Musicianship Mastery with David Lane
Do you want to be a great musician? A well-rounded musician? Maybe you’re already a good musician, and you want to take that next step. To do that, you need to be able to sight-read well, play by ear, compose or improvise, understand the art of practice, and be versatile in many other ways. Musicianship Mastery (formerly known as The Musician Toolkit) explores these tools, how to improve them, and how you can apply them to a variety of gigs and musical careers whether you’re a professional musician or a committed artist who makes your income outside of music. Join us on a quest to improve your musicianship and to make you the most well-rounded musician you can be!
Episodes
My students often ask: How do I organize my practice in a way to cover everything each week?
This is a great question, and an important one to answer. If you don't organize your practice and just leave everything up to your mood, you're going to be neglecting something important. In this episode, you can hear about the 7 components of practice (including the 3 core components) and how to plan them into your practice.
Musicianshi...
Every musician knows that daily practice is essential to progress. But what if you're not practicing often enough because you've never developed the habit of practicing daily? This episode will help you develop this most important habit for any musician!
Musicianship Mastery is formerly known as The Musician Toolkit.
Let me know your thoughts on this episode as a voice message to possibly share on a future episode at https://www.sp...
Showing up regularly and putting in the work is important, but your "reps" aren't enough on their own. Listen to this episode to help you evaluate and improve the quality of your practice.
Musicianship Mastery is formerly known as The Musician Toolkit.
Let me know your thoughts on this episode as a voice message to possibly share on a future episode at https://www.speakpipe.com/MusicianToolkit
Igor Stravinsky regularly gets mentioned among the 20th century's greatest composers. Anatoly Lyadov requires some digging to find much of his music. The story that links the composers Lyadov and Stravinsky is one of several great examples of opportunity, and how you can either be ready for it or not. This episode explores their story along with a few others to learn how to be prepared for when your opportunity strikes.
Musician...
This episode focuses on pianists but applies to all instrumentalists. We explore what technique actually is and isn't, and a practical way to get better at it. My guest, Dr. Christopher Madden, is co-author along with Jani Parsons of "Technique Through Repertoire" vol. 1 and 2 for intermediate pianists.
Musicianship Mastery is formerly known as The Musician Toolkit.
Let me know your thoughts on this episode as a voice message to ...
A very handy skill for any musician to develop is the ability to look at written sheet music and "hear" what it sounds like in your head. It's a skill that takes time, but this episode will outline all the steps you can take to develop this ability.
Musicianship Mastery is formerly known as The Musician Toolkit.
Let me know your thoughts on this episode as a voice message to possibly share on a future episode at https://www.speakp...
One of the biggest things that musicians do in all levels, but especially professionals, is say "yes" way too much. There's a time to say "yes" a lot, and I describe that in this episode. However, being strategic and limited with your "yes" while saying "no" to everything else is what allows for growth and focus. In this episode, you can learn of 8 things that happen when you say "no".
Musicianship Mastery is formerly known as T...
If you're a professional musician, it can be hard to separate the idea that there's this part of your schedule where you make music just for YOU. It might be music you're composing, or an ambitious piece you're learning to play. You might make your income as a musician and you might have a career that has nothing to do with music. Regardless, you can and should take time to explore music without any regard to its commercial bene...
Analytical Listening is one of the most important skills for any musician. Take it to the next level by implementing any 1 of these 5 advanced projects while listening to just one piece of music.
Other Episodes mentioned:
20 Questions to Help You Get More Out of Listening
Scales, Modes, and How to Use Them
Musicianship Mastery is formerly known as The Musician Toolkit.
Let me know your thoughts on this episode as a voice message to...
If you think you're practicing well but still not making progress in your musical skill, here are 10 possible reasons and their solutions.
Musicianship Mastery is formerly known as The Musician Toolkit.
Let me know your thoughts on this episode as a voice message to possibly share on a future episode at https://www.speakpipe.com/MusicianToolkit
If you enjoyed this, please give it a rating and review on the podcast app of your choic...
This episode is a broad conversation between friends, but centers around the topics of finding joy in your growth as a musician, time management, practice and mindset, as well as what it means to be a human artist in the digital age. We also have some talk for those getting started with teaching.
Eric Branner is the CEO of Fons, a platform for music teachers I regularly have listed at the bottom of my show notes. Follow the Fons ...
What is musicianship? Specifically, what does it mean when we say someone has "good musicianship"? This episode explores the question while reviewing all of the musicianship tools that inspired this podcast in the first place.
Musicianship Mastery is formerly known as The Musician Toolkit.
Let me know your thoughts on this episode as a voice message to possibly share on a future episode at https://www.speakpipe.com/MusicianToolkit
With so many ways to express yourself as a musician, it can be hard to know how to get started. If you'd like to become a working musician, either part-time or full-time, this episode goes over some of your options and presents a strategy for how to build your musical life.
Musicianship Mastery is formerly known as The Musician Toolkit.
Let me know your thoughts on this episode as a voice message to possibly share on a future epis...
Practicing well is hard to do every day just because of the mental focus and discipline it requires. How much more difficult is it when you add a physical challenge like chronic pain or other illness? Jastin Artis was diagnosed with fibromyalgia in 2019, and had to learn how to function before he could eventually thrive. He shares here his tactics and mindset for moving forward despite not having a body that wants to cooperate.
4 episodes prior to this episode, I talked about creating a 5-year plan as a musician. Although we touched on how to take that backwards into shorter-term goals, this is a follow-up to focus on exactly how to think backwards so that you can build your staircase of musical goals that starts with the very first step: today!
Featured episode mentioned: https://www.davidlanemusic.com/toolkit/episode/757e74ca/whats-your-5-year-plan-as-...
This is a topic that many of my piano teacher colleagues might disagree. Some teachers believe that mastering technique is a prerequisite for playing any level of repertoire. I have a different opinion about the importance or at least the prioritization of technique, and explain why in this episode.
Musicianship Mastery is formerly known as The Musician Toolkit.
Let me know your thoughts on this episode as a voice message to poss...
Composing music is something that you can practice and improve in the same way you can with your instrument. In this episode, Dr. Tony Steve and I chat about music composition as a craft, the idea of compositional templates, the importance of limitations, mastering idioms, counterpoint, and how you can use exercises to improve.
Follow Tony at https://www.facebook.com/tonystevepercussionist
Musicianship Mastery is formerly known as...
Good practice isn't aimless, but involves a plan. This episode talks about how you can analyze your music before you begin practicing so that you can be most efficient in your learning.
Musicianship Mastery is formerly known as The Musician Toolkit.
Let me know your thoughts on this episode as a voice message to possibly share on a future episode at https://www.speakpipe.com/MusicianToolkit
We've recently discussed the importance of quarterly goals, but are those goals feeding into a longer term vision? How do you see yourself as a musician in 5 years, and how do you get there from here? This episode offers some prompts to help build your long term musical goals, and how this connects to your shorter term goals.
Episode mentioned: https://www.davidlanemusic.com/toolkit/episode/7300027b/what-i-got-wrong-about-quarterl...
For more than 30 years, Doug Minerd has found a place to use and further develop his skills in composing and arranging, lead rehearsals, and unlike a lot of similar musicians...engage with a wide variety of people in collaboration. He's done this while working up to the executive office at places like Cedar Point, Busch Gardens, Sesame Place, and Sea World. He also has had his compositions performed in Dollywood, Silver Dollar Ci...
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