About Musical U
Musical U exists to provide passionate music-learners with the most effective and enjoyable musicality training to set their inner “natural” free and help them reach their true potential in music.
We believe every human has an innate capacity for music-making – but current music education focuses too much on instrument technique and too little on the inner understanding of music.
By actively incorporating training which develops the inner skills (the “instinct” for music which we call musicality) music learners are set free to feel like they truly are a “natural” in music.
Our Four Pillars
Everything we do at Musical U is built on these four pillars:
Musical Inside And Out
Every person has a natural connection to music.
By developing the “inner skills” of musicality anybody can learn to understand music instinctively, find their musical voice, and feel free, confident and creative in music.
Universal Potential
Every music learner is different – but all have the potential to become a highly capable musician and feel fulfilled in reaching their own true potential in music.
Adults and children each have their own advantages in learning and age is no barrier to fast, enjoyable music learning.
Better Together
Learning happens faster when it’s done among like-minded friends and with direct access to personal help from experts who genuinely care about your success.
We are committed to a spirit of collaboration, not competition, and always excited to work with other music educators for the benefit of music learners.
Enjoying The Journey
Learning music is a lifelong journey with endless new horizons to explore.
With a flexible approach which nurtures creativity from the start and makes use of the latest breakthroughs in the science of effective learning, this journey can be one of ease, joy and continual improvement.
What We Do
At Musical U we are pursuing our mission through three primary activities:
1.
Developing innovative online training solutions.
Providing a friendly and supportive environment for adult learners to unlock their true musicality.
2.
Spreading the core message of the mission.
That any person is capable of feeling and acting like a “natural” in music.
3.
Collaborating with other music educators.
Individuals and organisations who share a passion for the same mission.
Read on to learn more about each of these…
1. Musicality Training
At Musical U we aim to provide the world’s leading online musicality training, making it so easy, enjoyable and effective to develop the “inner skills” that every music learner chooses to make it a core part of their journey.
Our flagship membership program provides an all-inclusive range of training modules, delivering concrete skills such as playing melodies and chords by ear, improvising, and singing in tune, as well as covering mindset topics such as effective planning and goal-setting, maintaining motivation, efficient and rewarding practice, and developing performance confidence.
Training material is provided within a friendly and welcoming online environment to enable and encourage both peer-to-peer learning and getting direct help from an expert team, providing members with support and motivation throughout the learning experience.
We also offer a number of standalone courses which address particular topics complementary to our membership program.
Our training is based around a concept called “The Trifecta” and leverages a unique approach called Integrated Ear Training™️
The Trifecta
We believe learning music has three vital elements:
A: Instrument Technique
The ability to play what you intend to, reliably and accurately on your instrument(s) of choice.
B: Music Theory
The understanding of musical concepts, how music is structured and notated.
C: Ear Skills
The ability to recognise musical elements when you hear them, with accuracy and ease.
Typically music learners focus almost exclusively on just one of these: instrument skills.
If they do study the other two it’s in a disconnected, isolated way which makes it hard to really get benefit from their efforts.
The most effective music learning balances all three of these.
This develops instrument skills, theory understanding, and ear skills in parallel and builds connections between each.
We believe in an integrated approach that rebalances this trifecta and consciously puts mindset work at the centre of it all.
This way music learners don’t just develop fast fingers – they actually understand everything they play and hear.
D: Mindset
The mental habits and attitudes which set you up for success throughout your music learning, from the practice room to the stage.
Integrated Ear Training™️
The average music learner today is either not taught ear training at all, or taught it in such a dry, abstract, isolated way that it becomes not only frustrating but also hard to make practical use of.
The root cause is that ear training has come to be seen as a subset of music theory, and something to be done purely with drills and exercises.
At Musical U we’ve developed a unique process called Integrated Ear Training™️ which is designed to develop your musical ear while building connections to your instrument skills and theory knowledge:
With this approach you not only improve your musical ear faster, you are able to immediately benefit from each improvement you make in your real musical life.
Integrated Ear Training™️ uses a framework of “Learn, Practice, Apply”.
So instead of just doing abstract isolated ear training exercises, you:
Learn
Practice
Apply
With this approach you can develop your ear in a highly efficient and rewarding way, exploring your own creativity (such as through improvisation or composing) and becoming a versatile player (such as through learning to play by ear or arrange on-the-fly).
2. Spreading the Message
We believe that creating effective training solutions alone is not enough. To effect the required change in music education will take a significant cultural shift.
We need to change the cultural understanding of what it means to “be musical”- moving from the idea of innate “talent” to seeing the true reality: that every single person has the capacity to become just as capable as the top musician they admire.
Since 2009 we have published over 1,000 free articles and tutorials on all essential topics of musicality, as well as over 200 episodes of our free audio/video show Musicality Now.
From the outset our message has been one of inclusivity and encouragement, providing not just the “how to” knowledge but the inspiration and guidance needed to encourage music learners to believe in their potential and take active steps to explore and develop it.
Learn about how you can help spread the message on our Vision page
3. Collaboration
We are proud and excited to have the opportunity to work with some of the world’s most expert and passionate music educators who share our mission.
We are always open to collaboration of any kind which furthers the mission, from simple cross-promotion such as showcasing others on our Friends page, to interviews with experts on our free audio/video show Musicality Now, through to bringing their expertise more fully to our members in live masterclasses or developing dedicated courses together.
If you’re working on interesting musicality-related projects and would like let us know what you’re up to or discuss potential collaboration please get in touch!
Who We Are
Our Team
Christopher Sutton
Director
Adam Liette
Director of Operations
Andrew Bishko
Head Educator
Stewart Hilton
Community Conductor
Anastasia Voitinskaia
Assistant Educator
Zac Bailey
Community Assistant
Ruth Power
Resident Pro: Piano
Steve Lawson
Resident Pro: Bass
Clare Wheeler
Resident Pro: Singing
Dylan Welsh
Resident Pro: Guitar
Our Community
Everyone is welcome at Musical U.
We believe we have the most friendly and supportive community of music learners around.
Our students and members come from every country. They play every instrument and style of music. They range in ability from complete beginner through to seasoned pro, and in age from 16 years old up through to 80 years (and beyond!)
What everyone in our community shares is a common passion for music and an eagerness to learn more and develop their abilities to their fullest potential.
Below you can find some case studies and success stories which give a sense of our community and what Musical U can provide for you too.
Reviews And Media Coverage
Looking for customer reviews and mainstream media coverage of Musical U?
→ Read Reviews And Media Coverage here