Two Reason Why The Concept of the Soloist is Dead or Dying and How It's Your Turn To Excel

No, you are not an island. You are not alone, adrift at sea hoping for a passing boat to spare some company. The musician's path is all about who you know, but more importantly, having the skills to meet the people in the know. In podcast episode four with Liam Smith, we chatted about what it means to be a musician, and the big take away is that no matter what your reason is for pursuing music, it is never just about yourself, because despite the myth of the soloist, the purpose of doing music is all about the people that you play with and model yourself after.

The First Reason: The Myth of the Soloist

The soloist is a rare creature. Born from the near mythical combination of elements such as dedication, artistry, and insanity, the soloist emerges from nothing. Historically, the soloist was the musician prized for his or her extraordinary skill, often mistaken for talent.

The concept of talent is where this myth begins. I have yet to meet a person born of talent; a person born with a natural gift for music. I have met a great number of musicians that people would call talented, but under careful investigation there is really only one element that sets this person apart as a gifted individual. That element is time. A focused time dedicated to studying their craft, either by guided hand, or self interest.

To be able to dedicate oneself to mastering musical skills, one needs to put a great deal of time into speaking the language of music. To gain the skills necessary to become a soloist, one would have to sacrifice a great deal of socialization, and sometimes self care to free up the hours needed to develop and hone a skill.

The word talent, in my opinion, was invented and used as a tool for exclusivity. If you are told that you do not have the natural talent needed to pursue your passions, you do not pour the time into developing your skills. I do not see the evolutionary advantage of being amazing at playing the viola. In actuality, the argument can be made that so much must be sacrificed to be able to put the time into becoming a master of the viola that it is counter evolutionary. If you replace the definition of talent from natural ability, to that of possessing the drive and guidance to master a set of skills, we can start opening the doors to the exclusive club that is music.

So the myth of the soloist needs to be debunked in our society. Anyone with drive and passion has the capacity for developing the heightened skills once associated with the soloist. To understand that to be a skilled musician simply takes time, dedication, inspiration and passion the exclusive club known as the soloist no longer can sustainably exist.

The Second Reason: The Old Ways Have Given Way

With the advent of the Internet, small communities have become part of a global network. The soloist came to be at a time where in small communities, there were only a handful of individuals with the passion and dedication to become hyper skilled. This created the big fish in the small pond syndrome. Not everyone had that spark, the inspiration, the dedication, or the financial ability to support a life dedicated to practice. Soloists often came from the upper middle to elite class of people that could support the lifestyle. Of course we have heard the Cinderella stories of some musicians coming from extreme poverty and being elevated in status due to their talent, but I have been hard pressed to find a true Cinderella story. Prince charming isn't coming to impart a musical gift to lift you out of your situation. Only dedication to the skill will do that.

As we advanced from the feudal states to the more industrialized people states, the ponds grew into lakes, and there were more big fish to contend with. This drove the innovation forward with music and composition. Musical works were pushed to extreme limits, which drove the musicians to compete with increased standards and expectations. 

We are now in one of the most exciting times the world has ever seen. Technology has expanded these lakes into the global ocean. Everyone with a computer and a webcam can publish their works on free media channels. Networking tools like Facebook, Twitter and recently a music social media site called DownToJam are doing wonders at bridging the distance gap and exposing musicians to all the big fish.

I believe that it is this exposure to other musicians that creates the development of musical skill. A person with the drive, dedication, inspiration and time to dedicate to studying music can access a near infinite amount of models to success. This brings us to the main point.

It is the inspiration of other musicians, dedicated to their craft, that create the drive, inspiration and passion needed to join the ranks. It is from your exposure to other amazing people that you learn you can be outstanding and innovative. 

For the Skim Readers Out There

1. There is no such thing as talent - only dedication, passion and drive to hone your skill.
2. All small fish wish to be big fish - and when the pond is an ocean, you have ample examples of big fish to model your success off of. 

The Take Away

Don't be shy. Don't hide your skills from the world. Don't lock yourself in the woodshed and practice until your fingers bleed, that’s the old way. Find as many forms of inspiration that you can using the tools available to you through technology. Develop your passion. Find guidance. Spend your hard earned time on being the best, by following the footsteps of giants. Music is for everyone!

