Strategies to Grow as a Musician

An ongoing series to inspire you toward productivity—part one

We all need a strategic to-do list that originates from someone else from time to time. Because we’re all so different from each other in what we encounter in our education (there’s so much information out there now, and nobody is a comprehensive expert on everything), and yet so similar in how we procrastinate or avoid growth, it’s helpful to imbibe advice that begins outside of the echo chamber of our own patterns of mind. It shakes you up and forces you to consider new pathways forward.

With that in mind, here are some ideas and actionable tasks to consider as you make your way as a musician:

Idea 1: Make a top ten list of your actual influences—your true musical heroes—and then make a list of performers or bands you wish had a greater impact. What’s stopping you from changing your stars (pardon the pun)? You can emulate the wish list as much as you like, developing along the way. Also, ask a friend who knows your music well to list your influences from their point of view as a listener. Sometimes others can hear our heroes in us far better than we can on our own. With such information, you’re armed to either expand or limit the extent of your personal musical DNA.

Idea 2: Find three online tutorials in a musical style you know very little about and watch them carefully—don’t multitask—give them your full attention. What does this style have in common with your usual style(s)? Is there something there you can swipe for your own and put to use on the next track you produce? Sometimes, an oddball stylistic choice can be the perfect fodder for a bridge. Listen to RUSH when they tossed a little reggae influence into the track, The Spirit of Radio (@3:52). The Police have done similar things across their now-classic albums.

Idea 3: Put aside 30 minutes each week to work on a new-to-you technique such as tapping, volume pedal control, or perhaps wah-wah. Or, maybe you’ll be drawn to the percussive techniques that some acoustic guitarists use to add spice to solo performances. It could be anything, but choose some things you don’t usually do and add them to your arsenal.

Idea 4: If you haven’t already done so, research distribution partners/services. At some point, you will create some tunes that you want to release further than the borders of your personal social media accounts. Distrokid and other services are essential unless you want to scramble through a lot of red tape on your own. Having a single online dashboard to manage these things takes a lot of the hassle out of it and gives you a more straightforward route to track any tax implications you might incur.

Idea 5: Borrow an instrument you have no considerable experience on and play for a week, attempting to “fake it until you make it.” At the very least, sample it at the end of your time with it and set up a virtual instrument for later on. You’ll never regret having custom samples to tool around with using your DAW or even a hardware sampler.

Idea 6: Add at least one real-time modulation device to your studio. The choices are endless: slides, volume pedals, reverbs with shimmer capabilities, etc. Practice using it to invigorate a particular passage of original music you’re stuck on or enamored with.

Idea 7: Get someone who is working full-time as a musician to evaluate your situation. Are you a hidden talent or someone who needs to be humbled and work harder to improve? So many people don’t realize how bad they really are—the Dunning-Kruger effect, in essence. Even if you’re a good guitarist, an hour or so with a piano teacher might open your mind to new things. They won’t have the same bias about the idiomatic pitfalls of guitar and will be able to look at what you’re showing them as mere music rather than guitar music.

Jumbo Idea 8: Get your hustle going because nobody is doing all they can to up their productivity game. Consider the following sub-points:

• Decide you will do everything possible to get out of the procrastination rut you’re in—you, yeah you! That means creating a plan, writing it down, examining it for flaws, and then executing this plan step by step. Get fired up! If you’re in a band, ask the strongest musician among you for advice on what to do next to make your collaborations next-level stuff.
• Finish what you start! Don’t allow yourself to make a dozen new 16-bar ideas that don’t relate to one another. Instead, focus on developing ideas in a single key for a single track (and/or its relative major or minor key). Work in the same tempo on all these ideas, thinking ahead about how you might integrate them in a tried-and-true pop or rock arrangement. Force yourself to write a proper bridge—so few people do. You’ll stand out.
• Mix as you go casually, taking care to observe peak levels (leave some room for mastering to happen properly). Part of this is choosing sounds carefully so drastic equalization isn’t necessary on each instrument. It’s OK to high-pass some things, as that ensures a mix has clarity and headroom. Don’t get too bogged down, however, as your goal here is to minimize the problems you’ll encounter when you complete your track and change gears toward mixing and mastering versus composition. You want to focus on the creative task without ignoring that you’re also producing and engineering the thing. You want to avoid headaches later on, so some judicial decisions at this stage of the process will pay off.
• Get on a music forum and ask for honest feedback. Don’t let the harsher criticisms slow or shut you down, but truly listen to what people say. If a stranger bothers to give you an opinion, it means you probably did something “right enough” to inspire them to point out some flaws. Don’t expect high praise or a deep analysis—but even a quick comment can be helpful if it confronts something you were not noticing on your own. Most people won’t even comment on garbage work, so take it all in, being willing to fix things, alter approaches, and change the arrangement. 
• Follow your artistic vision. If you don’t have an artistic vision, then GET ONE. You hit what you aim for, and you miss every shot you don’t take. Try not to die inside when people use sports analogies with music! Like artificial intelligence, your own mind is partially a product of inputs. Make sure what you consume isn’t silly because you don’t want to be silly. Be an artist who wants your work to stand the test of time. Be real. Be humble. Be about the business of trying harder to learn more. Get better tools if you have substandard ones or need new inspirational tones.

Finish what you start! Don’t allow yourself to make a dozen new 16-bar ideas that don’t relate to one another.