Colin Thomson: Do More

 Quote of the Day “Amateurs look for inspiration; the rest of us just get up and go to work.” ― Chuck Close   Key Take Aways: What Are Your Keys to a Successful Musical Career? Success often comes down to the connection you are able to make with your audience Get input from your audience as often as you can Interact as much as you possible can Keep it about the music, and leave your ego at home As a band, it is essential to have musical chemistry with your band In any group setting, long term goals that are aligned, are headed the same direction, and openly discussed will lead to healthy musical collaboration Be obsessed with your passion. A lot of times, the passionate ones are the ones who survive the hard times, when other people quit Always create Force yourself to get out, and be on the scene. You never know the connections you'll make How Do You Find the Time to Practice? A lot of times, gigging is practicing. Take advantage of it to sharpen your skills It's essential that you are willing to take adv

Key Take Aways: Periscope is a live video streaming app, exclusively for use on mobile devices After broadcasting, you have the option to either save the “scope” for 24 hours, or get rid of the replay immediately 2015 has proven to be the year that live video streaming really caught on as a social medium The idea of live-streaming really catching on in a massive way should be very exciting for musicians, especially those who thrive under live circumstances The live aspect of performances has been an essential aspect of what musicians do, and until now there has been no social medium that allows for you to really display this side. Now, there is! Periscope really rewards the spontaneous types. While it is a good idea to have a certain idea of what you’re going to do, and practice and preparation and key as always - those who can roll with whatever happens are those who are going to thrive on Periscope Tips: While YouTube videos and all other social media posts usually do better when they are short, this is

Ian Green was born and raised in Niagara Falls, Ontario. Playing piano since he was 5 years old, Ian enjoys playing all styles of music including: jazz, classical, pop, ragtime, blues, and freely improvised music. A graduate of Queen’s University (BMus, 2006) and the Royal Conservatory of Music at Toronto (A.R.C.T., 2006), Ian maintains a thriving music studio teach piano lessons, music rudiments, history, and theory at all levels of the curriculum for the Royal Conservatory of Music. In addition to teaching piano and theory lessons to students of all ages, Ian has been very busy wearing many hats in the music industry and music community including: working as Music Director and organist at Ryerson United Church in Ancaster, Ontario; and working as a busy piano adjudicator, having adjudicated music festivals in various cities throughout Ontario. Ian is a member in good standing with, and has worked in a variety of roles for the Ontario Registered Music Teachers’ Association (also known as ORMTA) including Rec

 “In a time of drastic change it is the learners who inherit the future. The learned usually find themselves equipped to live in a world that no longer exists.” -Eric Hoffer   Key Take Aways: When it comes to social media, you have to embrace the concept of continual learning Think about social media as a school playground, where you have to understand social dynamics. Human nature doesn't change, and understanding how it works puts you miles ahead in social media Social media platforms are designed to foster social interaction. Therefore, interacting is the best way to make the most out of the platform The "moody artist" or "artistic temperament" doesn't do well on social media, or life in general. It's the tough truth... It's very important to be yourself, and to be real, on social media. This is what you need to portray through your social media profile Make as much of an effort as you can to respond to every single interaction you get, and to even start interactions with people. Interact every day As you

Key Take Aways: A lot of musicians get into teaching because they need to make ends meet This causes a lot of sub-par effort to be put forth by these teachers Ask yourself: What impact has music had on you, in your life? How much better is your life because of music? Now take a moment to realize that you are often the first glimpse a child will have into the world of music, and that their perception of this world has a lot to do with your mindset, your posture, and your attitude towards music For you, it might just be what you need to do in order to make ends meet, but for them, you are, in a lot of ways, shaping their perception of music. And that perception can last for a long time, if not a life-time So take what you do very, very seriously. Because it is serious! You have the opportunity to be someone’s introduction to music, and you have the power to make that either a good or a bad first impression Treat every lesson with enthusiasm and excitement! Find a way to pump yourself up for each lesson. There

