Musicianship Mastery with David Lane

On Episode 90, I chatted with Bob Moore about the tools of being a church music director.  At the time, I was 20 months removed from being a church music director myself.  However, one day after this episode releases, I will be starting a new job as a church music director.  In this episode, I share my goals and action lists to help ensure that I get off to a great start.  Hopefully this can give you ideas as well if you're looking to do similar work. Episode mentioned: The Tools of Church Music Directing (with Bob Moore) Let me know your thoughts on this episode as a voice message to possibly share on a future episode at https://www.speakpipe.com/MusicianToolkit  If you enjoyed this, please give it a rating and review on the podcast app of your choice.  You can find all episodes of this podcast at https://www.davidlanemusic.com/toolkit You can follow David Lane AND the Musician Toolkit podcast on Facebook @DavidMLaneMusic, on Instagram and TikTok @DavidLaneMusic, and on YouTube @davidlanemusic1 This episode is sponsored by Fons, an online platform that helps private teachers of all types (music, yoga, martial arts, academic tutoring, coaches, etc) with smooth, automated assistance such as securing timely automatic payments and scheduling.  Click here for more information or to begin your free trial.

If you're a composer or an arranger, it is invaluable to have plenty of references to help you study and improve your craft.  I share 4 types of books that I think every composer should have on their bookshelf, and my personal favorites of each kind. Let me know your thoughts on this episode as a voice message to possibly share on a future episode at https://www.speakpipe.com/MusicianToolkit  If you enjoyed this, please give it a rating and review on the podcast app of your choice.  You can find all episodes of this podcast at https://www.davidlanemusic.com/toolkit You can follow David Lane AND the Musician Toolkit podcast on Facebook @DavidMLaneMusic, on Instagram and TikTok @DavidLaneMusic, and on YouTube @davidlanemusic1 This episode is sponsored by Fons, an online platform that helps private teachers of all types (music, yoga, martial arts, academic tutoring, coaches, etc) with smooth, automated assistance such as securing timely automatic payments and scheduling.  Click here for more information or to begin your free trial.

On August 26, 2024, the long-time popular notation app called Finale announced that it would be permanently discontinuing all of its software, leading to very vocal anxiety and panic among its many veteran users.  Professional composers and arrangers, as well as educators all need a good notation app, but Finale is no longer a choice.  Jason Loffredo of Conquering Finale returns to chat about what steps Finale users should take to migrate as well as how to navigate the other choices, primarily deciding between Dorico and Sibelius. Links: Jason's personal site: https://jasonloffredo.com/ Conquering Finale: https://www.conqueringfinale.com/ Previous episode with Jason Scoring Notes blog: https://www.scoringnotes.com/ Let me know your thoughts on this episode as a voice message to possibly share on a future episode at https://www.speakpipe.com/MusicianToolkit  If you enjoyed this, please give it a rating and review on the podcast app of your choice.  You can find all episodes of this podcast at https://www.davidlanemusic.com/toolkit You can follow David Lane AND the Musician Toolkit podcast on Facebook @DavidMLaneMusic, on Instagram and TikTok @DavidLaneMusic, and on YouTube @davidlanemusic1 This episode is sponsored by Fons, an online platform that helps private teachers of all types (music, yoga, martial arts, academic tutoring, coaches, etc) with smooth, automated assistance such as securing timely automatic payments and scheduling.  Click here for more information or to begin your free trial.

Recently, I spoke for 5 episodes about the four core performance skills, the musical skills that will allow you to play well in any situation for any genre.  If you're a beginner or you teach beginners, how early can you get started with these skills?  Check out why I think that not only can you start right away, but you actually should.  Also listen to find out how you can begin practicing the core skills with no prior musical training. Let me know your thoughts on this episode as a voice message to possibly share on a future episode at https://www.speakpipe.com/MusicianToolkit  If you enjoyed this, please give it a rating and review on the podcast app of your choice.  You can find all episodes of this podcast at https://www.davidlanemusic.com/toolkit You can follow David Lane AND the Musician Toolkit podcast on Facebook @DavidMLaneMusic, on Instagram and TikTok @DavidLaneMusic, and on YouTube @davidlanemusic1 This episode is sponsored by Fons, an online platform that helps private teachers of all types (music, yoga, martial arts, academic tutoring, coaches, etc) with smooth, automated assistance such as securing timely automatic payments and scheduling.  Click here for more information or to begin your free trial.

