Musicality Now

Today we're joined by Bradley Sowash, an educator specialising in creativity and improvisation who we've long admired in the world of online music education.   Bradley is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, recording artist and educator. He's the author of That's Jazz , a nine-volume jazz piano method and is also known for his live online group jazz piano classes. He runs 88 Creative Keys along wit...

Music theory is one of the most mystifying and confusing topics for many musicians. But, does it have to be this way?   Today, we'll be discussing music theory and some mindset shifts you can take to open up the world of theory to your mind and ears. And make it a more accessible and enjoyable experience.   Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube   Full S...

Today on the show we're talking with Michele McLaughlin, a contemporary solo pianist who has recorded 18 albums - roughly one each year since starting to release her music in the year 2000. She is one of the most popular solo pianists on Spotify and was recently interviewed in Rolling Stone magazine.   Her music may sometimes get classified as "new age". However, as you'll hear in this conversatio...

Everything's going great, the music's flowing through you, the audience is enthralled, and then argh! - You play a wrong note!   What do you do in that moment? How do you handle the mistake with grace and recover in the best possible way?   In this episode we share two mindset tips and two practical tips for that, both in a performance situation - and in the bigger picture of your overall musical...

Today on the show we have the pleasure of talking with Michael Compitello, a celebrated percussionist, composer and educator. It was Michael's innovative projects "New Morse Code" and "Unsnared Drum" which first caught our attention - but as we learned more about him we realised the biggest opportunity to help you guys with this conversation was actually to pick his brains on music learning and pr...

Aiming for perfection is admirable - perfection is wonderful! But is music ever really perfect?   Is it possible that aiming for perfect is actually holding you back from your true potential as a musician?   In this episode we're going to explain the two meanings of the word "perfect" - and why focusing on playing the "right notes" might actually be a mistake. Stay tuned!     Subscribe For Future...

Today on the show we have the honour and the pleasure of sitting down with Paul Wertico. If you're at all familiar with the all-time great drummers of the world or you're a jazz fan then you'll know his name and his work.   Paul is a 7-time Grammy Award winner, perhaps best known for his almost 20 years playing with jazz guitarist Pat Metheny where his distinctive "flat ride" cymbal style became a...

Imagine a new musical future, where you can approach your music with ease and joy.   What you're about to hear is the third of three live sessions we did this week talking all about ease and joy. And how having more ease and joy in your music learning can be the fastest route to results.   Hopefully you've already heard parts one and two , or you were with us live. If not go back and listen. And i...

Is there a big mental barrier that might be holding you back from ease and joy in learning music?   What you're about to hear in this episode is the recording of a Facebook live session we did this week. We explained a bit more in yesterday's episode of the podcast. If you didn't hear that one yet, we do recommend listening to that one first, and we're talking all about ease and joy in music learn...

Today, we've got something a bit different for you. Now, hopefully you are on our email list so you already know all about this, but in case not, this week to mark reopening the Foundations of a Musical Mind course , we are hosting three live sessions on Facebook talking about ease and joy in music learning. So how to make your music learning easier, how to make it more joyful and particularly how...

Have you wondered if you have an instinct for music, or worried that you don't?   What if all the seemingly-natural skills of music like playing by ear, improvising, singing in tune, collaborating with others - could be yours.   Not by learning them but by simply connecting with a natural musician that's already inside you?   In this episode we explain how you can know whether you have an "inner n...

Today we're joined on the show by Mark Cawley, a hit U.S. songwriter whose songs have been hits for artists like Tina Turner, Joe Cocker, Diana Ross and even The Spice Girls.   With over 16 million records to his name, Mark now provides online coaching to songwriters at all stages through his website iDoCoach.com , and has recently released a book, Song Journey , which is a treasure trove of advic...

Do you want to become a more confident and capable singer? The Musical U team rewinds to past guest experts as we explore singing.     Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube   Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 180   Links and Resources • What Your Voice Can Do, with Jeremy Fisher • All Things Vocal, with Judy Rodman • Christian D. Larson - "Promise...

