We can find many articles with tips for musicians that usually refer to the development of technical skills, learning structures, different voicing and mixing hacks, etc. However, this time we tell you something different.
What we want to offer in this article are recommendations -which are generally not explained in tutorials- as basic as they are important and which have been collected from the experience of different musicians with a long history.
The main objective of this article is to give you some guidelines that can be very useful to you . That type of information on which we have commented on many occasions “I wish I had known this much earlier” .
Below we offer you the 5 tips for musicians that we consider fundamental and that we hope can serve as a guide to help you improve and optimize your true vocation as a musician.
Table of Contents
1 – Do not see music as a means to achieve a goal, but as an end in itself
This first foundation, although it is applicable to practically everything in life, it is worth keeping it particularly in mind when we talk about music. Given that music is to some extent also a social phenomenon , it is likely to become an element through which the big media try to sell us ideas that have little to do with music and a lot to do with other interests.
Bearing in mind that music is much more than looking for the great opportunity in the current “Talent Show” is the first foundation that we must be clear about to develop ourselves musically, to get the best out of ourselves and pour it into music. Living from music should not be taken in a material sense, but rather from a personal development approach . The other may or may not come, but in any case, as musicians, we will be safe from any frustration related to our vocation.
2 – Choose your learning sources correctly
Tutorials, methods, teachings, access to information is today one of the most significant changes -for the better- that we have witnessed as a society. However, although it is currently very easy to access the information, it is not so easy to know how to find the most appropriate one and how to use it.
For this reason, beyond the fact that you can learn an infinite number of things on your own, it is also highly recommended to be able to learn from a teacher who not only has the knowledge but also something that is equally or more important, the experience .
Approach people who have an open and constructive vision of music , otherwise you may be harmed. Rigidity, (not referring to perseverance, work, effort, but referring to preconceived ideas, and musical sectarianism), does a lot of damage to any musician and, above all, when he’s just starting out.
In this sense, there are more and more musical teaching methods with a more natural, open and constructive approach. Music is an inherent aspect of the human being, a form of expression that, according to many studies, is older than any other, even speech. Can you imagine that to start learning to speak you had to know how to make out sounds?
3 – Don’t take a narrow view of music: What is making music production all about?
First, let’s analyze the meaning of the verb “production” It means to produce something , to give it its first being, to manufacture, to form something by giving it the norm, shape and outline that it should have, to execute, to compose, to perfect, to carry out an action or work, etc.
Well, having this clear, we expose a very common topic of debate , especially among “musicians who play a musical instrument“: Musicians vs. Djs.
As a DJ, Should you dedicates time, perseverance, effort and enthusiasm to his work , obtaining music as a result? Are you different from a guitarist who does the same? And we add. Is it different to make music hitting a congas, a wooden table, on the pads of a Nektar LX 25 , etc…? Does the difference lie in a play button, in a scratch, in a plucked or percussed string, in a saxophone key, in a piano key?
Is it about knowing how to read sheet music or understanding harmonic progressions? Would a self-taught musician do, or that he doesn’t even know if he’s playing a C or D chord? What would we do with musicians by ear?
The story goes that one of the most influential guitarists in rock and blues Robert Johnson, who nurtured musicians such as Ercic Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, had no idea of theoretical musical .
A school of thought goes that, with all respect for the DJs but they’re not musicians…. In the same way we respect plumbers that usually whistle their own versions and even create and hum original improvised melodies while they work.
Another say that a turntable, cd is a PLAYER, not an instrument and it doesn’t make you a musician. Each thing has its value and its world, but putting everything in the same bag only fattens, perhaps, the ego of some…. it’s a note.
Is it perhaps “good or bad” music?
Leaving aside at first the classification of good or bad , it is clear that a pianist or a DJ can make, generate, compose or perform attractive, emotional or stimulating music, whether it is complex or simple in its development or, on the contrary, , generate as a result a music that does not transmit anything, devoid of emotion and of any technical and/or artistic interest
The consideration of good or bad music is, at least, not very accurate, if we talk about the combination of rhythms, melodies and harmonies. Perhaps it is more appropriate, when we refer to music, to talk about richness, complexity, simplicity, intensity, development, precision, emotion, or novelty , for example.
Is it necessary to differentiate a musician from one who is not?
In this case, let’s find out the definition of the word musician. Of the various definitions offered, the second says: “person who knows the art of music or exercises it, especially as an instrumentalist or composer.”
Well, in our opinion, this definition is incomplete or obeys ways of understanding music that are far from the vision that is intended to be conveyed in this article. However, if we search well we will find that the seventh definition is appreciated more open, global, positive and accurate.
It says: “it is the art of combining the sounds of the human voice or of the instruments, or of both at the same time , in such a way that they produce delight, moving the sensibility, be it joyful, be it sadly”.
Be yourself, express your own ideas in a positive way and make your music a constructive element. Do not lose the horizon, always trust yourself but be careful, never be too convinced of your worth. If you doubt, if you watch and listen you will learn much more .
Don’t chase trends. You may be more or less happy with your results, but it will always be you and that is the main value. Also surround yourself with colleagues, musicians who share your vision of music in the most global sense.
4 – Do not set limits. Immerse yourself in the different musical contexts
Being or developing a rewarding task as a musician is not limited to filling stadiums, far from it. You must be careful with the messages to which we are all subjected, and not only with music, but also with fashion, physique, ideas of success, etc. These messages are full of economic, political and social behavior interests.
There are many activities directly related to being a musician and that they are immensely pleasurable and satisfying. Live musician, studio musician, film musician, advertising musician, video game musician, music teacher, DJ, creator, composer, researcher, therapist and a long etc., they can be a way of earning a living making music.
This does not mean settling for anything else, it means being happy with music as part of your life without setting goals that, on many occasions, are not even yours.
5 – Analyze what your life goal is with music
Music, as understood in a positive way, is an activity that can shape your way of life in a very beneficial and constructive way, but at the same time, if we get confused, if we look for things in music that don’t belong to it, it can affect us emotionally in a negative way.
You should also know that, beyond playing an instrument, music has enormous benefits for our physical and emotional health and this is also very important to keep in mind. Music basically has the same effect as breathing fresh air, eating healthy food, sleeping well, or receiving affection.
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