Musicality Now

Musical U welcomes back Steve Nixon of FreeJazzLessons.com  to discuss the art of playing in multiple genres, and the skills and knowledge that will help you shine in jazz, rock, pop, classical, and country music alike.   Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube   Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 117   Links and Resources •  The Rhythm of Success, w...

Today we're joined by Anne Mileski of Anacrusic.com and The Anacrusic Podcast. Anne is trained in several of the musicianship approaches we've covered here on the show before, including Kodály, Orff, Dalcroze and Music Learning Theory, and her mission is to make music teaching as purposeful, sequential, and joyful as possible for music teachers everywhere. Anne really stands out as someone who dra...

The Musical U team discusses the importance of taking it step by step in music - and breaking your practice down into "chunks" that make sense for you.   Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube   Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 115   Links and Resources •  Unlocking Your Musicality: Part One •  Unlocking Your Musicality: Part Two • About the Messa...

Today we're joined by Jeff Schneider, award-winning composer and music educator whose YouTube videos for saxophone and piano, online courses, and blog and email lessons are helping musicians around the world to wrap their head around everything from equipment to technique to music theory and listening skills.   In this conversation we cover a ton of interesting topics, including sight-reading, imp...

The Musical U team discusses the messages contained in music, inspiring your listener to feel something, and finding something you want to express through your instrument.   Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube   Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 113   Links and Resources •  Unlocking Your Musicality: Part One •  Unlocking Your Musicality: Part T...

Today we're talking with Josh Plotner, a man who plays seemingly pretty much every woodwind instrument, from saxophones to flutes to recorders to clarinets - and a ton of world instruments you may never have heard of. Josh works on Broadway and also provides recording and arranging services both in person and online, drawing on his amazingly broad wind skills. And he came across our radar because...

The Musical U team tackles the topic of active and deliberate listening, and the benefits it brings to your musicality.   Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube   Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 111   Links and Resources •  Unlocking Your Musicality: Part One •  Unlocking Your Musicality: Part Two • About Active Listening • About Learning Faster...

Today we're joined by Marc Gelfo, a self-described "Neuro-symphonic Hornist" who has played French Horn in some of the top symphony orchestras and is the creator of the Modacity app which helps you practice music more effectively and enjoyably.   When we first came across the Modacity app, we were impressed. But quite often the research and literature around music practice seems to end up being qu...

The Musical U team gets together to talk about the importance of having fun on your musical journey, and how it ties in with creativity, satisfaction, and achievement.    Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube   Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 109   Links and Resources •  Unlocking Your Musicality: Part One •  Unlocking Your Musicality: Part Two...

Today we're talking with David Barrett, one of the world's leading harmonica teachers and experts in blues music. David is the author of over 70 music education books including Mel Bay's main harmonica tutor books, he is the founder of bluesharmonica.com, the leading online training provider for learning blues harmonica, and he has also somehow found the time to found and run the world's only musi...

The Musical U team discusses the practice of exploring and pushing the boundaries of your musicality without self-judgement - and the wonderful breakthroughs it can lead to.   Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube   Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 107   Links and Resources •  Unlocking Your Musicality: Part One •  Unlocking Your Musicality: Part...

Today on the show we're joined by a musician, music teacher, entrepreneur, author, online summit host, small business coach, podcaster and band director. Which might sound like we have a crowd of guests assembled, but in fact these are all one person: Elisa Janson-Jones.   Elisa is the host of the Music Ed Mentor podcast, organiser of the International Music Education Summit and author of "The Mus...

In this roundtable-discussion episode, the members of the Musical U team discuss the idea that everyone is already musical inside - all it takes is equipping yourself with the tools and mindset to unlock this musicality.   Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube   Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 105   Links and Resources •  Unlocking Your Musicali...

One of the main skills we teach at Musical U is the ability to recognise chords by ear in music. This is a really cool skill to have, whether you play chords yourself, like on guitar or piano, or you want to improvise over them, like on sax or trumpet, or you're a songwriter or composer, or even just music fan who wants to better understand the harmonies in the music you love.   The approach we te...

In this roundtable-discussion episode, the members of the Musical U team discuss the idea of "keeping it simple", with anecdotes from their musical lives to illustrate the benefits of this mindset.   Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube   Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 103   Links and Resources •  Unlocking Your Musicality: Part One •  Unlocki...

We always love when we have a guest on the show is hugely passionate about their subject of expertise, and we think that goes double when the subject is music theory. Because it's a subject that can be so wonderful - but is so often taught in a dry, boring way, much like the ear training that we focus a lot on at Musical U. So when we discover a music theory educator who can bring it to life and m...

Welcome back to this special pair of episodes celebrating hitting the 100 mark of the Musicality Podcast! If you haven't already heard Episode 100 then make sure you go back and listen to it too because both that one and this one are jam-packed with incredible insights from over two-dozen expert guests, answering the question: "What's one thing you've learned that could help musicians to tap into...

Welcome to episode 100 of the Musicality Podcast! It is hard to believe - but we have reached Episode 100 of the podcast! It's been just about a year since we launched the show and it has been an absolute blast. We knew it would be fun to connect with interesting people and talk about musicality, but we had no idea just how incredible it would be. We've been blown away by the amazing people who've...

In this episode, we tackle the seemingly intimidating topic of writing your own music, and give you tips on how you can share it with the world.   Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube   Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 099   Links and Resources •  Interview with Todd McCarty • Heat on the Street • Approaching Improvisation module preview • Podca...

Today we're joined by Todd McCarty of the Heat On The Street blog where he shares insider insights on the music industry and how to find fans for your music.   You might be wondering why we're discussing music industry stuff here on the Musicality Podcast, where we normally focus on the music side rather than the business side of being a musician. Well, we're not suddenly making a shift to focus e...

In this episode, we discuss the value of using your voice as a training tool to hone your instrumental skills - and how your voice is closely tied to rhythm, phrasing, and storytelling in music.   Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube   Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 097   Links and Resources •  About Singing as a Tool • Learning to Sing in Tun...

Today on the show we're excited to be joined by one of London's leading cabaret performers, Fiona-Jane Weston. Fiona-Jane has created and performed several highly-acclaimed cabaret shows in the UK and internationally, including "Wartime Women", about the roles women have historically played in warfare and "Looking For Lansbury", celebrating the life, heritage and career of actress Angela Lansbury....

Have you ever felt confused by musical modes? In this episode, we discuss how you can understand these fascinating scales through active listening and a simple yet eye-opening exercise.   Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube   Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 095   Links and Resources •  The Many Moods of Musical Modes • Interview with Marshall...

Today we have the distinct pleasure to talk with someone who we think it's fair to say is one of the top jazz musicians in the world today and who has played with and learned from some of the true masters: Marshall McDonald, who has been playing for 20 years with the legendary Count Basie Orchestra, and currently plays lead alto sax in that band. He's also performed in the Duke Ellington Orchestra...

In the second instalment of our series on frequencies in music, we discuss the two major reasons why frequencies matter, and how sound can be understood, defined, and manipulated in terms of its frequencies.   Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube   Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 093   Links and Resources •  About Frequencies in Music, Part One...