This week we were sad to hear of the death of musical legend David Bowie. Musicians who are daring and stray from traditional norms like Bowie have the ability to connect with their listeners and inspire in a truly magical way. If you are a Bowie fan don’t miss these great tributes to his music by Ethan Hein and Steve Lawson.
If you feel inspired by David Bowie’s great lyrics and want to try and follow in his footsteps or wondered whether all great musicians like Bowie must be born talented we have the answers for you right here. Also, a tutorial on saxophone improvisation, how to stay on track with your new year’s music resolutions and interviews with songwriter John Anealio and Pete Wernick (a.k.a. “Dr Banjo”).
Writing Lyrics
One of the key parts of writing a good song is having some good lyrics. However, it is easy to get stuck with cheesy clichés or adventure too far into obscure strings of words with no real meaning. If you are looking for some guidance on how to avoid the 3 basic blunders of writing lyrics and learn 3 easy steps to writing great original lyrics instead don’t miss our Songwriter’s Secrets tutorial on lyrics.
Plus, this week we were fortunate enough to chat to John Anealio – a talented singer-songwriter who writes nerd-culture inspired songs about topics like Game of Thrones, Lego and superheroes! Find out more about his songwriting process and recommended resources for budding songwriters in this interview.
Saxophone Improvisation
Following on from our tutorial on how to improvise the blues on saxophone we now have a tutorial dedicated to improvising jazz. So if you are a saxophonist and are ready to graduate from blues “high school” to jazz “college” do not miss this! This tutorial is specifically for saxophonists, but if you play another instrument and are keen to learn to improvise check out our other improvisation tutorials.
Musical Greatness = Talent… or Practice?
Many musicians feel like unless they have a natural talent for music they will never be a great musician. But, how much does talent really contribute to the success of the great musicians we often aspire to being? This week the Musical U blog discusses the issue of talent vs. practice and comes up with some very interesting conclusions!
Whether or not you feel like you have a natural “talent” for music, everyone needs to practice to learn new skills and raise their level of musicianship. Last week we published a guide on making effective New Year’s Music Resolutions, with 6 mistakes to avoid and 6 steps to making resolutions you will achieve. This week we have summarised those steps into the 5-minute guide to New Year’s Music Resolutions, a quick handy guide to keep you on track with your 2016 goal setting.
Don’t forget that for the month of January all Musical U members will be treated to a free “Your Musical Plan” guide and workbook which leads you through setting truly effective musical goals and designing a plan to reach them. To learn more about what is included check out Get your Musical Plan for 2016.
Dr. Banjo
At Easy Ear Training we are always looking out for musicians who have been on interesting musical journeys. This week Dr. Banjo (Pete Wernick) joined the Musical U team for an interview to talk about how he got into music, why he loves the banjo and what keeps him motivated to practice. Read the interview over on the Musical U blog.
Whatever your musical passion, I hope that you found something to spark your interest and keep you motivated to practice and realise your musical potential. To keep up to date with all the latest articles don’t forget to check out the Easy Ear Training and Musical U Facebook pages.