The Talented Soloist Is Dead - They Died To Make Way For You

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Building A Listening List Into Your Teaching Practice

On Listening

Practice is a point of contention for all musicians, but there is no denying the fact that the only path to success in any field is the focused time put into honing your craft through it. Some approach it as a hard science, focused skills and drills over time in equals increased skills out. Others look at it as an art, by sitting down and immersing yourself in the culture of music you will get better in time. There is one aspect to practice that holds true for these two polar extreme views of practice, and that’s time. 

I believe that both camps have value, and depending on the type of musician you are training and what their goals are, having a balance of both camps in varying degrees will produce quality musicianship. A valuable aspect to music education that is often overlooked, in the 30-60 minute private instruction, is building a repertoire of listening. Factoring listening into daily practice, I argue, needs to be increased in all music programs. Here are a couple of ways that incorporating a basic listening journal can help your students.

1. Critically listening to music builds the musical vocabulary:When students spend time listening to songs they are able to start building their musical vocabulary. Carefully selected songs allow students to hear the tasks that they are working at artfully executed. Then through careful and critical reflection on that listening list, they will begin to start using the language needed to communicate their musical choices, not only in their performances, but in their skill building exercises. By being able to articulate why they are working on a skill building exercise, by tying it to an example of that skill being used in an artful way, students will continue to be inspired to put the time into that exercise. Sometimes we lose site of why we are doing an activity, but if the teacher carefully selects some songs to put on a listening list, a student will always have a clear picture of the objective goal they are trying to reach.
2. Co-creation of the listening list gives the student ownership: 
   When a teacher and a student explore songs together to create the listening list, students will be building the skills necessary to hear certain elements in songs, and in turn build the vocabulary to express those elements through their music. For the teacher, it gives them some insight into the musical taste of their students. This helps the teacher assess what songs will be an inspiring piece to listen to, so that when they assign listening lists, they will be assigning inspiring songs that match the students’ taste. Not only does it help the teacher design the listening portion of the daily practice, but will also help grow the teacher’s awareness of what repertoire will be inspiring to practice.

How do you set up a successful listening list and the activities around it?

By just having a journal that students write down their thoughts and personal reflections based on some songs that you have chosen together, you are not really reaping the benefits of critical examination. Examining several factors for each song is important to building knowledge through focused listening. I’ll make available a sample downloadable listening chart in the assessment package that I am building with the help of some other great music educators.

Moving forward, its important to first understand why we are listening to the song. In your lessons, you’ll be working on a number of tasks that lead to a certain objective that builds towards a big picture goal. Your listening list should incorporate all three levels. So in the first level, we are looking at how the task or exercise that you are exploring relates to the song, and where to find it. If there is a specific lick, melody, or idea that you are trying to lift out of a song, put down the time markings so that the student knows where extra focus is needed. In the reflection you can ask critical questions that ask about specific theoretical ideas that the student is working on expanding. What key is this song in? What is the time signature of the song? How is the artist modulating through a set of keys? What is the main chord progression of this specific section of the song? Whatever you may ask, it should directly relate to the task that you are working on. If you are asking questions based on the main objectives or big picture goal, make sure that your questions are related. 

Music is never done outside of the confines of culture. Knowing this, asking the student to do some research about the song, lyrical breakdowns, historical contexts, the biography of the artist and so on, helps the student understand why the song exists. These forms of questioning build a deeper understanding of the elements of music as they exist in certain contexts. Whether you are listening to a romantic piano sonata or a top 40’s hit, there is an important lesson to learn from the cultural context of the song. Helping your students break it down, by giving them resources to finding the research necessary to reflect on these questions, will help them build the cultural language behind the creative choices they make in their music. 

How much time you should you focus on listening?

I suggest that the listening expectations be set by you and your student together. The great thing is, everybody enjoys listening to music so this is an easy way to get into the flow state. Set up two types of listening exercises, focused reflection, and the background listening party. Ask the student to just include the songs on their list into their daily playlists. Students are using streaming services like rdio.com, songza.com, spotify.com, and grooveshark.com, that all allow for playlists to be saved. Encourage them to include the new songs in their playlists. 

