243: Q&A: If playing music is like speaking a language - what about harmony?

Scales... Most music learners think scales are just an exercise you've got to do as part of learning your instrument. But did you know there's actually a whole area of ear training dedicated to scales?   In fact there are two! In this clip from the archive of live member Q&A calls at Musical U we talk about these two types of scale ear training and how each can help you.   If you want to get more out of scales and ear training, don’t miss this episode.     Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube   Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 245   Links and Resources • How to Make Scales Less Boring • Musicality Now - Music Theory You’ll Love to Learn, with Glory St. Germain • Musicality Now - About the Power of Solfa • Musicality Now - About Scales and their Flavors • Musicality Now - How to Improvise For Real, with David Reed         Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it! Click here to rate and review

Do you sometimes get the notes wrong when you sing?   At Musical U we strongly encourage every music learner to sing because of the huge positive impact it has on your musicality - but what if you find you just can't get the notes right? Here's a clip from the archive of live member Q&A calls at Musical U where we talk about just that.   Enjoy!     Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube   Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 244   Links and Resources • How to Learn to Sing in Tune • Musicality Now - Finding the Notes Yourself, with Sara Campbell • Musicality Now - About Singing as a Tool • Musicality Now - How to Sing Smarter, with Meghan Nixon • Musicality Now - Singing that Sounds Good – and Beyond, with Davin Youngs • Musicality Now - All Things Vocal, with Judy Rodman • Musicality Now - The Instrument Inside You, with Ben Parry • Musicality Now - What Your Voice Can Do, with Jeremy Fisher • Musicality Now - Find and Make Peace with Your Voice, with Nikki Loney • Musicality Now - About the Power of Solfa         Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it! Click here to rate and review

If playing music is like speaking a language, how should we think about harmony, or playing two hands on piano?   We answer that question in this clip from the archive of live member Q&A calls at Musical U. Enjoy!     Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube   Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 243   Links and Resources • Musicality Now - About the I, IV, V and vi Chords • Musicality Now - Choose Your Words Carefully, with Glory St. Germain (Ultimate Music Theory) • Musicality Now - In Perfect Swinging Harmony, with The Quebe Sisters • Introduction to Chord Progressions • What can you already play by ear? Harmony & Rhythm? • How To Sing Harmony Like A Pro         Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it! Click here to rate and review

Did you know that wearing good headphones is one of the easiest ways to improve your ear training? Why is that - and what exactly makes a pair of headphones "good"?   Learn how to choose the right headphones to level up your ears in this clip from the archive of live member Q&A calls at Musical U. Enjoy!     Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube   Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 242   Links and Resources • Musicality Now - About the Ear Training Trap • Musicality Now - About Active Listening • Musicality Now - About Listening as the Route to Musicality • Musicality Now - What Is Ear Training? (and why does it normally fail?) • Wired For Sound Part 4: Headphones • What are the best headphones for ear training?           Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it! Click here to rate and review

Audiation is one of the most powerful ways to develop your musicality - but what if you find you really struggle with it? In this clip from the archive of live member Q&A calls at Musical U we share some practical tips to help you audiate. Enjoy!   Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube   Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 241   Links and Resources • Musicality Now - About Audiation • Musicality Now - Audiation and Thinking Music, with Cynthia Crump Taggart • Musicality Now - How to “Hear Like A Musician” • The Secret Music Practice Skill: Audiation     Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it! Click here to rate and review

Have you ever felt like you were guessing the answers while working on ear training? Believe it or not, that may not be a bad thing! Find out why in this clip from the archive of live member Q&A calls at Musical U - stay tuned!     Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube   Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 240   Links and Resources • Musicality Now - What Is Ear Training? (and why does it normally fail?) • Musicality Now - Boosting Musical Brainpower, with Josh Turknett (Brainjo) • Musicality Now - Intervals Versus Solfa: Which Is Best? • The Ultimate Guide to Interval Ear Training • Musicality Now - About the Ear Training Trap         Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it! Click here to rate and review

We’re joined by Dylan Hart, one of the top French Horn players in Hollywood today. He has played on many well-known soundtracks including Moana, Frozen, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Baywatch, The Good Place, and Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.   You’re about to hear Dylan’s unlikely journey to becoming a highly-successful session player, concert performer, and French horn teacher.    In this conversation Dylan shares:   • The importance of “getting out of your own way” when playing - and how to do that. • His unexpected advice on how to sight read at the extremely high level required of session players. • Why we must look for the root cause of problems rather than just treating symptoms - and how that applies to practicing off your instrument, sight-reading, and performing at your best under pressure.   In everything he does and teaches, Dylan has a focus on the inner instinct for music and a deep connection with your instrument. You’re going to love this conversation packed with thought-provoking ideas.     Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube   Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 239   Links and Resources • Dylan Skye Hart Online • Annie Bosler Online • Norman Doidge - The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science • Daniel Coyle - The Talent Code • Daniel Coyle - The Little Book of Talent: 52 Tips for Improving Your Skills • Dr. Bob Rotella - Golf Is Not A Game Of Perfect • Sam Pilafian and Patrick Sheridan - The Breathing Gym • Sam Pilafian and Patrick Sheridan - The Brass Gym: A Comprehensive Daily Workout for Brass Players • Jaume Rosset Llobet - A tono: Ejercicios para mejorar el rendimiento del músico • Alexander Technique • California State University Long Beach • Musicality Now - How The Best Play Their Best, with Annie Bosler • Musicality Now - Your Peak Performance Toolkit, with Mark Morley-Fletcher (Play In The Zone) • Musicality Now - The Keys to Performance Success, with Dr. Don Greene (Winning On Stage)         Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it! Click here to rate and review

