Musicianship Mastery with David Lane

Instrument Spotlight: The Clarinet Family (with Kania Mills) | Ep18

This is the first of what will be many episodes in the Instrument Spotlight series for The Musician Toolkit, occurring once every few months.  This series is for anyone wanting to choose the instruments as either a primary or secondary instrument, as well as to inform composers and arrangers about the capabilities, challenges, and limitations of such instruments.  Kania Mills is an active performer in band, orchestra, chamber music, and as a featured soloist in North Carolina.  She teaches woodwinds at Livingstone College and Catawba College.  She will help us navigate the clarinet family, how to get started, the challenges with playing well, maintaining the instruments, and also some repertoire.
Check out teaching and performance clips of Kania from TikTok below:
https://www.tiktok.com/@kaniamills/video/7212036578632404267?_r=1&_t=8bPCRVdlHCc
https://www.tiktok.com/@kaniamills/video/7206732376855022891?_r=1&_t=8bPCU4zojoR
https://www.tiktok.com/@kaniamills/video/7196109017037737262?_r=1&_t=8bPCQcFR8oQ
https://www.tiktok.com/@kaniamills/video/7201345060041002286?_r=1&_t=8bPCbLUJoEQ
 
List of Musical Excerpts Used in this Episode
 
12:00 "Scent of Death" from Interview with a Vampire original soundtrack (Eliot Goldenthal)
12:40 "Desert Music" from Sicario original soundtrack (Jóhann Jóhannsson)
34:42 Symphony No. 4 "Italian", mvt 1 (Felix Mendelssohn) performed by Chicago Symphony,;cond. by Georg Solti
35:18 Scherzo from A Midsummer Night's Dream (Felix Mendelssohn) - The Cleveland Orchestra; George Szell
52:46 El Salón México (Aaron Copland) - New York Philharmonic; Leonard Bernstein
53:34 Symphony No. 5, movt. 2 (D. Shostakovich)  - Berlin Symphony; Kurt Sanderling
55:54 Clarinet Concerto, mvt 1 (W. A. Mozart) - Mostly Mozart Orchestra; Gerard Schwarz
56:23 Clarinet Concerto No. 2, mvt. 3 (Carl Maria von Weber)
58:09 Clarinet Quintet, mvt 1 (J Brahms)  - Karl Leister; Amadeus Quartet
58:33 Quintet op. 39, mvt 1 (S Prokofiev) - Kammerensemble de Paris59:29 Contrasts for Violin, Clarinet, and Piano (Bela Bartok) - The Rogue Ensemble
1:01:17 Black Dog (Scott McAllister) - Robert Spring, Clarinet
1:02:56 Clarinet Concerto, mvt. 1 (Gerald Finzi) - Robert Plane; Northern Sinfonia; Howard Griffiths
1:03:31 Concerto for Clarinet and String Orchestra (Aaron Copland); Benny Goodman
1:04:33 Solfeggietto/Metamorphosis (Eddie Daniels)
1:07:22 Rigoletto (Luigi Bassi) - Han Kim, Clarinet
 
Do you have a question about the clarinet family or any additional suggested repertoire? Let me know by telling me directly at https://www.speakpipe.com/MusicianToolkit or you can send me a written message at https://www.davidlanemusic.com/contact 
You can find this episode and links to this show on all podcast apps from https://musiciantoolkit.podbean.com/ . If you enjoyed this, please give it a rating and review on the podcast app of your choice.  You can also now find the podcast at https://www.davidlanemusic.com/toolkit
You can follow David Lane AND the Musician Toolkit podcast on Facebook @DavidMLaneMusic, on Instagram and TikTok @DavidLaneMusic, and on YouTube @davidlanemusic1
This episode is sponsored by Fons, an online platform that helps private teachers of all types (music, yoga, martial arts, academic tutoring, coaches, etc) with smooth, automated assistance such as securing timely automatic payments and scheduling.  Click here for more information or to begin your free trial.

