creative process, we can discover some ways to get around these roadblocks.

This week, learn about what inspires one up-and-coming country singer to keep writing, discover how learning to play by ear in a group can help you hone this skill, and tune in to our podcast to explore the topic of learning music online – and how to avoid some common pitfalls to get the most out of your online education.

Music and Faith

What guides your musical journey?

Some of us set out with very specific goals in mind, creating roadmaps and long-term plans to hit our desired milestones.

For others, their faith also plays a significant role in their musical journey.

If you ask country singer-songwriter Jason V. Chapman where he sees his career going next, he’ll simply tell you, “Wherever God chooses to lead me”. From a chance meeting with his now-producer at a Halloween party to his music being played on national radio, his faith has certainly gotten him far – music itself seems to have been woven into Jason’s life into a divine way, complementing his work, his family life, and his values.

A Higher Musical Power, with Jason V. Chapman is a fascinating account of his journey thus far, and how his faith helps him find the balance between music, work, family, and health.

Jason spoke about the relationships that he has made with other musicians throughout his journey, and how valuable they have been to his growth as a musician. It may be tempting to “go it alone”, but there is so much value to meeting and collaborating with other musicians to broaden your perspective. Home Studio Corner gives some practical suggestions for collaborating online.

Despite his success, Jason, like many musicians, still relies on a day job as the primary means of supporting his family. While so many blogs and articles focus on how to make a living as a musician, music is a hobby and an outlet for the vast majority of musicians. Take a look at how Alabama’s musicians make a living while pursuing their passions.

Jason spoke about the inspiration that he feels when he writes a song, and where the motivation to be a better songwriter comes from. Perhaps the most dreaded thing that a songwriter can experience is writer’s block. Prolific songwriter Cliff Goldmacher gives advice for avoiding writer’s block on West Coast Songwriters.

How do you begin writing a song? For most of us, we need to have that inspiration, the creative spark that gets us started. Band Lab discusses how you can find the motivation and inspiration that will carry you through creating your song.

Committing to Music

Online music education works wonderfully for many musicians – the cost and convenience can’t be beat, and you have the freedom to sample as many as you like to decide what works for you.

However, the usual challenges that musicians encounter get amplified if you are an online learner. What happens if you get stuck? Or if you need feedback?

This week, Musical U interviews David Brown of PianoCub.com, a website that helps students navigate the usual trappings of online music education – lack of motivation and engagement – by providing step-by-step lessons and immediate feedback.

Don’t miss Finding, Recovering, and Maintaining Motivation, with David Brown to learn about David’s personal musical journey, the lessons he’s learned along the way, and how he has used his knowledge to create such an effective online learning tool.

David talked about the importance of practicing music consistently, and why it’s preferable to sporadic bursts of intense practice. While this may be obvious, the trouble is, many musicians have trouble staying engaged and motivated in their practice. Music Oomph shares some tricks for optimizing your practice.

The feeling of “not being good enough” during a performance is something that plagues new musicians and seasoned pros alike. Building your confidence as a musician and a performer is one of the most rewarding things you can do – and we’ve found these helpful tips from Gaia at Musiview on how to start!

David founded Piano Cub to help musicians become more competent and comfortable on the piano. Looking for more general ways that you can improve your musical abilities? Pianist Musings shares ten ways to become a better musician.

Playing by Ear Together

Playing by ear is a skill anyone can learn – but it will take many attempts and some trial and error.

Thankfully, this skill can be honed in a group setting, adding motivation and fun to the process, and cutting down on the frustration factor.

In Introduction to Playing by Ear in A Group, Steve Giddings of Steve’s Music Room takes you through the steps of learning to play by ear in a group, giving practical tips on using physical movement, repetition, and specific listening skills to internalize the song you’re trying to learn.

Playing by ear in a group isn’t something that we often think of doing. If you are in a band or other performing group, normally you learn the parts before coming to rehearsal and then put everything together there. However, if you have ever jammed with another musician, then you have been playing by ear more than you’ve realized! Check out Active Melody’s video tutorial on jamming with others on the guitar.

Do we learn music by ear only because we don’t have the sheet music? Or is there another reason? Not needing sheet music is a great benefit to playing by ear, but it’s far from being the only one. Guitar Adventures discusses how playing songs by ear makes you a better musician.

What if you’re interested in playing by ear in a group, but don’t have a group to play with yet? After reading Steve’s post, we found ourselves wanting to hear more about how he approaches music in a collaborative way – so we found this interview that he did on the Smart Music Podcast about how to start a rock band. Find your musical partners and get rocking now!

Learning Music Online

Going down the rabbit hole of online music learning can leave you feeling frustrated, disoriented, and discouraged – many end up spending a lot of time and a lot of money on a course, only to find that it’s not a good fit.

So, how can you be pragmatic and smart about choosing a music course online?

In About Choosing an Online Music Course, we discuss the three main criteria you’ll want to keep in mind when making the big decision – to ensure that the material serves you and your musical goals, and that your time and energy (and your money!) is going to the right place.

We discussed the importance on knowing what your musical goals are before committing to an online music course. In Musical U, we teach the importance of having SMART goals to help you reach your destination. Orchestra Central discusses how you can use SMART goals to help shape your practice sessions.

Nearly all musicians need some type of support during their musical journey. When you’re learning a new skill, the importance of knowing how long and often you should practice can’t be understated. Spencer Welch provides guidance on the length and frequency of effective singing practice.

There is no “one size fits all” approach to learning music, especially when you are learning as an adult. Rather than bemoan the challenges that adult learners can face, why not celebrate the experiences that you bring to the table, and learn how to use them to your advantage? Liberty Park Music discusses eight things that you should do when learning music as an adult.

Getting Out of A Musical Rut

Experiencing a creative block or a lapse in motivation is a completely normal part of any musical journey, and so, knowing how to navigate these roadblocks and generate ways to overcome them is as important to your musical success as your instrument technique and aural skills.

Different musicians will find this motivation in different places; for some, the answer may lie in collaboration with others, while others may find that shifting gears by trying a different instrument or learning approach.

Are you in a musical rut? Honing your ear training skills, whether through lessons or online education, is a great way to get past that block. You’ll be amazed at what some new aural tricks can do for your songwriting, improvising, rhythm, singing, and even your understanding of music theory.

The post Music and Faith, Committing to Music, Playing By Ear Together, and Learning Music Online appeared first on Musical U.

The world of online music learning 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.

Listen to the episode:

Subscribe For Future Episodes!

Apple Podcasts | Android | Google Play (US only) | Stitcher | RSS

Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it!

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

Transcript

In our previous episode with David Asher Brown we talked a bit about the advantages and drawbacks of learning an instrument online. And this has been a frequent theme here on the podcast because so many of our guests are doing really terrific work in online music education – off the top of my head I can remember discussing it in our episodes with Jeremy Burns and Matthew Scott Phillips from Music Student 101, with Chris Owenby from Practice Habits, with Professor Anders Ericsson, author of Peak, Dave Isaacs, the “Guitar Guru of Nashville”, and certainly several more.

As was probably clear from my conversations with them all, and the very fact that I myself run Musical U, an online musicality training provider, I really believe in the enormous potential and value in online training for music.

The trouble is that online music education – and online education in general – is still at a very early stage. It’s only really in the last five or ten years that someone wanting to learn an instrument or develop their musical ear or study up on music theory has had the option not just to learn in person, or self-study with books – but to go online for live 1-to-1 video lessons, or use extensive multimedia and interactive training material.

There’s a massive opportunity – but if you’ve ever explored this yourself you’ll know that it’s all too easy to spend a lot of time and even a lot of money – and have very little to show for it after.

Have you ever bought a course online – and then not finished it? Maybe you only ever looked at the first few lessons, or maybe you watched it all but never actually put it into practice. I know I’ve certainly done that more than a few times. Or maybe you’ve tried to stick to free stuff and spent hours researching and finding and gathering all these great webpages and resources – but then your enthusiasm fizzles out because it all seems too overwhelming and jumbled. I’m guilty of that one too.

You know there’s an opportunity there. But how do you turn the incredible availability of great learning resources into a learning process that actually happens and actually delivers you the results you’ve been craving?

In this episode I’m going to make some suggestions, based on our experience at Musical U. You won’t be surprised to hear these are all things we’ve baked into our training system at Musical U – and if you’re looking for musicality training like playing by ear, improvising, singing in tune, tightening up your rhythm, and so on – then please do consider Musical U. But what I’m going to be talking about applies to any kind of online music learning, including for learning to play an instrument. And actually it pretty much all goes for any online course, not just music.

We’re going to talk a bit about how to choose a suitable course to maximise your odds of success. Then in a future episode we’ll discuss how to make the most of the course – and actually get results.

Choosing a course

So with the incredible range of options available to you online, how do you pick the right course? Specifically, how do you pick one which is most likely to actually get you results – rather than just seeming flashy and exciting but not actually delivering a good learning experience.

Here are three important criteria I think you should keep in mind.

Aligned with your musical goal

First things first: Make sure that the course is really well aligned with your true musical goal. That might sound obvious, but we’ve all had that experience where we start looking for something online, and a few hours later we’ve explored and unpacked the topic in so many directions, and heard so many opinions about the right way to learn it or what you want to learn first, and so on – that it can be easy to end up thinking you “should” go off and learn X even though it was really Y that had you excited to begin with.