Outside of the random listening parties, there should be at least one song a day where the student spends some time with the focus questions to critically listen to their songs. Some students will be able to do one ore more songs a day, others will really only be able to do one song a week. When you know your student and what priorities they place on practicing, you’ll be able to create the expectations that work for the student. You do not want to assign more than what the student is able to do because you’ll create a state of frustration, but at the same time, not challenging the student enough will create a state of boredom which will render your assignments useless. 

The Take Away

Whether you are training a concert pianist or a campfire guitar player, listening to music relevant to the skills you are building should be a key component in your educational planning. A well planned listening list will help build the oral language component of the study of music. A complete understanding of your student will help you build that list, and at the same time help you understand your student. With more understanding, you’ll be better able to bring your students through their tasks, their objectives and their big picture goals.

www.musicitup.com

The New Art Of Practice - Define Your Objectives

Hello Musicians!

I'm glad that you found this blog today, because I'm going to try and help you better understand why we practice and how to practice better. As musicians, we've all hit that wall when we are facing what seems to be an impossible challenge on our own. Our teacher has given us a task to practice at home independently, and our job is to be disciplined to get our weekly tasks completed.

What if I were to tell you there is a better way? A way where you won't have to face difficult challenges alone! A way where frustration won't get the better of you. Well...  brace yourself... there is a better way.

Practice shouldn't be the art of doing something you can't do until you can do. It should be the art of narrowing down your main goal, or goals, breaking up the goal into objectives and then breaking those objectives into tasks. Once you can see a main goal broken down into pieces, and then pieces of the pieces a game plan can take place.

Now this is the most important part! - If you get one thing out of this posting, this should be it:

Practice is the art of finding the just right learning level!

The goals, broken down into objectives, broken down into tasks can be ranked. You can use the form that I've attached in the resource page called "The Practice Guide" to rank the tasks by difficulty. There are three levels, New Skill, Just Right, and Independent. 

A New Skill is a task that you and your teacher are working on together. This task is difficult and causes a fair amount of frustration, and therefore should only be worked on when you are supported by your teacher. As you progress through your goals these New Skills will move into the next stage called, Just Right, when your teacher and you agree together.

A Just Right Level task is where you want to focus your practice on for about 80% of your practice time. These tasks you can do, but it doesn't feel natural. If you get it perfect sometimes, and still make little mistakes here and there that aren't consistent, you are playing at the Just Right Level. When you start playing the task a number of times where it feels natural and mistakes hardly pop up, you've moved into the Independent Level.

The Independent Level is where you are always aiming. Its feels great to play in this level, and it feels like play, not work. I always recommend my students start all of their practice in the Independent Level. The reason is simple...  if you start your routine with playing, it will make the work in the Just Right Level more rewarding because it will show you where you will be working towards. If this means you have to go back to a previous big picture goal and play some of the tasks, objectives, or goals in the Independent Level, I highly encourage it.

When bands sit down to work through songs, they don't often start with the hardest tasks first. At least, I've never been in a musical ensemble that works that way. Most often we start with a piece that we all love playing so that we can start on a happy and easy note. We warm up with play. Its similar to working out...  you can't just lift the heaviest thing first, you have to warm up your muscles and get the blood flowing. Get your creative juices flowing with playing in the Independent Level, then move to focusing in on tasks at the Just Right Level, and save the New Skills for when you sit down with your teacher. All the while, you and your teacher can be making little comments about what you are specifically focusing on in the Just Right Level.

I've created the Practice Guide for you...  all you have to do is download it and print it. Check it out here.

If you found value in this entry, please leave a comment in the feed and share it with someone who you feel this can help.

Thank you for Reading and Happy Music Making

Chris Eakins

What Is Music It Up? - The New Art of Music Education

Hi readers and welcome to the first Enlightened Music Educators Blog!

This will be a quick post, but I want to thank you for coming by and having a little read through it. In this post I am going to just introduce myself and give you a little backstory so that you can understand where Music It Up is coming from.