25 Essential Classical Pieces to Know | Ep17

Not every music student or even professional musician has explored classical music, much like not necessarily every classical musician will know something about jazz or any other genre.  However, each genre has certain pieces that one should know from each genre regardless of your preference.  These are 25 of many possible choices, not necessarily "the best", but some pieces you should recognize by title and composer upon hearing.
Musical examples used in this episode:
06:53 P. Tchaikovsky: "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" from The Nutcracker - (Montreal Symphony; Charles Dutoit)
12:49 J.S. Bach: Toccata and Fugue in D minor BWV 565 (Hannes Kästner, organ)
13:15 J.S. Bach: Toccata and Fugue in D minor BWV 565 (Czech Philharmonic; Leopold Stokowski)
17:26 S Barber: Adagio for Strings (New York Philharmonic; Thomas Schipps)
19:48 Beethoven: Symphony No. 5 (Vienna Philharmonic; Carlos Klieber) mvt 1 and 4
24:03 Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 (Berlin Philharmonic; Von Karajan) mvt. 4 and 2
28:33 Brahms: Hungarian Dances 4, 5, 6 (Vienna Philharmonic; Claudio Abbado)
30:56 A Copland: "Hoe-Down" from Rodeo (St. Louis Symphony; Leonard Slatkin)
32:33 F Chopin: Grand Valse Brillante op. 18 (Valentina Lisitsa)
34:22 Debussy: Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun (Royal Concertgebouw; Bernard Haitink)
36:01 Dvorak: Symphony No. 9 "From the New World" mvt 2 (London Philharmonic; Charles MacKerras)
38:16 Grieg: Peer Gynt and Peer Gynt suite no.1 (San Francisco Symphony; Herbert Blomstedt)
40:13 Handel: The Messiah "Hallelujah" (London Symphony; Colin Davis)
40:43 Handel: Water Music selections (English Chamber Orchestra; Raymond Leppard)
41:30 Holst: The Planets "Mars" - (Montreal Symphony; Charles Dutoit)
42:13 Liszt: Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 (Marc-Andre Hamelin)
43:22 Mendelssohn: Overture and Wedding March from A Midsummer Night's Dream (London Symphony, Andre Previn)
45:11 Mozart: Overture to The Marriage of Figaro (Academy of St Martin in the Fields; Neville Marriner)
46:16 Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition - Promenade and Great Gate of Kiev (Berlin Philharmonic; Claudio Abbado)
48:25 Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 2 (Vladimir Ashkenazy; Moscow Symphony; Kirill Kondrashin)
49:38 Ravel: Bolero (Boston Symphony; Seiji Ozawa)
51:42 Ravel: Daphnis & Chloe (Rotterdam Philharmonic; Yannick Nézet-Séguin)
52:46 Rimsky-Korsakov: Flight of the Bumblebee (Berlin Philharmonic; Zubin Mehta)
53:08 Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherezade mvt IV and III (London Symphony; Charles MacKerras)
55:06 Schubert: Ave Maria (Barbara Booney)
55:31 R Strauss: Also Sprach Zarathustra (Chicago Symphony; Fritz Reiner)
57:15 Stravinsky: Rite of Spring (from Part 1) (New York Philharmonic; Leonard Bernstein)
58:21 Tchaikovsky: Russian Dance, Arabian Dance, Dance of the Reed Flutes from The Nutcracker (Montreal Symphony; Dutoit)
 
Do you have a different recording of these pieces that you'd recommend? 
Let me know by telling me directly at https://www.speakpipe.com/MusicianToolkit or you can send me a written message at https://www.davidlanemusic.com/contact 
The blog post that goes with this episode can be found here: https://www.davidlanemusic.com/post/25-essential-classical-pieces-to-know
You can find this episode and links to this show on all podcast apps from https://musiciantoolkit.podbean.com/ . If you enjoyed this, please give it a rating and review on the podcast app of your choice.  You can also now find the podcast at https://www.davidlanemusic.com/toolkit
You can follow David Lane AND the Musician Toolkit podcast on Facebook @DavidMLaneMusic, on Instagram and TikTok @DavidLaneMusic, and on YouTube @davidlanemusic1
This episode is sponsored by Fons, an online platform that helps private teachers of all types (music, yoga, martial arts, academic tutoring, coaches, etc) with smooth, automated assistance such as securing timely automatic payments and scheduling.  Click here for more information or to begin your free trial.

