Today’s episode dovetails nicely with our previous podcast about battling burnout because it’s about rejuvenating and inspiring ourselves by working to improve our own musicality.
My guest is Christopher Sutton, the founder of Musical U, an online resource for learning musical skills like ear training, jamming, and – if you’re like me – getting your eyes off the music and just playing.
As music educators, once we complete college and land our first job, it often seems like our lives become all about triage, right? We grease the squeaky wheels, we put out the fires, we swim like crazy just to survive. But when we finally get the routines down, and we find our flow, it’s important to remember that we should never stop learning and developing as musicians.
And that’s what today’s discussion is all about.
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Key Takeaways
Everyone doesn’t have to possess the same musical skills
You don’t have to master every skill. Everyone is different. It’s fine to have priorities.
Make sure you’re doing what’s right for you
Think about your end goals and make sure you choose a training plan that’s a good fit for your priorities.
Learning musical skills that aren’t directly applicable to your work can be incredibly beneficial
You may find, for example, that exploring improvisation can produce unexpected benefits when playing written music. It’s as if it’s all mysteriously connected…
Additional Resources
- Musical U
- The Musicality Podcast
- MusicEdSummit
- The Professional Music Educator Blog
- Try SmartMusic for Free
- SmartMusic Webinars (YouTube)
Elisa Janson Jones specializes in helping music educators build, grow, and manage thriving school music programs. With an MBA alongside her degree in music, she is also a coach and consultant to small businesses and nonprofits around the country, and serves as the conductor of her local community band. She has been teaching music for nearly 20 years and currently holds the prestigious position of elementary music teacher at a private K-8 Catholic School in Grand Junction, Colorado. Elisa was a top presenter at the NAfME National Conference in 2017 and will be presenting at state conferences in 2018. She is the founder of the International Music Education Summit and the author of The Music Educator’s Guide to Thrive.