That’s not to say you can’t learn valuable things about how best to pursue your goal by doing research. A lot of the guidance we provide to members at Musical U is helping them unpack what we call your “Big Picture Vision” and then figure out what concrete training is going to get them there. But what I want to suggest is that you make sure you don’t get side-tracked. Don’t end up with a laundry list of skills and topics and essential prerequisites that actually end up sapping your enthusiasm and making the whole thing feel untenable. And don’t get tempted by a course that looks shiny and useful – but isn’t actually what you set out to look for.

If you want to know more about goal setting and planning I’m going to link in the shownotes to an interview I did on Brent Vaartstra’s Learn Jazz Standards podcast where we talk all about that, and I think it would be a helpful framework for you to have in mind before setting out to find a course.

So that’s the first criterion: make sure the course is aligned with your real musical goal.

Flexible

The second criterion is to find a course that’s flexible. I could spend a whole episode or three ranting about the problems with the “course” model for online learning, and I hesitated to even use the word “course” in this episode. Because in learning music, and doubly-so in musicality training, having a single one-size-fits-all straight line “course” where you have to go lesson by lesson in a certain strict order, almost never works. And I think this is a huge part of why course completion rates are so low. People are coming in with wildly varying backgrounds and goals and abilities, and trying to force everyone to follow the same strict path is just a recipe for frustration.

So you want to find a course that’s flexible. Ideally one which is modular, meaning that learning a skill involves a combination of different modules and you have some control to choose the ones which ones best match to your needs and desires, and assemble them in a way that makes most sense for you.

And whether it’s modular or not, you want it to be flexible in the sense of not restricting your progress. If you’re too advanced for certain sections you shouldn’t have to plod through them getting bored, and if you’re struggling in a certain area you shouldn’t be forced to master it before being able to move on in some way. You’ll probably want a course that’s self-paced, meaning you don’t have to complete a certain lesson by a certain date – or, if you’re someone who really thrives on deadlines, you might actually prefer a week-by-week course that helps you keep moving forwards.

To give a few examples from Musical U, we have almost no prerequisites on our modules, so while we recommend certain sequences that make sense, if you want or need to leave out a module, or you haven’t quite mastered it, you can still move on with your overall training. All our quizzes have a passmark not of 100% but of 80%, showing that you’ve got the hang of the skill even if you haven’t pushed your learning to the point of perfection (which for most people also equals the point of total boredom in your training!) And of course the whole system is modular, so while our Roadmaps mimic the straight-line course to give you a nice clear route, how you choose to follow that path is entirely flexible and personalisable.

So you want to look for a course where you can be confident that if things don’t magically go 100% perfectly and easily throughout you won’t feel stuck, limited, bored or frustrated. You’ll have some flexibility to continue your learning and maintain your enthusiasm and success.

Great support

The third criterion I’d suggest is that you want a course which provides great support. Again, this might seem like a no-brainer – not least because almost all courses will make a point of offering some form of support. But you might be surprised.

For a start, there are still a ton which provide only technical support. For example most mobile apps are like this. If something’s broken then they might respond and help you, but if you’re stuck with your training, there’s really no way to get help.

Or many online courses will offer a way to contact the course creator if you have questions. But frankly, that’s just not good enough. Because in my experience, most adult learners are really hesitant to make use of that.

For myself, I’m not a particularly shy person, I’m happy posting online and so on. But if I get stuck in an online course, am I going to write an email to the course creator asking for help? Probably not. I like to think of myself as independent, I think in honesty I’d be a bit embarrassed to admit I hadn’t managed to learn the thing myself, I would assume that the course probably works well for everyone else so it’s my fault not the course’s, and so on. I’ve found that most of us are like that – we’ve been preconditioned by the educational system to think that if we’re not learning, it’s our fault and we need to try harder. Which means we’re not going to really make use of an on-demand support option like that.

So what does great support look like? It’s more proactive than that. It’s about providing a way for you to receive help without needing to summon up the courage and have the self-awareness and confidence to actually ask for help. And I should mention there that often the problem is we don’t even know how to ask for help! We know we’re stuck but sometimes the very problem is we’re not sure what’s gone wrong. So that can make it really hard to send a message asking for help too.

The kind of proactive support I’m talking about means that you’re part of a community in some way. You’re visible to the course instructor without needing to consciously step forwards with a question. At Musical U we do this very much through having an online community with discussion boards and a way to post updates about your training, and it means our team can essentially keep an eye on our members. Not in a creepy way and not in an annoying way. Just for example so that if someone is clearly making great progress and then goes quiet for a week, or is posting updates but sounding increasingly frustrated, we can step in and help them solve the problem – often before they’d even realised there was really a problem there.

I know that people considering Musical U are often confused why we make a fuss about the community stuff when it’s the training they’re really interested in. But the truth is that the community is the secret sauce that helps us offer fantastic support and help our members get results in their training. It’s not a distraction from training, it’s an accelerator for it.

So that’s one way to provide great support, and I’d encourage you to really ask yourself when considering an online course: What will I do when I get stuck? Because if the answer is “I’ll probably just stay quiet and give up”, or “I’ll send a message and hope to get a reply”, then I would say the support on offer is not really enough to help you succeed with that course.

Other factors

So those are the big three I wanted to suggest: Choose a course that’s well-aligned with your real musical goals, is flexible in the way you move forwards in your learning, and which provides great support, not just an email address or a way to send a message.

Now there are of course a ton of other things to consider, but I think you’re probably already aware of these. Things like price, convenience, the format of the material, the trustworthiness and expertise of the provider, and so on.

It’s not an easy choice to make – and so if you can find a provider that ticks all the boxes and provides a range of training not just a single course, that’s a really big advantage too.

I hope that helps you to choose your online music courses in a way that leads to greater success in the future. And in a part two episode we’re going to address just that: once you’ve selected a course, what can you do to maximise your chances of succeeding with it?

Subscribe For Future Episodes!

Apple Podcasts | Android | Google Play (US only) | Stitcher | RSS

Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it!

The post About Choosing an Online Music Course appeared first on Musical U.

If you want to play as freely and musically as possible, this is your ticket.

Most of the playing by ear that we do is individual – we sit and figure out how to translate a piece of music onto our instrument. When we get into a band setting, we often do it together, but still in a semi-individual manner.

But what if you’ve never played by ear before, and no one in your band has either?

Collectively learning to play a song by ear can seem like a daunting task, but it can be done. Thanks to my 10-year career of teaching music to kids in large groups, I have a few tricks up my sleeve for teaching the skill of playing by ear in a beginner group setting. For the purposes of this post, I will use “Lean on Me” by Bill Withers, as it is a widely recognizable song. All of the same concepts can apply to any song you are learning.

Step 1: Before the first note

Before you even touch the instruments, you really need to listen. I don’t mean listen casually, I mean really listen. Listen for what instruments you hear in the song. Try and notice any patterns you might hear or what sounds are being used. Once you know what instruments are in the song, write them down or take note of them somehow.

For many who have never learned by ear before, the tendency is to focus only on the vocal parts because that is the part we can hear most clearly. You really have to focus your listening on a particular sound, just like your eyes can focus on a particular object.

If you and your group are having trouble listening to just the instrument parts, try finding a good karaoke version of the song you are learning online. These have the vocal parts removed, which makes it easier to hear just the instruments.

“Lean on Me” has a very audible piano part that is easily distinguishable – try starting there. If you are still having trouble hearing the parts, have your group add movement to the part.

A practical use for air guitar…

You will be surprised how easily you can hear a part by using physical movement.

Adding physical movement doesn’t necessarily mean to dance to the part – it can be much simpler.

Find the instrumental part with your ears, and use some part of your body (an arm or just a hand) to show the melodic movement or chord patterns in the music. It could be mimicking the instrument you are listening for. For example, if it is the string section that you are trying to hear, try to mimic playing a violin or cello along with the part. You’ll be surprised at how much easier it becomes to hear an instrumental part by drawing attention to it through movement – and you’ll understand why a conductor is so important for an orchestra!

Step 2: The First Note

I highly recommend everyone learning the parts on one melodic instrument that you all know how to play. In a classroom setting, I would be having my students learn the piano part on Orff percussion instruments because they all know how to play them with little practice.

I know that most people do not have access to these specialized educational instruments. You may use a mix of instruments, but they should all have melodic capability (i.e., no drums). The reason for this is to make sure everyone is on the same page when you all go your separate ways to learn the other parts as a group. If you all know how the song goes, it will drastically cut down on learning time later.

The first chord in “Lean on Me” is clearly audible at the very start of the song:

We are going to try and figure out the first root note of the chord which is also clearly audible. On your audio device, play the recording you have of “Lean on Me”, but stop it directly after the first sound – do not let it get to the next chord. After you stop it, sing it immediately.

Being able to sing it directly predicts your success with learning by ear – if you can sing it, you can learn it by ear. The note you sing should be the root note that you are trying to find. Once you sing it, try and find it on the instrument. Repeat the listen-sing-play cycle until you’ve found it. Depending on your level, this could take anywhere from 10 seconds to several minutes.

