Unleash The Musicality You Have Inside.
Online training that makes you more musical.Musical U exists to fill a gap in music education: to teach the inner skills which let you feel like a “natural” in music, including playing by ear, improvising, composing, musical confidence and expressiveness.
Through our podcast “Musicality Now”, thousands of free articles and tutorials, a flagship membership program and dedicated online courses, we help passionate adult musicians to tap into their “inner natural” and develop their true musicality.
– Musical U Director, Christopher Sutton
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Musicality Now
Discover the most powerful tools, strategies and insights with Musical U director Christopher Sutton and more than 100 of the world's leading experts on developing your musicality.
Featuring world-leading experts:
Jermaine Griggs
Hear And Play
Glory St. Germain
Ultimate Music Theory
Marshall McDonald
The Count Basie Orchestra
Dame Evelyn Glennie
The World's Premiere Solo Percussionist
Professor Anders Ericsson
Leading Scientific Researcher on "Talent"
Noa Kageyama
The Bulletproof Musician
Gerald Klickstein
The Musician's Way
Steve Myers
Theta Music Trainer
Paul Wertico
Grammy-Award-winning drummer
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join for full access
Membership
Joining Musical U gives you instant access to all the training materials you need to succeed.
You also benefit from a friendly, supportive community of like-minded musicians and have unlimited personal help from an expert team to ensure you keep moving forwards.
Training
"Perfect for what I wanted to do gain a full understanding of music in order to become a better all-round musician"
"Since becoming a member I've really gotten into rhythm, had success with melodic intervals and chord progressions and I can now quite easily pick out a tune by ear."
"I can now recognize some chord progression in popular music and I listen more closely to songs on the radio. This helps me be more musical as I can use it when writing new songs."
"I feel a eureka moment of understanding. I now understand the value of ear training and am equipped with the knowledge and tools to fully appreciate and analyse music."
Training Course
Foundations of a Musical Mind
Rebuild your relationship with music from scratch, putting in place new and empowering mental models for understanding music instinctively.
In six weeks you’ll be able to easily and intuitively relate all the notes you hear to notes you play, notes you sing, notes you read/write, and notes you improvise or compose yourself.
“How Fun! Made me feel like a kid again.”
“Ok what magic is this?”
“Great course. Easy to understand.”
"Unexpectedly easy to follow, took less time than I expected and I learnt a lot and enjoyed it.”
Training Course
The Musician's Ear
Discover new depths, detail and structure in all the music you hear, play and love.
In six weeks you’ll wake up your ears and musical brain using the mighty skill of active listening and learn a four-dimensional framework for understanding how music is put together – and why it has the power it does.
“I’m learning to play the piano as an older adult. I found the Handbook gave me a very good overview of what to listen for in a piece.
Meet the Team
Christopher Sutton
Founder and Director
"I grew up as “the musical one” in my class, learning to play several instruments and performing regularly with bands and orchestras.
But I never felt like a “real” musician.
I couldn’t freely play the music I heard or create my own music confidently. I’d listen to albums I loved and have no idea how that music was put together. It really frustrated me that the music I played seemed totally separate from the music I loved listening to.
Even though I was good at playing guitar and piano, I felt really limited because I had to go out and find sheet music before I could play songs – even the songs I listened to all the time and felt like I should know inside-out!
Then I discovered ear training and found that all those skills I’d desperately wanted – like playing notes and chords by ear, improvising and jamming along – were things you could learn.
The ear training process was old-fashioned and boring – but it was powerful.
That’s why I founded my company in 2009 – to bring ear training into the 21st century by using technology to make it fun and easy.
My mission is to help musicians who are struggling (like I was) to break free of their false limitations and bring out their true inner musicality.”
→ Learn more about Christopher
Andrew Bishko
Head Educator
Andrew Bishko is a veteran of music performance and teaching, with a career spanning decades and a wide variety of genres. His current projects include HeartWinds (an acoustic jazz/world music duo), Mariachi Flor de Missouri, The Ozarks Klezmer Orkestr, and music minister / songwriter / composer in an all-original church music program.
