Category: Uncategorized

https://www.musical-u.com/learn/big-5-skills-modern-musicianship-chad-west-interview/
Becoming a musician just means you learn to play an instrument, right?

Not quite… In fact, as music learners quickly discover, there are a wide variety of skills involved in being a capable and versatile musician. These go far beyond just knowing the movements to make your instrument play the right notes.

We spoke to Dr. Chad West, an Associate Professor and Chair of Music Education at Ithaca College. He is a leading expert on the core musicianship skills mentioned above, and has codified them as five distinct skill groups to be learned.

We were very keen to talk with him about his fascinating research and find out more about how he views modern musicality training.

https://www.musical-u.com/learn/big-5-skills-modern-musicianship-chad-west-interview/

https://www.musical-u.com/learn/about-overwhelm-in-music/
We doubt there’s a musician alive who hasn’t felt overwhelmed at some point in their musical journey.

In this episode, we share the three biggest causes of musical overwhelm, and how to combat them.

Level up your musical confidence.

https://www.musical-u.com/learn/about-overwhelm-in-music/

https://www.musical-u.com/learn/ear-training-qa-your-questions-answered/
Our members are always welcome to ask for help with their practice, whether as part of our courses or in our community forums.

Here are just some of the questions we’ve had.

Do any of their problems seem familiar?

https://www.musical-u.com/learn/ear-training-qa-your-questions-answered/

https://www.musical-u.com/learn/about-taking-a-long-term-mindset/
Want to be as effective as possible in your musical life?

David Andrew Wiebe from Music Entrepreneur HQ discusses the importance of approaching your musical journey with a long-term mindset, and how this sets you up for success and growth.

https://www.musical-u.com/learn/about-taking-a-long-term-mindset/

https://www.musical-u.com/learn/im-not-tone-deaf-so-why-cant-i-sing/
I’m not tone deaf – so why can’t I sing?

There are many aspects to having a “nice” singing voice, but the first thing to figure out is whether you have problems with pitch and tuning.

If you haven’t already, take a tone deafness test to ensure your ears are capable of letting you sing in tune.

Once you know your ears can judge pitch well, you can now use them to evaluate your own voice.

Find out how in the article below:
https://www.musical-u.com/learn/im-not-tone-deaf-so-why-cant-i-sing/

https://www.musical-u.com/learn/about-taking-it-step-by-step/
Struggling to learn that new song? 😩🎼

You may be tackling too much at once.

In this episode, the Musical U team discusses the importance of taking it step by step in music.

Learn how to break your practice down into “chunks” and master that difficult piece.

https://www.musical-u.com/learn/about-taking-it-step-by-step/

https://www.musical-u.com/learn/dont-die-music-still-inside-unstagnate/
Have you ever felt like you’re stuck in a rut in music?

Like the progress and momentum you once had have now stalled?

Have you worried that maybe you just don’t have what it takes to reach the levels of musicality you’ve dreamed of?

Our founder Christopher Sutton was invited to the Unstagnate podcast to share how he helps members at Musical U to break free of their ruts in music learning and discover practical ways to unleash the untapped potential that lies within them.

https://www.musical-u.com/learn/dont-die-music-still-inside-unstagnate/

https://www.musical-u.com/learn/why-do-unison-and-octave-intervals-sound-the-same/
Why do unison and octave intervals sound the same?

Harmonic unison and octave intervals are difficult to distinguish.

It can be frustrating when taking a quiz, but it does reflect a real musical challenge.

Find out why in the article below:
https://www.musical-u.com/learn/why-do-unison-and-octave-intervals-sound-the-same/

https://www.musical-u.com/learn/how-do-you-hear-the-difference-between-bass-line-and-melody/
How do you hear the difference between bass line and melody?

This is the kind of question which might seem trivial but can actually be quite challenging. So if you’re not sure if you can do it: don’t be embarrassed!

There are however some tips and tricks you can use, and several different ways you can train your ear to distinguish bass line from melody.

Here are some we’d suggest:

https://www.musical-u.com/learn/how-do-you-hear-the-difference-between-bass-line-and-melody/

https://www.musical-u.com/learn/whats-the-point-of-scale-ear-training/
What’s the point of scale ear training?

Scales are a highly unpopular topic with most instrument learners, and this tends to have a knock-on impact on ear training, so that scale ear training is neglected.

This is highly unfortunate, as scale degree ear training is one of the best ways to develop your relative pitch and truly understand the musical role of each note you play.

Find out more about scale ear training in the article below:

https://www.musical-u.com/learn/whats-the-point-of-scale-ear-training/