Step 3: Piecing it Up

Once the first note is established, you can begin to learn the entire riff. If you have lots of experience with music, this step could be really short. If not, it will take a bit longer.

If you haven’t found out already, the first note is a C. Then, you just repeat listen-sing-play, adding more of the song until you have the entire riff learned.

If this is completely new to you and your group, I recommend listening to only three or four notes at a time, or two measures at a time, until you learn it. Stop and scrub it (scroll it back) as many times as you and your group need to.

Step 4: Pick Up the Other Instruments

Once you and your group have the main keyboard riff learned, apply what you just learned to the other instruments – now that you have the foundation of the song worked out, everything will be easier. You can begin to copy the recording exactly or make your own arrangements of the song to give it your own group twist. Chords on the piano are easier to form than on other instruments, so if you have a piano, you will likely be able to figure out the chords once you know the root notes of the riff.

Playing by Ear, Any Way You Want

Although this post has primarily focussed on playing by ear in a group setting, much of this can be applied directly to individuals, too.

If you are a music teacher in a classroom, this will be a great starting point for you. Playing by ear and collaboration seem to be forgotten skills for many classically trained musicians – and this is the perfect way to teach these useful skills.

If you are looking for something more in-depth with some philosophy behind it, please check out my book, Rock Coach: A Practical Guide for Teaching Rock Bands in Schools, available on Amazon. In it, I discuss not only rock bands, but the learning practices of rock musicians which includes the process of learning to play by ear. If you have any questions or comments, please do not hesitate to contact me.

If you are learning to play by ear solo, simply follow these steps with your instrument – and you can try the riff you learn on other instruments to further solidify your learning.

Most importantly: no matter which setting you’re learning to play by ear with – remember that the first step is to really listen to the music!

Steve Giddings is the man behind Steve’s Music Room, a website dedicated to providing resources for music educators to develop and refine their teaching. His passion for integrating rock bands into an elementary school setting led him to write Rock Coach: A Practical Guide for Teaching Rock Bands in School, and he currently leads a choir, two rock bands, and a guitar club at Montague Consolidated School on Prince Edward Island. Connect with him through Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter, or contact him directly.

The post Introduction to Playing By Ear in A Group appeared first on Musical U.

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.

Listen to the episode:

Subscribe For Future Episodes!

Apple Podcasts | Android | Google Play (US only) | Stitcher | RSS

Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it!

Links and Resources

• David’s composer website
• David’s SoundCloud
• David’s YouTube
• Piano Cub
• Yiddish Music Collective
• About Good Music Habits

Transcript

Christopher: Welcome to the show, David. Thank you for joining us today.

David: Thanks so much for having me. I’m excited to be here.

Christopher: So I’m familiar with you through your work at PianoCub, and you’ve also recently started publishing some really fantastic interviews with musicians and music makers, but I wanted to know more about your own story, before you became a composer, before you started PianoCub, before you started interviewing interesting musicians. What was that journey like for you? Who were you as a musical child? If it was indeed a childhood thing for you?

David: It was indeed a childhood thing for me. I started piano lessons I think around age six. But I’ve always been interested in a lot of different things. So while I was always very interested in music, for instance, I was also very interested in politics and history. I really am just actually passionate I think about learning. I don’t think I’m ever going to stop. It’s when I have free time, it’s what I love to do the most is learn about things that I don’t know. And the most unfamiliar something is to me, the more exciting it is. Because there’s so much more for me to get to learn.

Christopher: Terrific. So did you begin with instrument lessons? Or what did that early experience look like for you?

David: Well, my father is a retired engineer by trade. But he was also an amateur pianist. There’s so much baggage now in that word, “amateur”. But really in the root, it means for love of something. So it doesn’t mean he was a bad pianist at all, it just means it wasn’t his profession. He wasn’t making money out of it. So that being said, we had a pianist, sorry, we had a piano rather at home, and as a kid I just loved to explore and see what different sounds would come out of it. And I’m not sure what the next step was, but at some point at a young age I started getting piano lessons.

And that was actually an on-off experience for me. Which I don’t actually think about that very much anymore cause it’s been so long. But , you know, looking back, I must have quit at least two times and then come back to it. And it’s just been something that … When I stopped it, at some point I realized that it was something that I had to go back to, cause I was missing something. And I did that all the way through middle school and high school. And music has always been a part of my life in some way or another. But I didn’t think that I was going to be a professional musician for a very long time. And when I was in school, I was a history major. I probably changed majors a few times as well. And the thing that I noticed was that I just kept taking more and more music classes, and that no matter what my major was, I ended up taking more classes in my minor fields which was music. And at some point I just had to come to terms with it. And accept that was really what I wanted to do, was to study music.

And of course, that also comes with a lot of baggage, because navigating a career in music in the 20th and 21st centuries is pretty tricky. So I really wasn’t sure what that path would look like, and what I thought it would look like is very different from what it actually has been for me so far.

Christopher: Hmm. So take us back then. First to maybe your teenage years and learning piano.

David: Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Christopher: And then maybe to that university time and what you were thinking a music career might look like.

David: Yeah, I played in high school. I was in some different ensembles. Like I was in my school jazz ensemble. I must have been in several never-performing amateur bands with friends. But it was just a good time that we had.

We never really actually got out and … You know, to do very much. Until maybe the end of high school, I started actually getting some work with some friends. And that was more in … I think it was mostly like jazz gigs. Even though I really wouldn’t consider myself a jazz pianist because I’ve had more exposure to what we would call the Classical world than anything else. And also I would say been more tied to composing than piano. I enjoy working on piano and enjoyed seeing how far I can get in that level, but I think my craft is more in composition than in piano.

Christopher: And was that clear to you back in those teenage years? Or maybe towards the end of high school, that composing was something you were drawn to?

David: I think it was always, yeah. For as long as I can remember playing piano, I was also composing. At a very young age I wasn’t literally composing, because I wasn’t actually writing anything down. But I was still coming up with my own things with the piano. And as I got a little bit older, maybe in middle school, is when I started learning how to notate properly and writing things down so that either I could play it in the future, or at a certain level, could start writing for other people to play things and on instruments that I don’t play. And I think I’ve always been doing that. It’s something that I’m really passionate about.

Christopher: I won’t dwell too long in those early years, cause there’s so much interesting stuff to talk about later on. But I would like to understand what encouraged you to consider composing? Which might sound like an odd question, but for me at least in the UK system of a child learning an instrument, you learned how to read music and you learned technically how to write it. And you probably did some exercises where you had to write down a melody. But really composing was generally seen as out of reach, and most instrument teaching didn’t include improvising or songwriting or anything creative really.

David: Right.

Christopher: And that was my experience of doing kind of Classical instrument lessons. Were your lessons different? Did they encourage that creative spark? Or was there something else that made you think, oh yeah, I could write sounds and music, I could come up with something myself?

David: I wonder if I must have been a pretty difficult piano student as a kid. Because I think I probably had… I had an excellent piano teacher, who I think wanted me to do all of those things that you just mentioned. And I probably veered off so many times to try to do my own thing, that at some point you just had to steer into the curve. And he was also really understanding as a musician and as an educator, and he was really interested also in helping me explore those things. He was interested in composing himself, so he really helped to foster that.

But I do think maybe that there’s a difference in the United States with maybe the strictness of how we approach lessons. And I think you were mentioning… The way you were saying it made me to sound like maybe in the UK, maybe that’s even to a fault the amount of discipline. And I would say maybe in the United States it’s to a fault on the other side of it. In one case maybe there’s not enough freedom for expression. And then in the United States … I would say, it really depends on the teacher of course anywhere. But in general, maybe there’s not enough respect for just making sure to learn some fundamentals before going on.

One think that can be really tricky… As a teacher also, I know a lot of people really want to get to a further step than the step they’re ready for. And people are surprised how discouraging that can be, when you try something that is just a little bit too far out of reach when you skipped too many steps. Sometimes it feels like … It just feels like impossible when you’re trying to do something that you’re not ready for.

And yeah, if I could go back in time, I think I might have actually done the opposite of what I did in some ways. I might have spent more time as a child learning some more literature, technique than I actually did.

Christopher: Hmm, interesting. Well, it certainly doesn’t seem to have held you back, taking the path you did. So let’s move on to your time at university when you gradually acknowledged that maybe music was your major after all. You mentioned that you know, having a career in music turned out not to be maybe what you were expecting. What did you have in mind at that point? And how did things actually go?

David: When I first started thinking about the idea of music as a career, I thought what a lot of people still think in the Classical music world. And it’s a model that unfortunately doesn’t really exist too much anymore. And that was academia. The idea of becoming a college professor and… I should say, it does certainly exist. But it doesn’t exist the way that it used to. Now the vast majority of those positions have been replaced by adjunct positions. And the pay is low, a lot of the benefits are gone. You know, a lot of the attractive things about that… For instance, sabbatical … Not too many places offer sabbatical anymore. And certainly not to an adjunct, which is the majority of the positions anymore.

So it became clear to me after going through so much school and seeing what that path looked like that the struggle really was never that attractive to me. The idea of the struggling musician, the struggling artist. I really want to make music and if I can do something with music and also make a living for myself, then I feel like that’s the best case scenario.