Most people start their stories with the day they were born, but I'm going to take it a little further back. The two people who I need to credit my love for music are my parents. They were the ones that really invested in the idea of Music It Up well over thirty years ago.

My parents met a couple of years before I was born. My mom had just finished her university degree, and my dad was a working to afford is one true passion at the time, and that was riding motorcycles. At a party, that was supposedly a set up, my folks took the first step to creating music it up. With the tunes cranked they road off on the motorcycle together until the sun started coming up. I've never really got a clear story on anything, but that's the story they tell.

If I do the math correctly, within a year they had planned on starting a family and I was conceived. My parents, being avid lovers of music, would put on the records of Abba, Supertramp and Alice Cooper nice and loud, making sure that I could hear them clearly from within the womb. When I was born, the only thing that would put me to sleep was Michael Jackson's Thriller album. So the second person I might have to attribute Music It Up to is the ever reigning king of pop.

As soon as you enter the front door of my parents' house you'll see all the family photos. In the first few frames are the pictures of my youth, and in a number of the pictures you'll see a very young version of me sitting at the piano, or with my Dad's huge 80's headphones on. I grew an amazing passion for music. A passion that would drive me to learn how to operate the turntable before I could hold a fork properly! A passion to learn all of dance moves and words to Michael Jackson's Thriller and Bad albums! A passion to learn how to read musical notation before I could read english! The one thing that I can't thank my parents' enough for was the constant encouragement that fanned that musical spark into a flame.

I was enrolled in music lessons before I was enrolled in public school, and when things got tough, my parents taught me about dedication and determination. As I grew up, most every decision I made was to follow my dream as a musician. In elementary school I played the role of the little drummer boy for the Christmas pageant. I played piano for all of the talent shows. In high school I would spend all of my time hanging out either in the music room or just outside. I played in all of the school bands. I put together my first band with the great people I met in that music room. When I graduated from high school I attempted computer science at York University, but within the first year I had transfered over to the music program. I got my first real job working at a music store in Toronto. I taught piano and drums privately to help pay for my education.

It was during the year right after my undergrad that I thought about Music It Up. I put together a business plan, and I started a little website. Back then I called it "Live Through Music," and I started networking like crazy to find people just like me, dedicated to helping others achieve their musical dreams. It was too early for Music It Up to become a reality because the internet was still in development and creating a website took some programing knowledge that I lacked. I put that business idea on the back burner and had to come up with another way to keep pushing through to achieve my dreams.

The second best way for me to reach students of music, I thought, was to get my degree in Education and become a music teacher. I did just that and for the past seven years I have been working very hard at becoming a skilled music educator. My dreams for Music It Up have stayed with me throughout the past seven years. When I finished my school year in June of 2013, I had realized that I was struggling with my passion for music. Teaching in the public school system had brought me away from my dreams and into a world that couldn't allow me to really teach music the way that I wanted to. While cleaning out my computer the following September to start the new school year I came across the business plan I had written over seven years ago and it was like the lights came back on. A spark of electricity started running through my veins, and I knew that Music It Up was what I had to do.

Its the beginning of March 2014, and I've been working really hard at designing the website, buying the domain names, recording podcasts, filming videos and reading everything I can get my hands on that will help Music It Up become a reality. That's my story. The fire that started in utero, fueled by sound, and a lot by the funky grooves of Michael Jackson, has given birth to a new way to help people achieve their musical dreams.

 www.musicitup.com will be launching at the end of March 2014!

That's right, its just around the corner. It's going to be a platform that offers you tons of free resources to keep your musical fire burning. I will be slowly launching different programs through Music It Up, that will help anyone, whether you're just turning 4 or if you've turned 4 for the twentieth time.

Do you want to be the first person to visit the site!? The first person to see how Music It Up is going to help you bring forth your song? It easy. Sign up below for exclusive rights to the Music It Up club. I'll send you first crack at signing up for any of the workshops and classes as well as send you links to all the cool podcasts, videos and articles as they are published.

www.musicitup.com - Your Music. Your Inspiration.

Chris Eakins

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