The Benefits of Score Study (with Andrew Callo) | Ep16

One of the great ways to learn how music works is to study written scores.  There are different ways to approach this but, in this episode, we're mainly talking about orchestral scores and improving the knowledge of harmonies, orchestration, development of melodic material, ear training, and more all directly from existing pieces of music from the composers themselves.
Our guest is Andrew Callo, a composer and arranger who has done a lot of work with the Air Force Band and a number of other concert works.  We talk about the benefits of score study to improving the ability to compose and arrange music.
Music Excerpts in this episode are:
(18:10) Beethoven: Symphony No. 1  (mvt I)  - performed by the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Herbert Von Karajan
(48:42) Holst: The Planets (Mars) - Berlin Philharmonic; Simon Rattle
(55:53) R. Strauss: Aus Italien (III. Andantino) - Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra; Ondrej Lenard
(1:01:18) R. Strauss: Don Quixote (var. VII) - Chicago Symphony Orchestra; Fritz Reiner
(1:02:28) Beethoven: Symphony No. 5 (I) - Berlin Philharmonic; Von Karajan
(1:03:07) Beethoven: Symphony No. 3 (IV) - Berlin Philharmonic; Von Karajan
(1:06:00) Stravinsky: The Firebird (Introduction) - Philharmonia Orchestra; Robert Craft
 
Andrew's additional notes are located here: https://www.davidlanemusic.com/_files/ugd/8c856b_addc1e9b18ca471a81a5747d3d6caf67.pdf
From this episode, what most resonated with you, or what do you think I should have included?  Let me know by telling me directly at https://www.speakpipe.com/MusicianToolkit or you can send me a written message at https://www.davidlanemusic.com/contact 
You can find this episode and links to this show on all podcast apps from https://musiciantoolkit.podbean.com/ . If you enjoyed this, please give it a rating and review on the podcast app of your choice.  You can also now find the podcast at https://www.davidlanemusic.com/toolkit
You can follow David Lane AND the Musician Toolkit podcast on Facebook @DavidMLaneMusic, on Instagram and TikTok @DavidLaneMusic, and on YouTube @davidlanemusic1
This episode is sponsored by Fons, an online platform that helps private teachers of all types (music, yoga, martial arts, academic tutoring, coaches, etc) with smooth, automated assistance such as securing timely automatic payments and scheduling.  Click here for more information or to begin your free trial.

The Musician Toolkit: How This Became a Podcast | Ep15

David Lane was recently asked, "What gave you that idea?" in regards to this podcast.  In this episode, he offers some insight into when he noticed these traits of musicianship, and how it developed before becoming the basis of this podcast.
 
From this episode, what most resonated with you, or what do you think I should have included?  Let me know by telling me directly at https://www.speakpipe.com/MusicianToolkit or you can send me a written message at https://www.davidlanemusic.com/contact 
You can find this episode and links to this show on all podcast apps from https://musiciantoolkit.podbean.com/ . If you enjoyed this, please give it a rating and review on the podcast app of your choice.  You can also now find the podcast at https://www.davidlanemusic.com/toolkit
You can follow David Lane AND the Musician Toolkit podcast on Facebook @DavidMLaneMusic, on Instagram and TikTok @DavidLaneMusic, and on YouTube @davidlanemusic1
This episode is sponsored by Fons, an online platform that helps private teachers of all types (music, yoga, martial arts, academic tutoring, coaches, etc) with smooth, automated assistance such as securing timely automatic payments and scheduling.  Click here for more information or to begin your free trial.