Whether it involves practicing, composing, or any other creative goals you have, there's a way that I've found that actually works to allow you to accomplish everything you wish.  It's called batching, and it satisfies the brain's need to get and maintain a flow state.  Check out this episode to find out how batching can make a real difference in your productivity! Let me know your thoughts on this episode as a voice message to possibly share on a future episode at https://www.speakpipe.com/MusicianToolkit  If you enjoyed this, please give it a rating and review on the podcast app of your choice.  You can find all episodes of this podcast at https://www.davidlanemusic.com/toolkit You can follow David Lane AND the Musician Toolkit podcast on Facebook @DavidMLaneMusic, on Instagram and TikTok @DavidLaneMusic, and on YouTube @davidlanemusic1 This episode is sponsored by Fons, an online platform that helps private teachers of all types (music, yoga, martial arts, academic tutoring, coaches, etc) with smooth, automated assistance such as securing timely automatic payments and scheduling.  Click here for more information or to begin your free trial.

How can you plan a music rehearsal that is efficient and effective? In the world of musical theatre, the music director is responsible for planning music rehearsals to teach all vocal parts to a cast where not everyone sings on every song.  There's also only a few rehearsals available to teach everything.  Planning good music rehearsals requires organization and creativity.  In this episode, I use recent productions of INTO THE WOODS and ROCK OF AGES as different examples of how I prepare for music rehearsals. Technical note: The microphone sound is not quite as good as normal.  I will hopefully improve the issue for the next episode. Let me know your thoughts on this episode as a voice message to possibly share on a future episode at https://www.speakpipe.com/MusicianToolkit  If you enjoyed this, please give it a rating and review on the podcast app of your choice.  You can find all episodes of this podcast at https://www.davidlanemusic.com/toolkit You can follow David Lane AND the Musician Toolkit podcast on Facebook @DavidMLaneMusic, on Instagram and TikTok @DavidLaneMusic, and on YouTube @davidlanemusic1 This episode is sponsored by Fons, an online platform that helps private teachers of all types (music, yoga, martial arts, academic tutoring, coaches, etc) with smooth, automated assistance such as securing timely automatic payments and scheduling.  Click here for more information or to begin your free trial.

One possible part-time or full-time job for many musicians can be as a music director for a church.  Bob Moore is a composer with much experience as a music director for Catholic and Episcopalian churches.  David Lane is a composer with much experience as a music director for Baptist and Methodist churches.  In this episode, we chat about the musicianship tools needed to do the job well. Bob Moore's website is: https://www.bobmooremusic.com/ Technical note: The microphone sound for the host is not quite as good as normal, especially in the intro and outro. Let me know your thoughts on this episode as a voice message to possibly share on a future episode at https://www.speakpipe.com/MusicianToolkit  If you enjoyed this, please give it a rating and review on the podcast app of your choice.  You can find all episodes of this podcast at https://www.davidlanemusic.com/toolkit You can follow David Lane AND the Musician Toolkit podcast on Facebook @DavidMLaneMusic, on Instagram and TikTok @DavidLaneMusic, and on YouTube @davidlanemusic1 This episode is sponsored by Fons, an online platform that helps private teachers of all types (music, yoga, martial arts, academic tutoring, coaches, etc) with smooth, automated assistance such as securing timely automatic payments and scheduling.  Click here for more information or to begin your free trial.