Stewart Hilton
Community Conductor
Stewart has had a passion for music for many years and his enjoyment of guitar has given him to opportunities to play in a wide variety of styles. His appreciation of music has also been developed through teaching guitar, running sound, doing sales for music manufacturers, and mixing and producing his band’s latest CD. However, some of Stewart’s greatest satisfaction is being able to empower others to help them achieve their own personal success.
Zac Bailey
Head of Member Success
Zac has been DJ’ing, producing and rapping for almost 20 years. He’s had original songs and remixes released across multiple labels from all over the world under his moniker, ZSonic.
Dedicated to spreading the awareness of the turntable as an instrument, he has recently started a website focused on showcasing and teaching the musicality and art of the turntablist.
At Musical U Zac is a Community Assistant inside the membership site, helping others achieve their goals and discover how music can enrich their lives.
Almut Spaeth
Next Level Coach
Almut Spaeth is an educator, singer, and guitarist based in Hamburg, Germany.
Her passion is exploring the connecting nature of music, especially in the form of collaborative vocal improvisation.
Camilo Suárez
Next Level Coach
Camilo Suárez is a music educator, bass player, and lifelong learner. He is fascinated by how music learning is changing and evolving to offer meaningful and effective learning experiences to all who want to invest themselves in it, regardless of their goals, age, or previous experience.
Charm Cajurao
Operations Manager
Charm Cajurao, a singer and dedicated K-pop enthusiast from the Philippines, seamlessly blends her love for music with her academic accomplishments.
Today, as Operations Manager at Musical U, Charm utilizes her versatile skill set to provide all-around support behind the scenes.
Mohammed Wael
Product Design Lead
Mohammed's musical journey kicked off at age 9 with a fascination for instrumental tracks. Later he discovered EDM and was inspired to create songs using a DAW, this encouraged him greatly to learn how to play physical instruments, he has gradually learned to play more than 7 instruments, with even more planned down the road.
Marc Mangurali
Customer Service Assistant
Trained in music education and communications, Marc is devoted to his musical pursuits, including singing, drumming, and church music.
He prides himself in providing the top-notch customer service Musical U is known for, to ensure our members have a smooth and enjoyable journey at MU.
instrument specialists
Resident Pros
Ruth Power
Resident Pro for Piano
Ruth Power is a dynamic piano tutor and founder of PianoPicnic.com: a piano learning hub featuring short burst lessons inspired by the concept of micro-training.
Now based in New Zealand, Ruth has developed music education resources for the past 11 years and has worked with clients such as Rhinegold Education, Rockschool UK, Novello & Co, MusicRoom, Rock Star Recipes & the Royal Academy of Dance.
Her signature piano course ‘Songs By Ear’ teaches the fundamentals of playing by ear directly to the student in a way that is quick, easy, fun and all from your e-device or tablet.
Steve Lawson
Resident Pro for Bass
Steve Lawson is renowned above all else for his creativity and pushing the boundaries of what’s possible on the bass.
He has published over a dozen solo albums, regularly performs live, is a respected thought-leader on the future of music education, and is currently doing a PhD on the topic of improvisation.
Steve is known worldwide for his pioneering work in solo bass, employing techniques and technology to create fascinatingly rich recordings and live performances that sound nothing like you might expect from a bass guitar.
Clare Wheeler
Resident Pro for Singing
Clare Wheeler is a former member of The Swingles (a.k.a. “The Swingle Singers”), arguably the most revered and respected a cappella group in the world.
As well as her extensive performing background in The Swingles, Clare also has a passion for teaching.
She has run workshops, directed choirs, and taught one-on-one, and she specialises in the two major areas we focus on for singers at Musical U: helping beginner-stage singers master pitching and gain confidence, and helping singers of all levels develop their musicality and ability to improvise and be creative in music.
Dylan Welsh
Resident Pro for Guitar
Dylan Welsh is an impressive figure in the Seattle music scene. He regularly performs live and records in studio, so he understands both the practicalities of being a working musician and the importance of investing in the bigger-picture skills of musicality.
Through providing online guitar lessons he is continually honing his own skills as a teacher and finding new ways to help students learn faster using the music they personally enjoy most.