The Basics of Singing (with Katie Muhlenkamp) | Ep14

It's hard to truly understand the full expressive power of music unless you sing.  This is true especially if you're primarily an instrumentalist.  Depending on your instrument, you might be missing out on a chance to sharpen your skills of intonation, tone, breath, vibrato, and expressive details that some instruments lack.  More and more, innovative instrumental teachers include singing in their lessons for beginners to create this more intensely personal connection to music.
Our guest this week is Katie Muhlenkamp.  She is an experienced vocal performer in both the worlds of classical and musical theatre, as a soloist and as a choral member.  She also is a private voice teacher, and is here to talk about the basics of vocal production, some of the myths associated with singing, how to choose a teacher, and how to get some free opportunities to practice singing.
From this episode, what most resonated with you, or what do you think I should have included?  Let me know by telling me directly at https://www.speakpipe.com/MusicianToolkit or you can send me a written message at https://www.davidlanemusic.com/contact 
You can find this episode and links to this show on all podcast apps from https://musiciantoolkit.podbean.com/ . If you enjoyed this, please give it a rating and review on the podcast app of your choice.  You can also now find the podcast at https://www.davidlanemusic.com/toolkit
You can follow David Lane AND the Musician Toolkit podcast on Facebook @DavidMLaneMusic, on Instagram and TikTok @DavidLaneMusic, and on YouTube @davidlanemusic1
This episode is sponsored by Fons, an online platform that helps private teachers of all types (music, yoga, martial arts, academic tutoring, coaches, etc) with smooth, automated assistance such as securing timely automatic payments and scheduling.  Click here for more information or to begin your free trial.

Episode 13 - Listening Approach for Classical vs Non-Classical Music

It took 13 episodes since this podcast began with the premise of exploring 20 tools of musicianship that every musician should have in some proportion.  Finally, there's a 21st tool to mention: the skill of active listening.  This is different than passive listening, a fine activity where you just enjoy the music, but it is essential to becoming a great musician!  In this episode, we review listening strategies while giving some special mention to classical simply because how you become familiar with the music is different than how you would approach other genres.
Download the checklist of What to Listen For here: https://www.davidlanemusic.com/_files/ugd/8c856b_2d89c0432f4b45239fcd410f7b4e356b.pdf
From this episode, what most resonated with you, or what do you think I should have included?  Let me know by telling me directly at https://www.speakpipe.com/MusicianToolkit or you can send me a written message at https://www.davidlanemusic.com/contact 
You can find this episode and links to this show on all podcast apps from https://musiciantoolkit.podbean.com/ . If you enjoyed this, please give it a rating and review on the podcast app of your choice.  You can also now find the podcast at https://www.davidlanemusic.com/toolkit
You can follow David Lane AND the Musician Toolkit podcast on Facebook @DavidMLaneMusic, on Instagram and TikTok @DavidLaneMusic, and on YouTube @davidlanemusic1
This episode is sponsored by Fons, an online platform that helps private teachers of all types (music, yoga, martial arts, academic tutoring, coaches, etc) with smooth, automated assistance such as securing timely automatic payments and scheduling.  Click here for more information or to begin your free trial.

Episode 12 - 10 Things Musicians Should Practice OTHER Than Music

The ability to practice well is an important tool for every musician.  So why not put that skill to use on useful aspects of your life other than music?  Here are 10 things you can practice to improve that will either make you more efficient with your time, leave you better prepared to do the important work, or improve your relationships and your marketability as a musician.  If you want to be a successful well-rounded musician, make sure you're exploring these non-musical skills with as much intention as your instrument.
From this episode, what most resonated with you, or what do you think I should have included?  Let me know by telling me directly at https://www.speakpipe.com/MusicianToolkit or you can send me a written message at https://www.davidlanemusic.com/contact 
You can find this episode and links to this show on all podcast apps from https://musiciantoolkit.podbean.com/ . If you enjoyed this, please give it a rating and review on the podcast app of your choice.  You can also now find the podcast at https://www.davidlanemusic.com/toolkit
You can follow David Lane AND the Musician Toolkit podcast on Facebook @DavidMLaneMusic, on Instagram and TikTok @DavidLaneMusic, and on YouTube @davidlanemusic1
This episode is sponsored by Fons, an online platform that helps private teachers of all types (music, yoga, martial arts, academic tutoring, coaches, etc) with smooth, automated assistance such as securing timely automatic payments and scheduling.  Click here for more information or to begin your free trial.

