Practice Like a Pro part 5 – Performative Practice
This is the final article in my series on holistic musical practice, set out in the framework I like to call MoPToP. We looked at mental practice, the in depth process of thinking about the type of musician you want…
Practice Like a Pro part 4: Technical Practice
Now we get to what most people think of when they think of practice, also the part you’re most likely to associate with unpleasant and uncreative chores. But this is where you assemble the toolkit that will enable you to…
Practice Like a Pro part 3: Physical Practice
Continuing the series of articles on holistic practice habits for musicians, last time we looked at mental practice – figuring out the kind of musician you want to be and what you need to do about it and organising your…
Practice Like a Pro part 2: Mental Practice
Part two in a series of articles on personal musical practice, last time I gave an overview of my MoPToP framework describing what I see as the four main aspects of developing as a musician: Mental, Physical, Technical and Performative….
Practice Like a Pro part 1: Overview
How often do you practice at your instrument? This is a dreaded question among musicians at all levels, conjuring as it does visions of stern authority figures standing over sweating adolescents while they struggle with scales, arpeggios and formal studies…
What makes a relatable track?
Since I joined the moderating team at Fresh On The Net, a few people have asked me what makes us choose one song over another when the overall standard of submissions is so high. It’s a subjective question without a…
Demystifying Staff Notation Part One: Pitch
To the uninitiated, classical music notation looks beautiful and terrifying, filled with bizarre looping symbols, black dots scattered around lines like footprints and numbers and fragments of text in strange languages peppered all around. Many people have confused memories of…
Notes From The Total Perspective Vortex – Finding Your Way In The Big, Big World Of Music
”For when you are put into the Vortex you are given just one momentary glimpse of the entire unimaginable infinity of creation, and somewhere in it a tiny little marker, a microscopic dot on a microscopic dot, which says “You…
Among Musicians There Are No Divisions
This story concerns Roddy, a fantastic fiddler and folk musician hailing from Glasgow, Scotland, who I met on the Leeds music scene. To give a little backstory for those who don’t know, the city of Glasgow has a history of…
Music’s Worst Motivational Techniques (that worked)
Musicians can be an unruly bunch, so producers, bandleaders and managers need some way of knocking them into a high performing unit. But what to do when an employee of the month award, a paintballing trip and a bunch of…