And the other part of it is academia can be very isolating. And I think a lot of it is kind of esoteric and it forces you maybe to live in this bubble. Whereas, if you are teaching at younger ages or you’re teaching to amateurs, teaching to high school, or if you’re a church musician, or engaged with a community choir, you get to engage with a lot more people, in what I think is a much more fulfilling way than what I would have done, which would have been more sitting at a desk writing pieces and then presenting those pieces to other composers.

Christopher: So what did composing turn out to look like for you when you came to the end of college and it was suddenly time to do something to earn a living? What did you do?

David: What I realized was that in order to be a musician the way that I’m a musician, I had to not pigeonhole myself into one thing. Which is an advantage and a disadvantage. It’s a disadvantage because I’m not the most incredible baroque keyboardist or … I don’t have a niche feel that I can focus all of my energy and all of my output into that field. But I can do a pretty decent job at many different things. And so I’ve pieced together a career by being able to conduct when someone needs a conductor. Being able to put arrangements together. To practice music entrepreneurship. And compose things when people need something to be composed.

So it’s been pretty fulfilling actually. I get to work with a lot of different people. And for me, there’s something about the idea of if I just sat at home composing and arranging all day, while that’s something that I love, and there are a lot of people who can do that. For me at some point, I need to start engaging with people. And on the other hand, if I were engaging in people all day the way that say, a full-time conductor would, at some point I would need to go and sit and compose and have some time for myself. So I guess the key word is balance.

Christopher: Hmm. Balance and also I think variety, as you touched on there. That’s something that really comes through. I’ve really enjoyed listening to your compositions on SoundCloud, and you have some good videos on YouTube, too.

David: Thank you.

Christopher: We’ll put links to in the show notes. And that really comes across, you know? You have a very broad skill set as a composer, and it results in this really incredible catalog. I believe-

David: Thank you.

Christopher: To touch on that point about not just sitting at home, I believe it led to some travel for you as well beyond the U.S. Is that right?

David: Yeah. I’ve been very fortunate in that regard. I think the first time I traveled internationally for music was … In my undergraduate actually I applied for … It was a program through the college, and if you get a grant … And I had a grant to go study music in Prague. And I ended up also with a professor who is Czech. Totally coincidentally, I had actually been planning on that grant for a long time. And then I got transferred to this college and I got connected to this professor. And he had helped me out quite a bit with that. And that was just such an incredible experience because I loved to travel and I love music. But to travel as a musician is quite different from either of those two on their own.

You get to engage with people that you may not have a common language with in a musical way. That’s a special experience, and to be able to share with someone like that, I was just hooked. And a little later I was accompanying for some vocal students during my Masters, and I was playing piano. And there was a professor there and some of his students I accompanied named William Lewis, who is just a giant in the opera world. And he sang at the Met for decades. And he had a summer program, like an opera program, that he would run in France. And one day I had a voice message from him and he said, “Uh, David, we have a problem with … We have a pianist from Taiwan who’s having an issue with a visa. Can you come with us to France next week?” And I checked this voice message you know five times to make sure I was understanding everything correctly. And that was it. And he wanted me to go and spend … I ended up spending the whole summer in France. And this led to a lot of other experiences and I ended up working a lot in Austria and all sorts of amazing places.

But this particular summer was so incredible. It turned out it wasn’t a pianist who needed to be replaced, but it was an organist. And I said, you know, “I don’t play organ. I don’t really know anything about that.” And he said, “Oh, it’s basically the same thing.” And I said, “I don’t think it is.” I was very lucky, cause I had a friend who’s an expert organist, and right before I left he gave me this big crash course in organ and everything I could expect to need to know. And we also talked about the fact that I was gonna be going from town to town, village to village, and I was gonna be using some baroque organs, some organs from different time periods. And some of them hadn’t been touched in a long time. And so he talked to me about all the different buttons, what they might say in French as opposed to English. And it was stressful at times, but just absolutely wonderful. And I got to go to places I would have never gone to … Even if I go to France as a tourist, I would never go to some of the villages that we went to.
After each concert we would go to, we would typically expect the Mayor to come out with a bottle of that town’s wine and then invite us to his home for a picnic. That’s what I did for a summer. It was wonderful.

Christopher: Wow, that sounds phenomenal. And must have set the bar pretty high for your expectations after that?

David: Yeah, it was hard to beat.

Christopher: And so I’m not sure how this fits into that trajectory, but one of the projects that really jumped out at me when learning more about you and your career as a composer, was your creating of the Yiddish Music Collective, where I believe it’s kind of a restoration and arrangement and performing project. Is that right? Could you tell us more about that?

David: Yeah. Yeah, sure. This is another one of those lifetime learning things. And it was exciting to me because I knew that there was this music out there, but I didn’t really know where to find it. And I didn’t know much about it, and so … As a kid, I had grown up hearing some what I thought were lullabies in Yiddish. I didn’t really grow up around Yiddish language too much other than this. Then I found out much later in life that they weren’t actually originally lullabies, they were arias from Yiddish operettas.

And I was so interested to find where these things were, and I looked all over the place. I found arrangements of things. I couldn’t find any original music, and I just wondered what had happened to all of this stuff. And finally, very long story, but I had spoken to so many people, and one thing led to another. And somebody had mentioned that at UCLA in their special collections, someone had given them a box of materials that were related to Yiddish Operas. And I had tried to get in touch with them and find out what it was. And at the time, I was working, I was doing opera work in Austria. And I sent them an email. I said can you look under this person’s name? Can you see if there are any boxes there? And they sent me a typewritten manifesto, it must have been from at least the 60’s or earlier. And it had the contents of I think 40 boxes of original sets of operas in Yiddish. This is really the last remaining collection of all of this music.

And recently I was friends with someone who had pieced together from arrangements … They reconstructed an entire opera. And they spent, I don’t know, a couple of years putting this thing together. And I called her and I said, “Well, I have some either exciting news or really bad news, depending on how you take this. But I found the original entire opera.” It’s all, you know … Of course, later I found out that there are a handful of mostly elderly people who’ve known all along that this whole collection existed. But they just thought it was so obvious that they didn’t need to say anything. So for me at least, it was a discovery. And I was just excited with the idea with sharing this repertoire and sharing that with other people.

I’m very interested in language learning and having worked in Austria, I spent a lot of time learning German. Which is very close to Yiddish. And when I came back to Los Angeles, I connected with the Yiddish professor at UCLA and I started doing some private lessons to start learning Yiddish. And that way I could understand how to read and how to comprehend a lot of this music that we were performing.

Christopher: Fascinating. And I’d love to know musically what does Yiddish opera sound like? Is it kind of in the Klezmer tradition? Is it in the German opera style? Presumably a lot of these manuscripts you are finding don’t exist in recorded form.

David: Yeah, you’re right. There are recordings of … I don’t know what to call them. But I guess if … They’re taken out of context of the opera, and they’re performed like show tunes I guess. For an audience in the 50’s, maybe that’s around where it stops, because shortly after World War II that whole audience for that goes away very quickly. And there still are a lot of people that speak Yiddish, but they’re mostly very religious people and they’re not interested in secular things like Yiddish opera or secular Yiddish music.

It’s really out of a Vaudeville tradition. If I had to compare it to something, it might be closest to Offenbach. If you think of like the Can-Can or maybe Gilbert and Sullivan. But certainly there are Klezmer traditions woven into that. So there’s a standard kind of orchestra, but a lot of the musical language might sound closer to Klezmer music than to anything else.

Christopher: Wow, wonderful. And so at the Yiddish Music Collective, what are you doing that led on from this discovery?

David: I’ll tell you one of the things that I’m working on right now. So there is a colleague of mine and he has a grant. And what he did was he went to Holocaust survivors and he asked them to talk about pieces of music that they remembered from their childhood and how that was important to them and some of the backstory of that. And then my job was to listen to these interviews and first of all find out what it was that they were talking about. Because often these … If you’re a Holocaust survivor today, they’re almost all … They were children at the time, so a lot of them don’t remember the names of pieces. Often they don’t remember even the words, because they haven’t heard these things in so long.

So they might hum a tune and then if I’m lucky enough, it’s something that I’m familiar enough with that I could identify. And if not, I can go ask somebody else to help me with it. And once we found out what it was, then my next step was I created an arrangement for an orchestra that I conduct along with the choir and some soloists. And in two weeks we’re going to be doing a concert and we’re going to have those survivors in the audience, so they’re going to get to hear this music that they remember fondly from their childhood. And it’s gonna be exciting to share that with them and see what that means to them.

Christopher: Wow, wonderful. And we’ll definitely have a link in the show notes to the website dedicated to this project for people that want to know more about these concerts and these releases.

So coming back to your work as a composer, I know that a lot of people listening probably haven’t had the chance to talk to a composer. Particularly not one who writes orchestral arrangements and maybe is well-versed in Classical music, and some have that have, but others not. So I’d love to just unpack a little what that looks like for you as a composer in this day and age with that Classical background and the catalog that includes arrangements for all kinds of combinations of instruments. Both Western and beyond. Tell us … Maybe you can take an example of one of your pieces or one of your works and explain where it came from and what that process looked like?