Episode 11 - Sightreading Maverick (with Erica Sipes)

If you're a performing musician who uses sheet music, sightreading is one of the skills that you want to prioritize in developing, so this is the first of many times that this podcast will likely talk about this tool.  Erica Sipes is a pianist with a live show on her channel called Sightreading Maverick.  We touch on some of the physical tools needed to sightread well, but primarily we talk about the emotional and mindset tools that often get neglected when discussing this skill.
Check out Erica's services at https://www.beyondthenotescoaching.com/ and subscribe to her YouTube channel as well as watch past episodes of Sightreading Maverick (and tune in on Sundays at 1pm Eastern) at https://www.youtube.com/@EricaSipes
From this episode, what most resonated with you, or what do you think I should have included?  Let me know by telling me directly at https://www.speakpipe.com/MusicianToolkit or you can send me a written message at https://www.davidlanemusic.com/contact 
You can find this episode and links to this show on all podcast apps from https://musiciantoolkit.podbean.com/ . If you enjoyed this, please give it a rating and review on the podcast app of your choice.  You can also now find the podcast at https://www.davidlanemusic.com/toolkit
You can follow David Lane AND the Musician Toolkit podcast on Facebook @DavidMLaneMusic, on Instagram and TikTok @DavidLaneMusic, and on YouTube @davidlanemusic1
This episode is sponsored by Fons, an online platform that helps private teachers of all types (music, yoga, martial arts, academic tutoring, coaches, etc) with smooth, automated assistance such as securing timely automatic payments and scheduling.  Click here for more information or to begin your free trial.

Episode 10 - What Good Practice Actually Looks Like

When it comes to practicing music, sometimes the problem is that we don't always know what the process feels like when practice is good.  There are actually two halves to the practice, and not recognizing this leads students to occasionally either mistake the halfway point for the finish point or to rush the process in a way that the prepared piece is sloppy.  Listen to learn the 2 phases of practice, how neglecting the full process shows up in your practice, and finally... a picture of what good practice actually looks like.
You can see the graphs I explained on YouTube or on the blog version of this podcast found here: https://www.davidlanemusic.com/post/what-good-practice-actually-looks-like
From this episode, what most resonated with you, or what do you think I should have included?  Let me know by telling me directly at https://www.speakpipe.com/MusicianToolkit or you can send me a written message at https://www.davidlanemusic.com/contact 
You can find this episode and links to this show on all podcast apps from https://musiciantoolkit.podbean.com/ . If you enjoyed this, please give it a rating and review on the podcast app of your choice.  You can also now find the podcast at https://www.davidlanemusic.com/toolkit
You can follow David Lane AND the Musician Toolkit podcast on Facebook @DavidMLaneMusic, on Instagram and TikTok @DavidLaneMusic, and on YouTube @davidlanemusic1
This episode is sponsored by Fons, an online platform that helps private teachers of all types (music, yoga, martial arts, academic tutoring, coaches, etc) with smooth, automated assistance such as securing timely automatic payments and scheduling.  Click here for more information or to begin your free trial.

Episode 9 - What’s Keeping You from Being a GREAT Performing Musician?

There's nothing wrong with being average at anything.  As I once heard another podcaster say, "Most people, on average, are mediocre at most things".  To go from average to good takes some effort, but it's a smaller and seemingly less daunting step than to go from good to great.  If you're stuck on being average or good as a performer, one or more of the 7 reasons that are mentioned in this episode might be why.
The YouTube clip mentioning the performance of the Hammerklavier Sonata can be found here: https://youtu.be/yRDcgjvjj2E?t=17
From this episode, what most resonated with you, or what do you think I should have included?  Let me know by telling me directly at https://www.speakpipe.com/MusicianToolkit or you can send me a written message at https://www.davidlanemusic.com/contact 
You can find this episode and links to this show on all podcast apps from https://musiciantoolkit.podbean.com/ . If you enjoyed this, please give it a rating and review on the podcast app of your choice.  You can also now find the podcast at https://www.davidlanemusic.com/toolkit
You can follow David Lane AND the Musician Toolkit podcast on Facebook @DavidMLaneMusic, on Instagram and TikTok @DavidLaneMusic, and on YouTube @davidlanemusic1
This episode is sponsored by Fons, an online platform that helps private teachers of all types (music, yoga, martial arts, academic tutoring, coaches, etc) with smooth, automated assistance such as securing timely automatic payments and scheduling.  Click here for more information or to begin your free trial.