Stephen Witt was born in New Hampshire in 1979 and raised in the Midwest. He graduated from the University of Chicago with a degree in mathematics in 2001. He spent the next six years playing the stock market, working for hedge funds in Chicago and New York. Following a two-year stint in East Africa working in economic development, he graduated from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism in 2011. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.   About The Book: How Music Got Free is a riveting story of obsession, music, crime, and money, featuring visionaries and criminals, moguls and tech-savvy teenagers. It’s about the greatest pirate in history, the most powerful executive in the music business, a revolutionary invention and an illegal website four times the size of the iTunes Music Store.     Key Take Aways: Almost all of the pirated music over the last 10 years can be traced back to one of three people The effort to get leaked music out, before it was even available for purchase, was very purposeful on the

Chris Foley is a pianist, teacher, vocal coach, and blogger. He is a senior examiner, faculty member, and Adjudicator Certification Program Specialist for The Royal Conservatory of Music. Over the last 10 years, he has worked as a vocal coach, musical director, and performer for many productions with Tapestry New Opera in Toronto. He holds a Doctor of Musical Arts Degree in Piano Accompanying and Chamber Music from the Eastman School of Music, and currently runs the popular Collaborative Piano Blog.   Key Take Aways:   Solo artist are very revered, but are rarely rewarded in any significant financial way As a collaborative pianist, you need a full pipeline of perspective work Work doesn't just come to you, no matter how good you are. You always need to be making an effort to become a part of any community you are in Those who are most successful in collaborative piano are those who can leverage their connection into long-term relationships. Then, those can lead to a variety of things, even outside of the mus

Paul Andrews has been teaching guitar for over 12 years and during this time has taught over a thousand students to play the guitar. Paul runs a successful teaching studio in the South of England and is part of the international G4 guitar school network. He recently released the third edition of his book "Learn to Play Electric Guitar” through his publishing company 6 string books which became an Amazon best seller and has written articles for Acoustic guitar, Play Guitar and Teach Guitar magazines.   Key Take Aways: Your network is one of the most valuable aspects you can have It's important to find songs and music that will make your students feel like "real" musicians because they're playing "real" music Build your network before you really need it Make it a priority to get a mentor, whether in-person or not. Don't try to do it alone Whether you have a studio, or anything else you're doing, you don't need to work with everyone. Don't be afraid to get rid of the people that are not a good match for you. Im

Read the original article here: "The Creative Apocalypse That Wasn't" by Steven Johnson    Key Take Aways: There has been a lot made of the downfall of the music industry. Charts show income and revenue absolutely plummeting for the past 10 years In his discussion, Steven Johnson talks about how, in the heydey of CD sales, right before Napster, the music industry had what would equal about $60 billion in revenue, and now that number is down to about $15 billion But Johnson posits that in general, the individual musician is not doing any worse financially now than they were at that point - and a lot of his explanation for this has to do with the role that live music plays in the music industry In 1999, the music business took in $10 billion in revenue from live shows, and in 2014 that number had grown to almost $30 While the super-stars to rake in the majority of this, the article goes on to state the the top 100 tours of 2000 captured 90 percent of all revenue, while today the top 100 capture only 43 percent

Nick Johnson, is a passionate musician with a unique ear for music, and helping artists grow creatively and professionally is one of his specialties. Recognizing an artist's vision for a song or an entire album is something he is very adamant about because he knows that it is up to the producer to bring an artist's idea or rough song to life while maintaining the initial intention of each project. Outside of the studio, he is all about sharing, harboring, and generating inspiration by interviewing artists and sharing their unique message to the masses through a podcast called TAP To Music. Not only does this help the artist being interviewed but it helps the listener learn and become inspired to create themselves.   Key Take Aways: Playing along with musical tracks is a great way to assimilate what is going on in the music Everyone gets into the creative mindset in a different way, and one of the best things you can do as a creative person is to observe and understand yourself and how you work - and then use