David: Yeah. It’s … Composing’s still a bit of a mystery to me. I know it’s something that a lot of people have spoken about. Compositional processes and where that comes from. For me, it’s always been easy enough to compose the basic elements of music. To compose melody and harmony, that part I think has always seemed very natural. Development of a piece takes a lot of … It’s a much more difficult challenge. But I think actually the thing that is the most challenging is figuring out why you’re going to compose a piece. This might seem strange, but there’s just so much music out there. There are millennia of music with all sorts of different styles and all sorts of different meaning. Some amazing minds have written wonderful music. And so as a composer when you start a new piece, I have to ask myself at least why am I writing this?

And I’m going to ask somebody to listen to this. I’m gonna ask an audience to listen to this piece of music. Why am I worthy of their time? I don’t want to just churn something out that they could find that sounds like something else already. And I don’t wanna do a worse job of something that someone else has already done a great job of. So I struggle with this every single time I write a piece. I always have to think about what it is that I’m doing. And I try to imagine myself in the position of the audience member.

I find as a composer, I’m transitioning a lot more. I’m constantly trying to reinvent myself and find new things to do. And now in my whole musical life, I’m getting more and more into the digital space and into social media and that whole world. Almost all the music that I’ve ever written is for acoustic instruments. It’s for orchestras … Even non-Western, non-traditional instruments, I love writing for those kinds of things. But it’s still for a real concert hall, for a real concert venue.

Recently I’m starting to do some digital things, and it’s kind of new to me. So I’m starting to learn a lot more about software. And a piece that I’m doing maybe almost as an exercise, but a very short piece right now as I’m learning.
My wife and I recently a few months ago are expecting our first child in August-

Christopher: Oh wow, congratulations-

David: It’s really exciting. Thank you. And so I thought it would be fun to see if I could create a piece made entirely out of my future baby’s heartbeat. Just a recording that I have from the ultrasound. And so that’s been really fun to see how I can take this and manipulate it in so many different ways that I can now have virtual instruments. Where I can play notes with my baby’s heartbeat. And so I’m kind of piecing it all together now. It’s just an exciting process.
I just never want to do the same thing twice. So I’m always thinking a lot before I start a new piece.

Christopher: And it’s clear that you are dedicated to your work as a composer, despite not wanting to do the same thing twice. Was it always obvious to you, you know, once you got out of your music degree and you started this work, was it clear, okay, music is going to be my life?

David: Well … So I did a doctorate in music, and by the time I finished that, to be honest I was pretty burned out. I was working in music, in a functional way, in a practical way. I was doing arrangements for people that needed arrangements. And I was conducting for people who wanted to conduct. But what I wasn’t doing for a few years was writing for the sake of writing. And it was actually quite a journey to get back to that. And another part of this that I think contributed to this a lot, in my very last summer before completing my doctorate, I basically had to write my dissertation over a summer because I was on a scholarship, and my scholarship was gonna run out. And at the same summer, I was working on an opera, and it was a kind of job where I was playing piano for rehearsals for some ridiculous amount of time, like seven hours a day or something like this.

At the same time, or maybe just before the summer and … If I could have done this all over again, I would have said I can’t do this job. Because I had just found out a couple of weeks before that I had an autoimmune arthritis. Psoriatic arthritis. And it was a totally new thing for me. I had never had pain in my hands before or anything like that. And it had nothing to do with playing the piano, it was autoimmune, so this was something that was congenital and just wasn’t coming out until age 30 or whatever it was. And it was a really physically and emotionally painful summer, because I was playing piano all day long. And I just couldn’t play anymore the way that I used to play. I would spend the rest of the day with ice packs on my hands.

And to make it a little bit worse, the people that I was working for were very … I would say they weren’t very understanding of the situation.

Christopher: Wow.

David: So it was … I was frustrated because I couldn’t play the way that I knew that used to be able to play. And they were frustrated with me because they weren’t getting what they needed me to do. And I did ask at one point if I could just get out of it, and they were not having it. So I kind of played through that summer, and then after that, I stopped playing piano completely for about four years. I should say, I mean, I could go to the piano and plunk something out for a few minutes at a time, but I couldn’t actually practice anything. I couldn’t play anything for more than ten minutes at a time, because then at that point my hands were just hurting so much.

And maybe a few months ago, I started taking these injections, which are to treat the autoimmune condition. And most of my arthritis is gone now, and I’ve been able to go back to the piano after four years or so. And I’ve realized how much I missed it. How I can go back to the piano if I’m exhausted, or if I’ve had a frustrating day. Whatever it is, or if I’m happy, whatever it is, I can share that with my musical instrument. So I’m really excited to have that be part of my life again.

Christopher: Amazing. That sounds like an almost Biblical test of whether you were truly committed to music. Wow.

David: Yeah. It was … I was just mentally and physically exhausted. And it was the combination of that and also having gone through so many years of school and finishing my doctorate by that point. I actually … I think I had somewhat of an emotional crisis at that point, because I remember I had listened to so much music to study for … And in the United States, you know, if you have a doctorate of music, you have to do these qualifying examinations. And the types of questions that you can be asked are just extremely specific and cover so many different areas. And I had listened to so much music, in addition to all the music that I write and the music that I play, that I completely stopped listening to music after … Soon as I finished my doctorate, I completely stopped. And I could only listen to podcasts or like the news for months.

And then the first thing that I could start listening to again was The Beach Boys. And then I kind of slid back into something a little bit more serious, and I started listening to Brahms, and then eventually … I guess in hindsight these are all B’s. But my favorite composer is Bach. And finally when I reconnected with Bach, I felt like I could listen to music again. But it was several months of not being able to listen to anything.

Christopher: Gosh, that’s quite a detour. Quite an interruption to what was otherwise sounding like a very nice, smooth trajectory for you know … So once you got back to Bach, were you a hundred percent charging ahead, “music is my life”? Or where did you take it from there?

David: Like I said, I was still working in music this whole time. So I was still connected to music, but in terms of writing and playing piano again, no. It was a very gradual, long journey to get back to where I was before then. And I also had to rediscover why it was that I was interested in music. Because being in school for so long, there was always a reason for everything. There were assignments. There were deadlines. There were people who were gonna hold me accountable. And there were also a lot of times, because you were gonna enter into competitions, or whatever it may be, that you have to write music that maybe isn’t the type of music that got you really interested in music in the first place. Sometimes it’s more esoteric than the music that you’re really interested in. And I had to really think about what is it I love about music anyhow? I didn’t have deadlines and things like this growing up. But I still loved music. And so I had to just rediscover that for myself.

Christopher: And was it purely immersing yourself more in listening and playing and composing that allowed you to do that? Was there anything that particularly helped you in that process? I’m imagining that there must be people who can relate and feel like you know, they’re still listening to this podcast, but maybe they’re not a hundred percent immersed in music like they used to be. And maybe they’d just been looking for that way to reawaken that enthusiasm or passion.

David: Yeah. There wasn’t any kind of watershed moment, aside from like I mentioned the injections that I was doing to help me play piano again. But one thing that I’ve learned as an adult that I wish I knew when I was younger, is that you can accomplish a tremendous amount if you commit to doing a little bit on a daily basis. And I got through most of my language education by doing 30 minutes a day. But I never missed a day. And a lot of … I guess I surprised myself with what you can do, because a lot of what we tend to do … For instance, you know, if you want to all of a sudden you decide you want to get fit and you’re gonna go to the gym, a lot of people make the mistake of going to the gym and doing something that’s unsustainable. So I’ve never gone to the gym before, today I’m gonna go to the gym for two hours.

Well, you’re not gonna probably go to the gym for two hours every single day. You’ll have much more success if you can commit to going to the gym three times a week for 30 minutes a week and start from there. And so I think one of my strengths now that wasn’t a strength when I was younger, is I’m able to commit to doing little things consistently. And to make sure that I understand that this is not … I’m not gonna finish a goal today necessarily. But I do have a long-term plan, and I will finish that goal. And I just have to make sure to get my chunk of it done today. I don’t have to finish the whole thing.

Christopher: That’s a really valuable mindset for people to adopt I think. You know, it’s something we certainly recommend at Musical U is ingraining that musical habit. And even if it’s only 15 minutes a day, you’ll do a lot better with 15 minutes a day than a single one hour session once a week. And as you say-

David: Absolutely.

Christopher: It adds up over time.

David: Yeah. And it’s becoming part of your lifestyle. It’s just “okay, now is the time of the day where I get to do 15 minutes of this thing that I’m going to love and get something out of”.

Christopher: Yeah, and that habit can certainly carry you through those times when enthusiasm would otherwise wane and you might let it slide for a week or two. When you’ve got that consistency to keep up, it can definitely kind of power you through those lulls.

David: Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Christopher: So I’d love to come back to something you touched on there, which was that you’ve been transitioning from more acoustic instruments and traditional composing to experimental and computer music as it were. And I think that’s really interesting because on paper, you are a very well-qualified, well-established composer and music doctorate in the Classical mold. But you are also the creator of PianoCub, a website that purports to teach beginner piano entirely online. And those two can seem in juxtaposition. So I’d love to unpack a bit, what’s your perspective or philosophy on the traditional approach to learning piano? Or say or learning music in general versus this kind of wild, untapped, un-understood potential we’re faced with in the modern age?