If you want to succeed in music, how important is talent?  I shared a strong opinion on this way back on Episode 3 of this podcast.  I've thought about it a lot since then, and have since changed my mind about some of it but still feel strongly on other points.  With the 2024 Summer Olympics being a recent event that featured a lot of developed talent, I thought this would be a great time to revisit the topic.  Talent is a real trait that has a real say in what opportunities there are for you in music, but how much?  Also, listen to why using "You're so talented" as a compliment to young performers is potentially harmful. Let me know your thoughts on this episode as a voice message to possibly share on a future episode at https://www.speakpipe.com/MusicianToolkit  If you enjoyed this, please give it a rating and review on the podcast app of your choice.  You can find all episodes of this podcast at https://www.davidlanemusic.com/toolkit You can follow David Lane AND the Musician Toolkit podcast on Facebook @DavidMLaneMusic, on Instagram and TikTok @DavidLaneMusic, and on YouTube @davidlanemusic1 This episode is sponsored by Fons, an online platform that helps private teachers of all types (music, yoga, martial arts, academic tutoring, coaches, etc) with smooth, automated assistance such as securing timely automatic payments and scheduling.  Click here for more information or to begin your free trial.

The final core performance skill to explore is the ability to improvise.  This is a skill that is very natural to some musicians (and even non-musicians) and very mysterious and perhaps even scary to others.  And yet, it's the oldest of all the skills, the earliest way to create music.  It's also essential for every genre other than classical (and there was a time it was expected there as well).  Finally, it's the most pure way of learning how music works by disassembling it and putting it back together based on your own experience and understanding.  As with the previous episodes in this series, there are 10 exercises to get you started with improvisation. This is the 5th of a 5-part series.  If you missed it, check out the previous episodes in this series: The Four Core Skills Part 1: An Overview of the Skills The Four Core Skills Part 2: Sight Reading The Four Core Skills Part 3: Playing by Ear The Four Core Skills Part 4: Transposing   ALSO MENTIONED: Composing Your Own Practice Etudes | Ep37 Piano Improvisation Live in Concert Let me know your thoughts on this episode as a voice message to possibly share on a future episode at https://www.speakpipe.com/MusicianToolkit  If you enjoyed this, please give it a rating and review on the podcast app of your choice.  You can find all episodes of this podcast at https://www.davidlanemusic.com/toolkit You can follow David Lane AND the Musician Toolkit podcast on Facebook @DavidMLaneMusic, on Instagram and TikTok @DavidLaneMusic, and on YouTube @davidlanemusic1 This episode is sponsored by Fons, an online platform that helps private teachers of all types (music, yoga, martial arts, academic tutoring, coaches, etc) with smooth, automated assistance such as securing timely automatic payments and scheduling.  Click here for more information or to begin your free trial.

Transposing is unique among the core skills in that it's the only one that is dependent on one of the other skills.  Being able to play well while reading music or by listening is required to give you a starting point.  The ability to take a piece of music from any source and change it to any of the other keys is a distinctive skill because it focuses on understanding music from a relative sense rather than absolute.  It requires you to think about WHY you're playing a certain note or chord rather than just WHAT to play.  As with the previous two episodes, there are 10 steps you can take to developing your core skill of transposing. This is the 4th of a 5-part series.  If you missed it, check out the previous episodes in this series: The Four Core Skills Part 1: An Overview of the Skills The Four Core Skills Part 2: Sight Reading The Four Core Skills part 3 - Playing by Ear Let me know your thoughts on this episode as a voice message to possibly share on a future episode at https://www.speakpipe.com/MusicianToolkit  If you enjoyed this, please give it a rating and review on the podcast app of your choice.  You can find all episodes of this podcast at https://www.davidlanemusic.com/toolkit You can follow David Lane AND the Musician Toolkit podcast on Facebook @DavidMLaneMusic, on Instagram and TikTok @DavidLaneMusic, and on YouTube @davidlanemusic1 This episode is sponsored by Fons, an online platform that helps private teachers of all types (music, yoga, martial arts, academic tutoring, coaches, etc) with smooth, automated assistance such as securing timely automatic payments and scheduling.  Click here for more information or to begin your free trial.