Elevate Your Craft: Integrating Ongoing Education into Your Weekly Routine
In the ever-evolving landscape of music production continuous learning and skill development are vital for musicians and producers looking to push boundaries and unlock their full creative potential. In this article, we’ll explore practical strategies for incorporating ongoing education into your weekly tasks, covering areas such as instrumental practice, composition challenges, YouTube tutorials, and reading books. Additionally, we’ll highlight selected YouTube channels like Dubspot and recommend a few must-read books to enhance your musical journey.
Tuning Up Your Weekly Routine
- Instrumental Practice:
- Dedicate regular time slots in your weekly schedule for instrumental practice. Whether you’re a pianist, guitarist, or vocalist, consistent practice is essential for honing your skills and mastering your instrument and learning new techniques.
- Set specific goals for each practice session, such as learning a new chord progression, mastering a challenging technique, or improvising over a backing track. Break down larger goals into smaller, achievable milestones to track your progress over time.
- Experiment with different practice techniques, such as focused repetition, slow practice, and interval training, to maximize your learning efficiency and retention.
- Even if you mostly compose, dont underestimate the important of keeping up your instrumental skills.
- Composition Challenges:
- Challenge yourself to write and produce new music regularly by participating in composition challenges. Set aside time each week to brainstorm ideas, sketch out musical concepts, and refine your compositions.
- Explore different creative prompts or themes to inspire your compositions, such as mood boards, visual imagery, or emotional narratives. Embrace experimentation and creative exploration to push beyond your comfort zone and discover new sonic territories.
- Share your compositions with online communities or fellow musicians for feedback and constructive critique. Collaborating with others can offer fresh perspectives and insights to elevate your compositions to new heights.
- YouTube Tutorials:
- Leverage the wealth of educational resources available on YouTube to expand your knowledge and skills in music production. Subscribe to channels like Dubspot, which offer high-quality tutorials, tips, and techniques for electronic music production.
- Create a curated playlist of tutorial videos covering topics relevant to your interests and goals, such as sound design, mixing and mastering, workflow optimization, and music theory.
- Incorporate YouTube tutorials into your weekly routine by watching one or two videos during designated learning sessions. Take notes, practice along with the tutorials, and experiment with the techniques demonstrated to reinforce your learning.
- Reading Books:
- Dive deeper into music theory, composition, and production techniques by immersing yourself in books written by experts in the field. Here are two recommended books to add to your reading list:
- “The Mixing Engineer’s Handbook” by Bobby Owsinski
- “Music Theory for Computer Musicians” by Michael Hewitt
- Making Music – 74 Creative Strategies for Electronic Music Producers by Dennis DeSantis of ableton
- Allocate time each week to read and digest key concepts from books. Take notes, highlight important passages, and reflect on how you can apply the knowledge gained to your own musical practice and creative process.
Integrating ongoing education into your weekly routine is not just a task; it’s a mindset. By prioritizing instrumental practice, embracing composition challenges, exploring YouTube tutorials, and delving into recommended books, you can cultivate a lifelong commitment to learning and growth as a musician and producer. Remember, every moment spent in pursuit of knowledge brings you one step closer to realizing your musical aspirations and shaping your own unique sound.