David: I think they’re both great. I think any way that you can learn a musical instrument is a great idea. And for a lot of people, that means a traditional lesson. And there are a lot of benefits to that. The one-on-one time that you get, the attention that you get, are just invaluable. For a lot of people, you don’t have that option. And for a lot of people doing something else might work better. Cause there are lot of people that don’t have regular schedules where they can make sure to have the same weekly lesson every time, every week. And as a private teacher, I certainly have students like that who it seems like we barely met, because every single week there was a different reason we had to cancel for something.

For some people it’s easier for them because of their schedules to be around at 2AM with their headphones on and their keyboard and doing things on their own schedule for whatever works for them. And you know, I guess my advice to people would be to find what makes some sense for you, and seek that out on your own.

You know, thinking about my own journey, I took Spanish for four years of high school. And I left high school not being able to speak Spanish. And a little bit of time on my own practicing language, doing German on my own every day, using things … Online resources. That at the time didn’t exist for music. So things like Rosetta Stone Online, Pimsler, which was an audio thing that I could listen to in the car, Mangos was a great company. I used these resources, and I was able to learn much more German than I ever learned of Spanish in four years.

And I don’t know, maybe that’s not the same for everybody. But for me, that was a better way to learn. And you know, to be honest, I think amongst musicians, there’s some economic insecurities. There always will be and about the future as technology is changing. If you’re a private teacher, this can be scary because you’re thinking, well, is this something that’s gonna put me out of business? But I don’t think so, because in my language learning journey, I’ve now at my age, I’ve put a lot of money into German language resources and lessons and that kind of thing. But I wouldn’t have done any of that if I hadn’t gotten started with my foot in the door by learning things online and learning things with CDs. Now I’m a consumer of German media, and I wouldn’t have been before. And I think we as musicians we just have to embrace changes in technology and appreciate new resources that we have that we didn’t have before.

Christopher: This is such an interesting topic. It’s come up on the podcast a few times, and at Musical U we don’t teach the instrument technique, you know? We don’t say we’ll teach you how to play piano. We’re really very much about the inner skills and that you can apply them on piano. But we’re not gonna tell you how to play a C major scale, for example.

David: Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Christopher: But we do constantly have people coming to us and saying you know, I want to learn X. Should I get a teacher or learn online? And so it’s always top of mind for me what is the right answer to that question. And I love that you boiled it down to “whatever way you want to learn an instrument, that’s the main thing”. Absolutely, we’re on the same page there. But do you see any of the downsides to the traditional in-person lessons? Say a once-a-week lesson with a teacher, whether that’s for a child or for an adult?

David: Well, certainly I think for children, you should have a teacher. That’s the best thing. And if you don’t have a teacher, there has to be some adult with them throughout the learning process. I don’t recommend children sitting with headphones only and not getting any other kind of interaction with that. For adults, sure. You know, I mean, the obvious downside is the cost. The time scheduling. One thing that really surprised me as a private teacher that I never thought of … I have worked with a lot of older students who had told me they wanted to take lessons for decades. People in their 70’s or 80’s. And I would ask them why didn’t you take lessons? And I was so surprised when the answer that I heard from a lot of people was that they were embarrassed. This answer totally confused me. I couldn’t figure out, what would you be embarrassed about? But then they explained, well, you know, the idea of being an adult, and I’m good at other things that I do, but now I want to be a beginner. And I have to have somebody who’s an expert in this watch me play “Mary Had A Little Lamb” or “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star”, feels kind of embarrassing.

And I was so surprised. That was something that I never even considered before. And so now when I have PianoCub, there’s an outlet for people who can do that and not have to … If that’s something that they were struggling with, they don’t have to worry about that at all. In fact, they could put headphones on and they don’t have to worry about anybody even hearing what they’re doing. And you know, as a private teacher, the best thing that you could ever hear, which I got to hear every once in awhile when I still do, and I really love it, is when someone says “you made my dreams come true”.

When I use PianoCub, I get that email more than I would have just because I’m able to reach out to more people. So you know, that just makes me feel great that people are able to get that out of this product.

Christopher: Wonderful. I think that’s such a fascinating point, and a really important one that there can be that self-conscious barrier to trying a new skill as an adult. And she’ll be mad at me for saying it, but my Mum is learning piano. She’s not quite retired, she should be, but she’s not quite there. And she’s taken up piano, which is the first music learning for her. And I’ve just seen that-

David: Beautiful-

Christopher: That visceral thing of she’s very self-conscious … Very conscious that it’s a new skill. It’s something she’s not good at. And she’s used to being good at the things she does. And so like you say, to have an expert watch you … And even if that’s the arrangement, and their the teacher and you’re the student, it is hard. It’s definitely hard for an adult I think to get past that. And when we were developing our singing app SingTrue, we were really focused on that, because the voice maybe even more so than playing an instrument. It’s something that people are very wary of experimenting with if they haven’t learned to sing-

David: Absolutely.

Christopher: And so it was really an opportunity to say, just use the app, you know? It’s just you in a room. No one’s listening except the microphone on you phone. Give it a try.

David: Right.

Christopher: And that’s proved really effective. And so I can a hundred percent see how that kind of self-serve, do it on your own approach can provide access to something that otherwise would feel totally inaccessible to adults.

David: Yeah. I mean, what you just said about vocalists is so true. As instrumentalists, we often take things very personally. If something is wrong with the way that we’re playing, we really also take that upon ourselves as well. But for vocalists, where they themselves are their instruments, that can become … I have seen so many times, people have breakdowns … And you know, as an accompanist playing for lessons, it was inevitable that just about everybody you ever accompanied, at some point in their voice lesson, is going to start breaking down crying.

Because that criticism is directed directly at them. It’s hard not to take certain things very personally. Especially if you’re accompanying vocalist at the college level and above, where it’s not just for fun there, that’s their career. And that’s what they’ve poured their whole life into.

Christopher: Yeah, well, I think what’s wonderful is that if you can experience that beginner learning process divorced from that judgment and protected from a human hearing you and having an opinion about you, I think that’s a really great opportunity. So-

David: Yeah.

Christopher: I asked about the downsides or risks of in-person lessons. I would be remiss if I didn’t do the reverse and ask you about how online learning works. We just mentioned one really big advantage. But supposing you’re the adult beginner and you come to PianoCub … And maybe before we dive into this, I should ask you to just explain a little bit more about PianoCub and how it works?

David: Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Christopher: But what I’d love to know is, how do you know you’re getting it right? If it’s just you in the room and there’s no human to hear you and have an opinion, do you know when you’re playing the right notes or not?

David: Yeah, great question. So to your first part, PianoCub is simply a place that you go online and it’s a subscription-based service where you can learn how to play piano. So there are video tutorials, and PDFs, and it walks you through step-by-step. Including how to read music and things like that. You’re right, so this is the biggest downside to online learning, is there’s not somebody sitting over your shoulder telling you when something is right or wrong. I actually invite all of our users to feel free to send video recordings of themselves and we’ll actually give them feedback.

Most people don’t do that, but you know, if you’re not doing that, then yeah, you actually have to be your own judge. You have to be the one that knows well, am I keeping my fingers curved like they talked about in the video? Am I … And so we try to put a lot of reminders in videos and you watch things go by slowly. And the notes are highlighted so they’re lighting up as you’re playing along and, you know … But the … I guess one of the mechanisms in there with any kind of lesson is if you are doing something wrong, probably by the time you get to the next lesson, you’re probably gonna realize that there’s something that you missed. And you might want to go back.

One of the nice things about this is you can just replay the same lesson as many times as you want, if you need to. Whereas as a private teacher, I think … Occasionally actually people would ask to record things and actually sometimes record a whole lesson and they would go back and play that again. So you get to go back if you need to.

Christopher: That’s great. And I think there is definitely kind of hidden benefit in that. Something we’ve mentioned a few times on the podcast is how instrumentalists can fall into the trap of not even hearing themselves play practically. And particularly on piano, where you hit the button, and the right note comes out, compared to something fretless, where you have to get the intonation right. Or compared to your voice, where you really are a hundred percent responsible for the pitch. The piano, as long as your fingers are moving in the right pattern, the right notes are gonna come out. And that does lead to this trap of I’m playing a bit like a robot. My teacher will tell me if I make a mistake. And so I’ll just kind of do it as if it’s a physical thing only. So I think there’s actually a real beauty and benefit to being forced to be your own listener. And with reminders to keep you mindful as you mentioned you have in your videos that can actually be a really good think, I think.

David: Sure, that’s a great point. Bach used to say … People remarked at how well he played the organ. He would say something to the effect of, “I don’t know what the big deal. I’m just putting the right fingers on the right buttons at the right time.” But for most of us mortals, there’s a lot more to it than that. And assuming that we don’t have the ear that Bach had, or even if we have that potential, Bach also started somewhere. And developing that listening skill is important.

Christopher: So what prompted you to put such enormous effort and work so hard on what has become PianoCub? Where did that come from? Who were you trying to help with this project?

David: I had had a lot of people come to me as students, and there were certain needs that they had that weren’t being met with traditional lessons. And a lot of times, people would come back to me and they would say I found this thing online. What do you think about this website? And they would ask for a certain online resources before I did this. Now, PianoCub’s been out for two years, but I started putting everything together long before that. And at the time when I started, there wasn’t much available online that was too helpful. There were things out there, but they were … It was kind of like the blind leading the blind a little bit.