Today on the show we're joined by Sarah Jeffery, host of "Team Recorder", the top YouTube channel for recorder players, with over 40,000 subscribers.   Sarah creates wonderful tutorial videos there and although her target viewer is the adult recorder player, so much of what she teaches is rich in musicality and relevant across instruments that we were really eager to invite her onto the show.   Sa...

Have you found yourself losing enthusiasm for music practice? It might sound surprising, but whatever instrument you play, it's possible that the musical role played by *bassists* actually gives them a unique insight into how to keep practice interesting and effective...   In this episode I'm going to share three big lessons from three of the world's top bass educators. Stay tuned!     Subscribe F...

You are tuned in to the very first episode under our new name - formerly The Musicality Podcast, this show is now called simply "Musicality Now" which we think better captures the spirit and variety of the show and where we'll be taking it in the future.   When we made the switch to video back in January we were delighted to have our first interview be with Sabrina Peña Young, someone we know well...

Hello and welcome back for part two of this special on active listening and how to hear like a musician. We're joined by Andrew Bishko from the Musical U team.   In part one we tackled the "what": What is active listening? What does it mean to have a musician's ear? And in this part we're going to follow that up, assuming you're already super excited to know about active listening by talking about...

Have you ever wondered whether trained musicians simply hear music in a different way to you? Well, it turns out they do. And in this episode we're joined with Andrew Bishko, to talk about what exactly that means, and how it can help you. Stay tuned!   Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube   Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 175   Links and Resour...

We have come to the end of Beatles Month here at Musical U and in this final episode I'm going to recap the major learning points from each of our expert guests and share the major running theme that seemed to be at the center of the Beatles' phenomenal story - and what you can learn from that. Stay tuned!     Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube   Ful...

Welcome back to Beatles Month!   Today we have the distinct pleasure of talking with not one but four Beatles experts! Mike Muratore, Frank Muratore, John Auker and Patrick Gannon, the members of Hard Day's Night.   Hard Day's Night is rated among the top national Beatles tribute groups performing today, a full catalogue touring Beatles Tribute act focusing on performing songs exactly as the Beatl...

Welcome back to Beatles Month!   We're joined today by Kenneth Womack, author of a two-volume biography of George Martin: the label head and record producer who worked with The Beatles from the beginning of their recording career and was so instrumental to their success that he is often referred to as "The Fifth Beatle".   Ken's two books were amazing to read and tell a familiar story from a persp...

Welcome back to Beatles Month!   Today we're talking with Aaron Krerowicz, the one and only full-time Beatles scholar who focuses specifically on the music of The Beatles. Meaning he dives deep into the lyrics, the chords, the notes used in melodies - all the stuff that musicians are perhaps most hungry to hear about but is quite rarely discussed in such a dedicated way. This was a super cool conv...

Welcome back to Beatles Month!   Today we're talking with a Beatles expert who also happens to be a member of Musical U. As a Professor of Communications at Clarion University , Scott is trained in the study of semiotics: the meaning within media such as pop music.   And he's taken this lens of analysis to the music of the Beatles and specifically in the "Beatlemania" years of the early sixties wh...

Welcome back to Beatles Month!   Today we're joined by Matt Blick, who is the man behind the Beatles Songwriting Academy , a website dedicated to analyzing every single Beatles song to learn what makes them tick.   Since founding the site in 2009 Matt has written over 500 detailed posts on what he's learned from studying the songs of the Beatles - and he's written over 300 songs himself.   You see...

Welcome back to Beatles Month!   Today we're talking with Scott Freiman, the creator of Deconstructing the Beatles , a series of uniquely revealing multimedia presentations about the composition and production techniques of the Beatles. Scott has spoken about the Beatles to sold-out audiences, on college campuses and for companies around the USA. He skillfully draws on original multitrack recordin...