Bio: Tim Topham is an internationally-renowned music educator, piano teacher, writer and presenter. Tim has 20+ years of experience in education, having taught in the United Kingdom and a number of states of Australia in subjects as varied as music, outdoor education, PE, mathematics and IT. Through his blog at timtopham.com, Tim regularly inspires over 8000 teachers across the globe with his imaginative teaching tips and ideas.   Key Take Aways:   As a teacher, it is your duty to find out what kind of music will actually help your students to connect with music on their own terms Continually be trying new things in music lessons. You don't have to do everything you hear or read about, but keep trying to implement new concepts and continue on with the things that are working well for you A common misconception is that every little detail of music should be adhered to. This is often not the case when teaching pop music If a student comes to a lesson and wants to play something, it is important to step back an

Graham Fitch, based in London, maintains an international career not only as a pianist, but also as a teacher, adjudicator, examiner, lecturer, writer and commentator on piano playing and musical subjects. His workshops and classes, which he gives all over the world, have received high praise for their creative and illuminating approach to the subject. During much of the 1990s, Graham Fitch’s career straddled the Atlantic with solo and chamber performances in England, Europe and North America. The New York Times spoke of his playing as “unalloyed pleasure.” An international tour of Bach’s Goldberg Variations elicited rapturous reviews on four continents, and invitations to return to Australia, New Zealand and the USA. More recently he has given a recital, a masterclass and a keynote address at the 7th Australasian Piano Pedagogy Conference, and been in residence at London’s Royal Academy of Music. A published author, Graham has written several articles on aspects of piano playing and musical style. He has als

Key Take Aways: Creatives often hate to be pigeon-holed We like to think that there is so much variety to what we do - and there usually is! But people need to understand what we’re doing - and, if we want people to pay attention to us, we need to make it easy for them to understand You need to make sure that there is the smallest “barrier to entry” for people to understand who you are and what you do You might want to be known for EVERYTHING that you’re doing - but it’s not in your best interest to give people that much information all at once You are better off allowing yourself to be pigeon-holed initially by people who are discovering your music for the first time Then, if they choose to dig deeper and understand what you are doing more fully, they will come to realize all of the various facets of what you do But if you dump everything on them right away, you’ll lose most of them, and they won’t stick around long enough to even understand one of the things that you are all about First, you need to unders

Key Take Aways:   Give your audience the respect of the best performance of which you are capable, even when the circumstances are less than ideal As educators, we need to make the effort to understand who our students are as individuals, and therefore what songs and pieces will really connect with them Music theory is engaging when it's taught in a practical way. If it is not presented in a way where you can understand how you will be able to use it going forward it, it will be extremely dry, the way that most students tend to think about it Live-streaming apps and services these days introduce a whole "can of worms" for IP laws - but hopefully artists and musicians can not be paranoid of it, but rather use these technologies to grow their audience You often have to come up with 9 bad ideas to find 1 good one. Readjust your expectations accordingly Often narrowing the number of options allows you to be more creative overall Don't edit yourself while your creating. Just allow yourself to create without censo

Walt Kruhoffer is an independent blues-rock guitarist, songwriter and bandleader hailing from Minneapolis, MN. Walt’s unique style of rock music has been featured on numerous Minnesota media outlets including Twin Cities Public Television, KFAI Radio and WCCO Radio in Minneapolis / St. Paul. Walt’s rock band “The Lost Wheels” have independently released two studio albums that have garnered praise from Twin Cities Daily Planet as, “Some of the best blue-collar, meat and potatoes music since Foreigner”  In 2014, Walt’s band was awarded “Best Blues Band” of Minnesota as well as winner of WFMU’s (New York / New Jersey) “Battle of the Bands.”Walt also hosts the Bands Beyond Labels podcast, where he interviews successful independent musicians to get their takes on how new bands and artists can develop a career in music without the help of a record label. Key Take Aways: It makes all the difference when the student chooses what they want to learn and study, versus being forced to practice one It's easier than ever

