Have Musical Heroes! In the early stages, and in every stage, of your musical journey take advantage of learning from people who have mastered skills you are working on, who have meaningful careers in music, or who have incorporated music into their own life, into their family or community in ways that make a difference. Do you want to be on the Broadway stage, play in an orchestra, become a recording artist, a sound engineer, or a music teacher? Do you want to enjoy playing your instrument for holiday gatherings, on camping trips with family, or at a church service?
The sky is the limit! Knowing what other musicians have achieved, why it’s meaningful to them, and how they did it is the best place to start! Don’t underestimate the value of listening to recordings, or of watching videos of musicians who inspire you, or who might inspire you if you found out about them! Don’t limit yourself to only finding out about music you are working on, or music for your own instrument! Start with your instrument, and expand from there! Listen to or watch some performances, find out about performers, composers, arrangers, conductors, and more. You might find that listening to and watching others helps you find your musical path.
Technology provides a wonderful tool to stream live concerts, to watch and listen to great musicians for free on You Tube, and to easily access almost anything in your phone, tablet, or computer at any time that you want. Be smart! Pick your teacher’s brain, ask them about their favorite artists, ask them where to find recordings, and why they are inspiring. Ask them how to get started!
Do some active and passive listening! Active listening involves listening to music you are working on, or really engaging in listening to a performance that you love. Don’t just listen to and watch them, find out about the performers and why they play, what they love about music, about their life and their musical career. Find out about composers, conductors, arrangers, and engineers. Again, start with your teacher, ask them questions, tell them what frustrates you or scares you, ask them how they deal with it. Ask them how they stay inspired and motivated and what they think would be good first steps for you as a student. You take it from there!
Passive listening is great too, and it isn’t really passive, it’s immersing yourself in music all of the time and for fun. Whatever you love, be it classical, jazz, Broadway, pop, rock, Latin, Hip Hop, folk music, or anything, listen at dinner, listen in the car or on the bus to school, listen as you fall asleep, just keep listening all of the time and discover all of the amazing music that’s out there waiting for you!
What’s the best part of my musical career? Being able to perform in diverse types of music in wildly different settings! Whether I am working as an orchestral musician and conductor, composer, writer, soloist, chamber musician, recording artist, producer, gig musician or a teacher, I love it all! Listening to and learning from my musical heroes is one key to my success, and it can be yours too!
- Karine Stone, Music Instructor at Vibe Music Academy.
