250 episodes

Ever wondered why some people seem to have a gift for music? Have you wished that you could play by ear, sing in tune, improvise and jam? You are in the right place.

Musicality Now is a mix of interviews and teaching, featuring some of the most inspiring and insightful musicians and music educators, talking about how to learn the core inner skills you need to feel like a "natural" in music and enjoy freedom, creativity and confidence.

Topics include: Playing by ear, Singing in tune, Jamming with other musicians, Having a good sense of rhythm, Writing your own music, Writing notation, Improvising a solo, Talking intelligently about music, Understanding Music Theory, Clapping in time, Knowing your instrument inside and out, Tuning your instrument by ear, Reading notation, Sight-reading music, Playing from a lead sheet, Performing live, and Playing multiple instruments.

Musicality Now is brought to you by Musical U (musical-u.com), the leading provider of musicality training online. Learn more and get shownotes at musicalitynow.com.

Musicality Now Musical U

    • Music
    • 4.3 • 3 Ratings

Ever wondered why some people seem to have a gift for music? Have you wished that you could play by ear, sing in tune, improvise and jam? You are in the right place.

Musicality Now is a mix of interviews and teaching, featuring some of the most inspiring and insightful musicians and music educators, talking about how to learn the core inner skills you need to feel like a "natural" in music and enjoy freedom, creativity and confidence.

Topics include: Playing by ear, Singing in tune, Jamming with other musicians, Having a good sense of rhythm, Writing your own music, Writing notation, Improvising a solo, Talking intelligently about music, Understanding Music Theory, Clapping in time, Knowing your instrument inside and out, Tuning your instrument by ear, Reading notation, Sight-reading music, Playing from a lead sheet, Performing live, and Playing multiple instruments.

Musicality Now is brought to you by Musical U (musical-u.com), the leading provider of musicality training online. Learn more and get shownotes at musicalitynow.com.

    250: Coaches Corner, Episode 1

    250: Coaches Corner, Episode 1

    Join Christopher and the Next Level coaching team to discover the latest tips, tricks and techniques you can use to advance in your own musical life.
     
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    Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 250
     
    Links and Resources
    • Gregg Goodhart, "The Learning Coach"
    • Learn more about Next Level Coaching
     
     
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    • 20 min
    249: Q&A - I'm getting no results from my ear training - should I give up?

    249: Q&A - I'm getting no results from my ear training - should I give up?

    We had a great question from @Lutemann on YouTube this week: 

    "So I wanted to be able to play on sax what I hear in my head.  I wrote out 60 diatonic patterns (Example: 5, 4, 1, 7, 6, 8). Then I would pick a key and sing these patterns while fingering notes on the sax.  I did this for a couple of months and got no results.  Do you think I gave up too soon?"
    Here's my answer.
     
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    Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 249
     
    Links and Resources
    • @Lutemann on YouTube, thanks for the question!
    • Musicality Now: Q&A: What can you do if you struggle to audiate (imagine music)?
    • Ear training: How long does it take?
    • Musicality Now: Is it time to “break up” with music?
    • Musicality Now: When to stick with it – and when to move on
     
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    • 25 min
    248: Rhythm Improv Games (with Jeffrey Agrell)

    248: Rhythm Improv Games (with Jeffrey Agrell)

    Dive into rhythmic improvisation in this segment of Jeffrey Agrell's Musical U masterclass on "Exploring Rhythmic Improv"! 
    In this beginning section, Jeffrey introduces a rhythm vocabulary, using simple hand-drumming as a way to experiment and explore.
    Then he shows how you can start improvising creatively just by mixing up bits of that rhythm vocab with accents, rests, note length and meter.
    Note: If you're listening to the audio only, you won't be able to see the patterns he's showing on screen, but you'll still be able to follow along.
    You might want to hit 'pause' and give yourself some extra time, or run through the exercises again afterwards. 
    Remember to have fun with it!
     
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    Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 248
     
    Links and Resources
    • Musicality Now - If It Makes You Laugh, GOOD! (with Jeffrey Agrell)
     
     
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    • 23 min
    247: If it makes you laugh, GOOD! (with Jeffrey Agrell)

    247: If it makes you laugh, GOOD! (with Jeffrey Agrell)

    We’re joined by Jeffrey Agrell, a returning guest on the show, and one of our absolute favourite music educators. Jeffrey has authored half a dozen books providing "games" which serve as a gateway into creativity and improvisation - even for the most buttoned-up, perfectionist classical players!
     
    In this short conversation before his Musical U masterclass on Rhythm Improv Games, Jeffrey shares:
     
    • Why one of his best character traits is... having a very high tolerance for looking foolish!
     
    • An elegantly simple definition of Creativity: "it just means 'do something different'."
     
    • And why something you play seeming silly or making you laugh is actually a GOOD thing.
     
     
     
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    Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 247
     
    Links and Resources
    • Jeffrey Agrell online
    • Musicality Now - Making Improv a Game, with Jeffrey Agrell
     
     
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    • 20 min
    246: We're Back! 🎉

    246: We're Back! 🎉

    Join Musical U Director Christopher Sutton for a live update on the reboot of our video series and podcast, Musicality Now, including a sneak peek of exciting things to come...
     
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    Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 246
     
    Links and Resources
    Tune in Live on Facebook Tune in Live on Instagram Tune in Live on YouTube Next Level Coaching  
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    • 20 min
    Q&A: How (and why) should you do ear training for scales?

    Q&A: How (and why) should you do ear training for scales?

    Scales... Most music learners think scales are just an exercise you've got to do as part of learning your instrument. But did you know there's actually a whole area of ear training dedicated to scales?
     
    In fact there are two! In this clip from the archive of live member Q&A calls at Musical U we talk about these two types of scale ear training and how each can help you.
     
    If you want to get more out of scales and ear training, don’t miss this episode.
     
     
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    Full Show Notes and Transcript: Episode 245
     
    Links and Resources
    • How to Make Scales Less Boring
    • Musicality Now - Music Theory You’ll Love to Learn, with Glory St. Germain
    • Musicality Now - About the Power of Solfa
    • Musicality Now - About Scales and their Flavors
    • Musicality Now - How to Improvise For Real, with David Reed
     
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    • 9 min

Customer Reviews

4.3 out of 5
3 Ratings

3 Ratings

crewfit ,

Play scales

Good discussion with the approach that’s taken by you regarding the type of scale steps that you hear.

yellink ,

It's good

Not the best podcast ever, but I enjoyed it

RuthieVeronica ,

I found my people...

It's so good to hear the up& down stories of people who have mastered their instrument, or even some who are still learning. Puts my struggles in context!

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