We are excited to bring you another inspiring edition of Pathways. In this special series of episodes you’ll hear the stories of music-learners just like you, reaching out and lending each other a hand on our musical journeys. We’re speaking with Oli Fuhrmann, a swing dancer and swing dance teacher from Berlin, Germany.   Oli started learning piano and trombone in the last three years to play the music he loves to dance to. He’s eager to try new things and happy to risk failure. You’ll hear how his attitude has really payed off for his music learning and the richness of his musical life.   In this conversation Oli shares:   • Why it was easy for him to start joining jam sessions despite being only a beginner-to-intermediate player - and a few specific tips for how you can make it easy for yourself. • How learning trombone was relatively simple after piano, and why he realised the importance of a good musical ear. • How he discovered the power of community support as part of his online learning.   Enjoy this episode and be inspired to be more bold and risk new endeavours in your own musical journey.     Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube   Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 238   Links and Resources • Swingstep Online Courses • Mad Oli Facebook • Oliver Fuhrmann Facebook • Mad Oli Instagram • Musicality Now - Pathways: Nick Cheetham • Musicality Now - Pathways: Sharilynn Horhota • Musicality Now - The Truth About Talent, with Professor Anders Ericsson       Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it! Click here to rate and review

Have you been feeling stuck on something challenging in music? A section of a piece, a specific technique, an overall plateau, or maybe practice goes fine but then everything falls apart in live performance.   Have you felt like you just don’t have enough time for learning your instrument and learning new music? Maybe you feel like you’re putting in the time and effort but just don’t seem to be getting much payoff in terms of results.   Have you been frustrated by struggling to memorise things, or finding the things you did work hard to memorise slip away over time?   Or maybe it feels like whatever you try, you’re just spinning in circles, or tripping yourself up, so that you never quite make solid progress towards your musical goals - like there’s something continually sabotaging you - and it might just be all in your head.   If you’ve felt one or more of these frustrations in your musical life you are certainly not alone. And believe it or not, there’s a single solution which can quickly eliminate all of these challenges.   It’s time to re-learn what it means to “learn music”. It’s time to discover the techniques of musical superlearning.   What does that mean, exactly? That’s what we’re talking about in this special episode with Christopher and Andrew from the Musical U team: what does “musical superlearning” look like in practice, and is it right for you?       Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube   Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 237   Links and Resources • Musical Superlearning • Practice Q&A [1/5] How To Find More Music Practice Time, with Gregg Goodhart • Practice Q&A [2/5] How To Get Maximum Results In Minimum Time, with Gregg Goodhart • Practice Q&A [3/5] How To Conquer Tricky Sections And Break Through Plateaus, with Gregg Goodhart • Practice Q&A [4/5] How To Stay Consistent - Without Discipline, with Gregg Goodhart • Practice Q&A [5/5] How To Spend Practice Time And Prevent Overwhelm, with Gregg Goodhart     Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it! Click here to rate and review

Feeling overwhelmed by all the information about what to practice?   This is the fifth and last in a special series of episodes on how to tackle the biggest sticking points in your music learning. We recently surveyed our audience to learn about their experiences with music practice. The results were astounding! Across several hundred responses, we found a handful of really common and painfully frustrating practice issues – including, “How can I know what to practice?”   To answer these big burning questions, we invited Gregg Goodhart, The Learning Coach, back on the show. Gregg is a leading expert on how to apply all of the latest scientific research and understanding of how the brain learns to skill acquisition, including in music.   Learn what to focus your music practice on in this episode.   Subscribe For Future Episodes! Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | RSS | YouTube   Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 236   Links and Resources • Learn Music Faster • Gregg Goodhart – Learning Coach • What is a Practiclass? Sax, cello, guitar, The Learn Like A Genius Institute • Learn Like A Genius – Piano Practiclass (Full), Houston, TX with Gregg Goodhart • Musicality Now - How to Learn Like a Genius, with Gregg Goodhart • Musicality Now - The Truth About Talent, with Professor Anders Ericsson • Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi - Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience • Carol S. Dweck - Mindset: The New Psychology of Success • Barry J. Zimmerman - Dart Throwing Study         Enjoying the show? Please consider rating and reviewing it! Click here to rate and review