So I wanted something that had high quality. Both in terms of the educational components, which I felt like I had that to the table, and then the visual components, I’m very fortunate cause my wife is a photographer. And she knows about camera equipment and lighting. These are things that I didn’t know anything about, and I don’t think most musicians do. And so she taught me a lot about how to do all of these things and how to make the lessons look as good as they can possibly look. And I have a lot of help from some really fantastic people. For instance, we have graphics that are designed on there. Things that illustrate how note reading works and things like that. Those are skill sets that I don’t have. But we’ve just got a great team of people who are I think the best at what they do, putting these things together.

So you know, this was… For me, this was filling a void of something that needed to be filled. And at the time it was a void that people were gonna go out on their own looking for something online. There wasn’t that kind of resource out there.

Christopher: Fantastic. And as you said, you’re two years in now. Who have you seen using PianoCub?

David: When I first started, and you know, even talking to other entrepreneurs, non-musical entrepreneurs, it seemed like everybody thought well the obvious group of people that want music lessons are kids. Cause that’s often … In the United States, that’s who we see taking piano lessons. But that’s not … I’d say it’s rarely the type of people that I see using this product. It’s pretty much adults and people who for very many different reasons want to add music to their lives. Want to do that. You know, a lot of these people started, and they stopped, and they want to come back. And they want to find something that works a little better for them. A lot of these people, it’s something they’ve wanted to do for a long time that never done it.

Most of them are working jobs that have nothing to do with music at all. Or they might be retired. And this is part of their lifetime learning, and they get to learn a new skill that they’ve always wanted to have.

Christopher: Terrific. One of the elephants in the room when it comes to discussing online learning is that course completion rates can be kind of atrocious. If you look at a site like Udemy for example, you hear figures quoted like five to ten percent of people who buy a course ever finish it. And that can be quite frustrating and demotivating for someone like yourself or me who run an online-

David: Right.

Christopher: Education provider. And it’s really been a focus for us at Musical U to make sure that we don’t just focus on the training material. We really spend a lot of time and energy thinking about the overall training system and that process of someone coming in and learning what they want to learn so that they have a lot more success than the typical online course can provide. What have you seen from your students in terms of motivation and engagement? And is there anything you can do to help facilitate them kind of following through on what they come to you to learn?

David: Yeah. Well, that’s a great question. One of the reasons that the process of PianoCub started so much earlier than the actual website is because I was concerned about what you are talking about. So what I did is I created a series of videos before the website existed and learning materials. And I sent them out and I asked people to just try this out for a month or two months. And I had a questionnaire for them, and I made it very clear I really don’t want you to tell me “you did a great job with this”. I just want you to tell me what you think could be better. Where did you find the challenge? What was your learning experience like? And were there things you were confused about? Was it too fast-paced? Too slow-paced? And that really helped shape how I think about the course experience from the user’s point of view.

I think my advantage… I feel like I’ve talked about this so much today, but the language learning thing was an advantage for me, because that gave me the experience of what our users experience. It’s something similar to where I was learning something just like music that I didn’t know anything about, or knew very little about. And I got to see how those systems were working. And when I was looking around at the handful of materials that did exist online before, they didn’t have that level that the Rosetta Stones had for the language learning. And I felt when I was doing those language programs like I could just keep going all the time and I never had any struggles continuing with those.

Christopher: That is such a powerful part of it. I was talking just last week with one of our members, a guy called Doug. And he was making that specific point. He was saying, “You know what really sets it apart is its a progression of difficulty. And I can turn up and do my training each day and I’m not gonna suddenly be confronted by something that’s super impossible. And I’m not gonna show up on day one and find that it’s all too difficult for me. It always feels like it is just stretching me a little bit.” And I can totally see how at PianoCub that’s critical for helping the student have continual success and stay engaged and keep learning.

David: Absolutely. Yeah. That’s great that you got that feedback from a member, too.

Christopher: It’s encouraging. It means we’re getting something right, anyway.

David: Yeah, exactly.

Christopher: As you would know there’s always more work to do. And I believe you’re continuing to build out the training material at PianoCub. Is that right?

David: Oh yeah. In fact, I would say my greatest challenge is with all the other projects going on, just making sure to churn out the amount of material that we need to continue to grow that library of lessons.

Christopher: And tell us a little bit about what that library looks like right now. What would somebody be learning when they come to PianoCub?

David: So there are four levels of walking through … So like Level One is a set of lessons that go from the very, very beginning. So you’re looking at the piano for the first time, you don’t know anything about note reading or anything like that. And then at the end of each level, there’s kind of a challenge or there’s an achievement piece, rather, that kind of culminates with everything that you’ve learned in that whole series of lessons. And then after that, what we’ve recently started doing, now that we’re getting those four introductory levels completed, are a series called Masterworks Sessions. So these are pieces … They’re not arrangements. They’re actually really well-known pieces of literature. So for instance, we just put up the Bach C major Prelude from the first Well-tempered Clavier.

You know, in the future, we’re working on things like … We have a Chopin Prelude in the work. Or we might have a piece by Solti. Mozart. So this is kind of the Masterworks section that we’re working on right now.

Christopher: Very cool. Well, it has been such a pleasure to have the chance to talk with you today, David, and learn more about your life as a composer and your background as a musician. And to understand a bit more about what you’ve got going on at PianoCub, certainly for anyone listening who’s been wanting to get into learning piano. Whether it’s your first instrument, or a secondary instrument. Definitely do head to PianoCub.com and take a look and we’ll have links to that and everything else we’ve mentioned in the show notes for this episode.

Thank you again, David, for joining us today.

David: Thank you so much, Christopher. It’s been a real pleasure.

Subscribe For Future Episodes!

Apple Podcasts | Android | Google Play (US only) | Stitcher | RSS

Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it!

The post Finding, Recovering and Maintaining Motivation, with David Brown appeared first on Musical U.

Singer-songwriter Jason V Chapman first got his hands on a Casio keyboard at age ten, and has been writing and playing music ever since. His classic take on country music features emotionally-charged lyrics on love, loss, travel, and spirituality that have captured the ears of audiences in his native Houston, Texas, and far beyond – his music has been broadcast on Texas Pride Radio, as well as American Bandstand’s radio music hour “The Grand Tour”.

Even with a steadily rising career, Jason remains true to himself, baring his soul through his music and lyrics, involving his supportive family in his musical life wherever possible, and keeping his day job to stay moving and stay healthy in spite of a chronic medical condition.

Musical U spoke to Jason about his by-ear approach to writing music, the release of his first single and his debut performance, the guiding role that God has played in his musical journey, and how he achieves a balance between his day job, his music career, and his family.

As you’d expect from someone who commands such attention with his emotive and confessional lyrics, Jason’s insights on songwriting, musical collaboration, and inspiration show that this man is a positive musical force to be reckoned with.

I had no formal training, except some guitar lessons when I was ten. I ended up quitting guitar for boy scouts, and ironically, shortly thereafter quit scouts after having to jump out of the scoutmaster’s burning car (it had an exhaust leak and a wiring short, which caused the fire)!

I’ve been writing and playing music since I was ten. I started out playing instrumental songs on my first keyboard, a Casiotone MT-520. I also played trombone in a band in middle school.

My first songs, many of which I still have in a folder, were about heartbreak and love – it’s kind of divine that I ended up doing country, I guess.

My first professional stage debut was at The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo’s Championship Barbeque, in the S&S Cookers tent on March 1st, 2012.

A fellow volunteer at the rodeo let me play there to help launch my very first single, which had been released only a couple of days beforehand.

The release of my first single was due to a chance meeting with my now-producer Doug Deforest at a Halloween party where I did a Jimmy Buffet-type of look, guitar included. I went to talk to the person performing after being invited to keep my guitar in the green room. He introduced me to Doug saying, ”If anyone can help you get into the business, it’s Doug.”

I auditioned for him, and he gave me some tough feedback to the song I played for him. I accepted his critique, he offered to produce me, and we exchanged contact information. After prayer and discussion with my wife, we decided to go for it, and the rest is history…

There are waaaaaayyyyy to many to list. My single “Outlaw” was inspired by an outlaw song that my friend Dewey Wayne wrote called “Old No. 7 And A .30-06” that I love…

I just play what sounds good to me – I play simply for the love of music, and go where the music leads me.

Balance? What’s balance? Is there such a thing as balance?

Truthfully, I don’t know exactly how it all works out, but I will say my wife is my biggest support and I try to play at family-friendly places and events as much as possible, so that my family can join me.

I play by ear, so much of my songwriting is just fiddling with my guitar and coming up with chord progressions, then closing my eyes and letting the song come to me.

My inspiration for “Losing Faith” actually came from our head preacher leaving the ministry at our church:

I was so bummed because he and I hit it off about how we both interpreted The Bible’s meaning, and I was worried that a new preacher would not be the same (I ended up being wrong).

However, through an interesting turn of events, the song ultimately ended up being about a couple breaking up!

I love when I get to share the stage with someone else. I love the banter and the friendly rivalry that comes from performing with others. I currently do not have a band and perform either with special guests or completely solo.

I look at other musicians not as competition, but as souls on the same journey as I am.

I truly believe there is room for all of us in the industry.

Keep reaching for the stars, never take an answer of “no” personally, and always keep an open mind to minor changes – some of the best musicians make a song their own when they perform it, and the changes they make can only help the performance.

