Artists are handicapped

A handicap that torments so many artists.

If you subscribed to my newsletter a couple of weeks ago, you might remember I was offering masterclasses.

The lessons are closed now, but I wanted to share the most common issue that the people that ordered these masterclasses had:

The inability to carefully identify and observe the problems interfering with their progress.

What an obvious and simple thing!

And, it applies to everything in life.

In music making, there are two basic principles that drive the complicated processes that enable you to play an instrument masterfully:

Careful observation, and, taste.

Now, there’s a negative principle to these, and it’s the following:

Easier said than done.

It’s easy to say that you can’t identify the problem that prevents you from progressing. And it’s hard to acquire the tools to identify that problem.

For that, you need to really prioritize your careful observation and your taste. For the first one, it’s highly recommended to have a highly qualified teacher or mentor to aid you in the process.

For the second, the bestest thing you can do in my opinion is to relate yourself with as many influential things in that field as possible. If it is music, listen to LOTS of music, all day long.

Different types of music.

Listen to great musicians, find recommendations, listen to great composers, great improvisers.

Eventually, your ears and fingers will want to imitate those sounds. And eventually, after what seems like a lifetime, you will develop your own voice in music. And you will play masterfully.

Easier said than done. I didn’t say it was easy… and yes, you might say it´s not that simple. But I can argue against that. I won´t now. It takes too long.

Instead, here are some playlists to help develop your taste. Listen to them and save them so you can regularly update your taste :)

Piano Velvet (updated daily)

Elegant Jazz Evening

Bandoneon Inspiration

Enjoy! And have a great day.

Claudio.