Deliberate planning is essential to building our ideal musical life. We want to be clear about what we’re aiming for, and have a concrete...

"What progress, you ask, have I made? I have begun to be a friend to myself." - Hecato quoted in Seneca's Letters from a Stoic...

Music is a widely appreciated artform, and an important feature in many of our daily lives. It can connect people to themselves and...

"Nearly everything awesome takes longer than you think. Get started and don't worry about the clock." - James Clear Getting good at music...

Teachers are an essential part of anyone’s musical life. Many of us begin our musical journeys by taking lessons with various...

“When jarred, unavoidably, by circumstances, revert at once to yourself, and don’t lose the rhythm more than you can help. You’ll have a...

Since we are all limited in how much time we have to spend on music, it becomes vital to optimize our musical lives so we are as...

As musicians, we are required to constantly overcome challenges. We face those related directly to our music, like working through a...

Information is more abundant and easier to access than at any other time in history. Invaluable resources like websites, books, videos,...

“[T]here are many occasions when words are useless, and only deeds will make a man’s meaning plain; often enough, too, it is easy to...

Throughout my years of teaching music, I often felt an expectation from some of my students: That I should convince them of why they...

Ask someone what they fear, and a likely answer will be “failure.” Humans fear failure because of the distress we feel when we fall short...

Jeff Goldblum was the featured guest on an episode of Gregory Porter’s podcast a few years ago. Though best known for his acting,...

Seasoned musicians understand the value of hard work. We spend years in the practice room diligently refining our craft by drilling...

Advertisements targeted toward aspiring musicians often try to entice potential customers with an impossible promise: “This is the one...

Every musician knows how challenging the art and craft of music can be. Learning and practicing something new will stretch you, often...

Tradeoffs are an essential part of building a musical life. Being a musician requires a lot of time, focus, and effort, which means...

Over the years, I’ve often heard musicians explain their lack of desire to learn music in a deeper way as simply wanting to retain...

I have long said my interest in pursuing so many musical endeavors has been both a blessing and a curse. On one hand, I derive great...

If you’re anything like me, you may have found yourself bogged down with a variety of questions I call “the shoulds.” For a musician,...