To be honest, I’d love to quit my day job! However, the reality is, making music for a living isn’t easy, and it takes a lot of effort just to stay relevant.

I have a disorder called fibromyalgia, so for me, work is essential for keeping my body moving and minimizing my pain.

It also keeps me in shape so when I do perform, I look halfway decent to my crowd – looks may not be everything, but the stats say 16-25 year old females buy most of the music in this world, so looking good definitely helps!

All in all, I am thankful to have a job that pays me to stay in shape.

Never give up, and let God (or whatever deity or entity you might worship) take the wheel – when it’s time, it will happen…

We are in the process of choosing new songs to record, nothing firm at the moment, but fixing to start pushing my latest release, “Couple Hundred Miles”:

Wherever God chooses to lead me… He is in charge of this journey I am on.

Sweet Emotions

Songwriter’s block can be a difficult hurdle to get past, and this especially holds true with getting some good lyrics down.

As Jason demonstrates with his poignant brand of country music, the real magic happens when you weave your experiences, emotions, and inspirations into your music.

Take a cue from Jason and try songwriting from a confessional angle. Write about an important trip you took, a heartbreak, or anything that triggers a strong emotional response. We think you’ll be pleasantly surprised at the result – it’s a wonderful way to put your own emotional imprint onto your music, and there’s no doubt your audience will be very responsive!

The post A Higher Musical Power, with Jason V. Chapman appeared first on Musical U.

Otherwise known as the character or the quality of the sound, timbre has multiple purposes: it can do everything from setting a mood, to lending texture to sound, to even affecting how your body feels the sound – just ask anyone who has stood a little too close to a subwoofer!

Put it this way: if it wasn’t for timbre, you wouldn’t be able to distinguish a C# on a piano from a C# on the bassoon.

Explore timbre by tuning into this week’s podcast episodes – one on the meaning of tone, and the other an interview that will reveal how you can develop and change your singing voice – and with a fascinating interview with Keenan McKenzie, a man who has beautifully recreated the old-timey strains of swing with his own big saxophone sound.

But first, let’s look at what’s new and exciting in Musical U…

Fresh in May

What better way to get inspired than through hearing the stories of those enjoying their musical journey or a successful musical career?

To this end, we interviewed Musical U member VeeraL on her incredible progress in playing by ear and improvising – this is a story of self-directed growth and learning that will inspire any musician that is feeling disillusioned by the classical training system.

With the release of our Resource Packs on the Blues, our resident pros in piano, guitar, and bass share their wisdom with Musical U members on how to succeed in playing in this unique style.

Our monthly community events gave even more opportunity for sharing success stories, with a Fireside Chat exploring musical collaboration, and a Masterclass on entrepreneurial essentials for musicians with MusicEntrepreneurHQ.com‘s David Andrew Wiebe.

Finally, we got to hear our own Andrew Bishko talk about his incredible musical career, with an interview that barely scratched the surface of decades spent performing, teaching, learning, mastering, and exploring.

Itching to learn more about the inspirational tidbits shared by these individuals? Head to What’s New in Musical U: May 2018 to get more details…

The Blues: a genre with soul, complexity, and the ability to get you up and moving. What’s more, it’s at the root of most of today’s popular genres. In May, Musical U’s Resident Pros released Resource Packs to up your jam-factor and help get the blues – in a good way.

While many folks associate the blues with the guitar, the piano has a starring role too, as Learn Piano Blues will show you with their introduction to Blues and Boogie Woogie piano.

If you missed the music entrepreneurship masterclass, there was a ton of great advice that David gave to the audience. No matter what style of music you play, learning some basic marketing techniques are absolutely essential to getting your music heard. Musician Monster talks about new music marketing strategies with John Oszajca in their podcast.

Swing Away

How do you re-create the sound of a musical era that is long gone?

Turns out, with a passion and a careful study of the style, some incredible musical chops, and a group of like-minded collaborators, it’s entirely possible to bring back the past and move it forward – just ask Keenan McKenzie, who has recently released the 15-track swing album Forged in Rhythm, a record that sounds utterly timeless while retaining the hallmarks of swing.

A big part of that sound is Keenan’s classic big, fat saxophone timbre which he developed with careful listening and practice.

In Transcontinental Swing, with Keenan McKenzie, the multi-instrumentalist and composer shares his inspirations, his experiences with jazz and swing, and the process of writing, recording and producing his swing album – a collaborative process spanning coast-to-coast.

Swing music continues to be a part of Western music, and for good reason! While many associate the musical style with horns, rhythm sections, and dancing, there are musicians that are taking this classic style to all instruments. Casey MacGill brings swing to one of our favourite instruments, the ukulele, in an interview with Ukulele Mag.

In 1930’s and 1940’s America, swing was king. When R&B, country, and rock’n’roll took over, many players turned to bebop and cool. But Swing never died – many of its elements, including some classic chord progressions, found a new home in later styles of jazz. Nigel McGill takes you through the ii-V-I chord progression.

Keenan learned a lot of what he knows about music from transcribing classic solos. The process of transcribing is very valuable to your growth as a musician, and should be practiced as part of your musicality training. As Gary from Secrets of Songwriting illustrates, this even holds true for songwriters.

Keenan both composes and writes lyrics for his songs. Some songwriters start with lyrics, others put the lyrics in last – Song Fancy has a number of lessons that will teach you the various ways to write songs. To help motivate your songwriting, they are hosting a 5-in-5 songwriting challenge in just a couple of weeks!

Vocal Power

Plenty of musicians (and people in general) will claim that they’re “bad at singing”.

While this may or may not be true, your voice is like any other instrument – with some directed practice, you can improve your singing, and even change the tone of your singing voice!

This week, we interview the co-founder of Vocal Process – one of the best websites for helping you develop your singing voice – on everything from singing technique and singing in tune, to experimenting with your voice to see the different styles it can adopt. Tune in to What Your Voice Can Do, with Jeremy Fisher to learn about the amazing capabilities of your voice!

Jeremy is an expert at sight reading and shared some of his techniques for seeing music as a series of patterns rather than individual notes. This method is used by many musicians and can be highly effective for learning how to quickly and accurately sight read a piece of music. En Hymn continues this discussion with some other basics for sight-reading.

We loved how Jeremy referred to himself as a musical collaborator rather than an accompanist. Playing with other musicians is great fun, and can really help you grow in your musicality. If you have the pleasure of collaborating with a vocalist, Singsician gives tips on how to make this experience delightful and musical.

“There’s an app for that…” is something you’ll hear quite often these days. App creators are finding more and more ways to use your device during music practice. While an app can’t replace the experience of collaborating with another musician, it can be great for practice and becoming more comfortable with a piece of music. Check out Appcompanist for more information on this useful tool.

Intonation and playing in tune with others is a concern for all musicians, but especially difficult for some vocal ensembles. But don’t let that slow you down! Marlene Hartzler explains how to get the members of a choir in tune with one another.

We all want to improve, and we want to do it as fast as possible. Jeremy shared his insights on how to slow down the music to work through a section. You can “run with the idea of slowing down” and increase your musical accuracy by using a metronome in your practice. Once you start playing with a metronome, it’ll become a staple in your routine. The Musical Webb describes how slowing down your practice can actually save you time.

Exploring Tone

The word “tone” can be a tricky one to define in the context of music – not only does it have multiple uses, but it can feel like its usage varies from musician to musician.

In our previous episode About the Word “Tone”, we looked at how it can be used to describe a note, a single frequency, or a particular interval.

This week, we’re back with About the Word “Tone” (Part Two), in which we continue our exploration of the meaning the word “tone” can take on, depending on how you use it to describe music. If you’ve ever wondered how tone applies to tuning, the bass/treble balance, and the overall sound of music, this episode is for you.

Intonation and tuning are something that comes up frequently here at Musical U. While many musicians resort to tuners to tune their instruments, learning how to tune with drones is also very effective – and makes for excellent ear training. Learn more from Colin Dorman.

When we think of guitar tone, we frequently talk about the guitar, pedals, and amplifier. But have you ever considered what the right hand is doing? Fingerpicking, as opposed to using a pick, can change the tone of your guitar playing immediately, as well as give you more variety and control over the strings. Get started with these four patterns from Uberchord.

As discussed, the balance between bass and treble is often associated with discussions about tone. While this may seem like a technical issue, your ear is at the heart of learning this meaning of tone. Musician on a Mission talks about how to train your ears to become a better mixer.

The Character of Your Sound

When we talk about music, we usually cover the obvious bases – dynamics, time signatures, and getting all the notes right.

However, tone and timbre can get left out of the conversation, and wrongfully so! They are the key to getting your music to sound like what you envision.

Our challenge to you this week is: spend some time exploring tone and timbre! Listen to a style of music with a distinctive tone (swing? blues?), and think about how each instrument sounds and how it contributes to the overall tone. Are you a vocalist? Experiment with changing the style of your singing – try vibrato, or (carefully!) vocal fry. Interested in how tone works on a technical level? Play around with the bass, mid, and treble knobs on your amp or stereo, paying attention to how the tone changes as you play with the parameters.

The post Fresh in May, Swing Away, Vocal Power, and Exploring Tone appeared first on Musical U.