80 episodes

To be a great musician is to be able to sight-read, play by ear, compose or improvise, understand the art of practice, and be versatile in many other ways. The Musician Toolkit explores these tools, how to improve them, and how to apply them to a variety of gigs and musical careers. Join us on a quest to improve your musicianship and to make you the most well-rounded musician you can be!

The Musician Toolkit with David Lane David Lane

    • Arts

To be a great musician is to be able to sight-read, play by ear, compose or improvise, understand the art of practice, and be versatile in many other ways. The Musician Toolkit explores these tools, how to improve them, and how to apply them to a variety of gigs and musical careers. Join us on a quest to improve your musicianship and to make you the most well-rounded musician you can be!

    Never Forget Your Main Thing as a Musician | Ep79

    Never Forget Your Main Thing as a Musician | Ep79

    As David Lane shares, an attempt to create a true master calendar, accounting for all 168 hours in a week, is a sobering lesson.  Chances are that you, like he, have too many interests, too many obligations, and/or too many goals.  It's also easy to crowd out the main thing that drives you as a musician - whether that be playing your instrument, conducting, or composing - because it might not be a significant source of income.  If you want fulfillment as an artist of any kind, it's important for you to make time for the main way you define yourself as a musician.
    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 
    You can find this episode and links to this show on all podcast apps from https://musiciantoolkit.podbean.com/.
    If you enjoyed this, please give it a rating and review on the podcast app of your choice.  You can also find the 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.

    • 32 min
    Session Recording on Trumpet (with Paul Baron) | Ep78

    Session Recording on Trumpet (with Paul Baron) | Ep78

    Paul Baron is an active performer on the trumpet.  He is currently touring on the Broadway National Tour of Disney's Frozen.  He has also appeared on many albums by world-famous pop and rock artists such as Aerosmith, David Lee Roth (from whom he learned an important musical lesson), Michael Buble, INXS, and many more.  In this episode, we talk about what it's like to be a session musician and also recap a conversation from the Life in the Pit podcast where we focused on Paul's extensive work in the musical theatre, and talked about one of his books.
    Links (YouTube audience, please go to source link at top of description for full links):
    Interview from Life in the Pit
    Paul's books
    Paul's website
    Trumpet Diagnostics FB Group
    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 
    You can find this episode and links to this show on all podcast apps from https://musiciantoolkit.podbean.com/.
    If you enjoyed this, please give it a rating and review on the podcast app of your choice.  You can also find the 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.

    • 57 min
    More Review, Less New for Success | Ep77

    More Review, Less New for Success | Ep77

    It's human nature to want to learn all the music, listen to every album, read every book, watch every movie, and visit every city.  However, there's not nearly as much time as we'd like to do even a fraction of any of this.  And since we can't do everything, it's much more powerful to savor than to sample.  Listening again and again to music that inspires you, reviewing music you learned a while back, or re-reading a meaningful book several times is going to be much more enriching than just collecting as many experiences as possible.
    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 
    You can find this episode and links to this show on all podcast apps from https://musiciantoolkit.podbean.com/.
    If you enjoyed this, please give it a rating and review on the podcast app of your choice.  You can also find the 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.

    • 21 min
    The One Minute Practice Challenge | Ep76

    The One Minute Practice Challenge | Ep76

    If you're having trouble progressing as much as you'd like when practicing music, you might like this extreme but very focused approach.  Instead of practicing on something for 10 minutes and thinking about how much progress you can make in 10 minutes, consider how much progress you could make minute-by-minute for 10 single minutes.  This episode will help you learn why this strategy can really work for you right away, and how you can apply it.
    You can also 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 
    You can find this episode and links to this show on all podcast apps from https://musiciantoolkit.podbean.com/.
    If you enjoyed this, please give it a rating and review on the podcast app of your choice.  You can also find the 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.

    • 18 min
    Put Your Goals In Action! | Ep75

    Put Your Goals In Action! | Ep75

    It's one thing for a musician to state a goal, even a big one, but it's useless until you've given it some legs.  What's the difference between saying you plan to write a musical and getting that musical staged in an official production?  The difference is that the first scenario takes virtually no effort, and the 2nd takes a lot of steps, work, and perseverance.  Every big success starts with an idea but prominently features a series of attainable and actionable steps to get you closer to your goal.  This episode uses writing a musical and landing a chair in a professional orchestra as examples of how you can go from goal to achievement.  Also, you can learn the 9 pillars of an idea in action.
    More or fewer episodes like this? Let me know your thoughts at: https://www.davidlanemusic.com/contact
    You can also 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 
    You can find this episode and links to this show on all podcast apps from https://musiciantoolkit.podbean.com/.  If you enjoyed this, please give it a rating and review on the podcast app of your choice.  You can also now find the 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.

    • 43 min
    How to Improve Your Observation | Ep74

    How to Improve Your Observation | Ep74

    The skill of observation is a crucial skill for all musicians.  However, it's also a skill that most students have not come close to developing when they're early in their lessons for learning their instrument.  Observation helps you find patterns, to identify structure, to see how one part of the music connects with another, not to mention more basic things to notice such as dynamics and articulation.  In the digital age, paying attention and developing the skill of observation is not only more challenging, but more important than ever.  Check out this episode for ways to improve this important skill.
    The YouTube video that is featured as an audio-only portion of this episode can be watched here:
    https://youtu.be/AsNTSP7DxXk?si=CqlRmhNhcVK0mHNW
    More or fewer episodes like this? Let me know your thoughts at: https://www.davidlanemusic.com/contact
    You can also 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 
    You can find this episode and links to this show on all podcast apps from https://musiciantoolkit.podbean.com/.  If you enjoyed this, please give it a rating and review on the podcast app of your choice.  You can also now find the 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.

    • 22 min

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