Joel Boggess is the host of the “ReLaunch” show, and the author of the #1 Amazon bestselling book – Finding your Voice. Joel is passionate about sharing fresh ideas, success tips and inspirations through real life stories. He is a “natural” with broadcasting, and he enjoys teaching podcast and radio show hosts on how to book great guests and have engaging interviews. Joel’s vision is that, by May 2017, after 3 years of “ReLaunch”, he would have helped 200,000 listeners to learn to believe in themselves again.   Key Take Aways:   The first people you should call are the people who already know you and like you Be specific about the actions that you need your launch team to take You're only as good as the team that you are able to assemble When putting together a team, do not just send an email blast to your entire list of contacts Instead, be careful and specific about your hand-chosen launch team Get a soft yes initially, thank them, and then tell them that you'll get back to them with more information. What

Key Take Aways: What is your potential? - we usually think it’s basically limitless What is the only way to find your potential? - it’s to produce When you produce anything, there’s only one place you can start from: exactly where you are at this instance Not where you think you can be sometime in the future This means: you are forced to come to grips with the complete understanding of what your abilities are AT THIS SECOND But THIS second is all that counts! You can have all of the potential in the world bottled up inside of you, but if you’ve done nothing to cultivate that potential - it doesn’t count for anything Is flies against some of the ideas of perfectionism that can sometimes come into play for the artist And perfectionism is good in the amount that it can drive you to really push yourself, and to work really hard But perfectionism can be a hinderance when it comes to actually putting products out there, into the world, as finished products This means: not hiding, telling everyone “oh, this is just

Colin Thomson is a composer for media, music educator, and host of the podcast The Modern Musician Show. Colin writes music for a variety of media, including game, TV and film. He also runs the website sightreadingacademy.com, which provide music students with a steady stream of new sight-reading material, as well as innovative video exercises to help students read ahead. Colin also hosts the podcast The Modern Musician Show, where he interviews musicians as well as "outsiders" to the music industry, to find out what musicians can and should be doing to lead fulfilling and financially successful careers in music today. Key Take Aways: Hustle makes up for a lot. A lot of times, the person with the most hustle wins Soft skills (speaking with people and making a good impression on them) is an essential aspect of "making it" in the music industry A lot of times, what you are doing now will pay off in a few years. You just need to keep putting in the effort When you persistently take actions, one built upon anoth

Bio: David Hart is a guitar teacher based in Sydney, Australia. He sold his first music school (Learn2Play Music) in 2003, and walk away from that project with quite a bit of debt.  This was followed by a time of soul-searching and financial difficulties. He dug deep, wanting to know everything possible about business, coaching and success. The knowledge and experience all came together in 2005 when he launched G4 Guitar, and after 2 years he had enrolled over 3,000 students from scratch and with no initial money. By 2010 he had begun to franchise, and he now has 50+ teachers operating in Australia, Canada, US and the UK, impacting a total of over 10,000 students as of today. Key Take Aways: You always need to find new and creative ways to leverage your time When learning, it's essential that students understand where they are A lot of times the most valuable thing you will get out of any events you attend will be the relationships you are able to build Listen to others, and learn from other people. You will

Mark Sommerville is an audio engineer, music producer, and sound designer currently based in Los Angeles, CA. He works with a wide variety of artists and composers around the world, providing high-quality mixing, mastering, and sound design for visual media. Mark is the co-creator and current owner of The Wave Shop. As an entrepreneur, Mark has been self-employed as a producer/engineer ever since graduating from college. Today he still is active in the music and audio world, but also has broadened his interests to filmmaking as a writer and creative producer for The Zach King Team.   Key Take Aways: Finish projects. You learn more from releasing several things that are less than perfect than you do from taking forever to perfect one track Perfectionism has it's place. But you've got to get something out there, to show what you can do, even if you think it's not your absolute best. You have to have something to show people  If you give people free advice and education on a subject, a lot of times it will come