Professional music craftspeople have these skills
Professional music craftspeople seem to make music look so easy.
How can they sit down and effortlessly create awesome concepts on-demand?
How is it that some of their “throw away” ideas are even better than others best work?
Well, I can’t speak for everyone, but I know that for me it all comes down to a commitment to mastering the fundamentals, and we get there through learning how to listen with curiosity, rather than judgement.
When we listen with judgement, we put things into the frame of “good” and “bad” - of “right” and “wrong.”
But music is never either of those things. It is always some emotion.
And our job is to get in touch with those emotions, and understand how the choices we make impact those emotions.
This is why listening with curiosity is so essential - because we can simply hear the impact of the choices we are making, and log it away into our brain for future use.
In this post, I will share how this can apply to 4 essential skills.
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Essential Skills of a Professional Music Craftsperson
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1. They Know How to Use Music Theory To Craft Specific Emotions:
Knowing how to use music theory is different than just “knowing” music theory. And this is what sets professionals apart.
They know progressions that work - and can make them their own.
They can take any string of notes and turn it into a melody.
They have a connection to the emotions of each interval, and know which to use to make the emotion they want.
And they do this through their commitment to practice and observing the results with curiosity.
How do you gain this skill? Train like a monk.
Make tons of chord progressions - make tons of melodies - don’t judge them.
Just listen to them and make note of how they feel.
An intermediate musician is obsessed with the “right” answers using theory.
The professional craftsperson knows what is “right” or “wrong” is irrelevant - because those aren’t sounds.
Instead, they’re obsessed with how to use theory to get their ideas out clearly, consistently and with emotional accuracy.
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2. They Know How to Manipulate Sounds to Fit Moods and Context:
One could make an argument that music is nothing but sounds.
After all, notes are just abstractions humans made up to try to make sense of the sounds.
So having an emotional connection to sounds helps with absolutely everything.
Remember, the sounds you choose can literally define the genre you are in - or the feeling you get from your notes.
Take the same chord progression - play it in a gentle piano vs an epic brass… totally different.
Take the same drum pattern - play it in a trap drum kit vs an 80s electronic drum kit… totally different.
Once again, the professional knows it’s not about “right” and “wrong” - they know it’s 100% about feeling the sound, and being intentional with those choices.
Sit and listen to sounds… how do they make you feel? Turn off the technical mind, and open the emotional connection.
It’s what you did before you knew anything about making music.
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3. They Have an Efficient Workflow That Guarantees They Finish Tracks:
An intermediate or hobbyist producer often struggles to finish their work.
Meanwhile, a professional music craftsperson doesn’t have the luxury to not finish the track. It MUST get done.
So how do they do it?
It comes down to a personalized workflow that has developed over time through sheer repetition…
And an ability to problem solve and get through the mid-project slump. (I talk more about this in another email.)
Personally, I’m a huge fan of the Sketch to Production workflow.
This is where you “sketch” your song idea in a basic sound first - like a stock piano - and then focus on producing it with sounds, drums, FX, and more.
This helps you know that you are making something worthwhile before wasting any time stumbling around in random presets.
But each professional may have their own workflow tricks - and each track might have a different approach - it’s about building your toolbox with concepts that you can use at a moments notice to get the job done.
The one universal tip I can suggest is to think of what you will create before you sit down to create.
If you have nothing in your head, or nothing to reference, you cannot be upset when you do not finish anything.
Which brings to the next point…
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4. They Know How to do Proper Reference Track Analysis to Guide Their Work:
Reference tracks are everything.
I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again - and I’ll say it again after this email, too.
Reference track analysis is literally required if you want to learn how to produce on a commercial-level in any style you want.
Because reference tracks hold all the answers you could ever want to know about music - you just need to learn how to listen for them.
Not sure what chord progressions work in a style? Reference it.
Not sure what note intervals to use in your melodies for a certain feeling? Reference it.
Not sure what arrangement to use for a commercial track in x genre? Reference it.
Not sure what sounds to use to make a certain kind of track? Reference it.
Personally, I learned early on that if a client did not provide a reference, I would not work with them because if they didn’t know what they wanted, it was a recipe for endless tweaks that ended in dissatisfaction for everyone.
I also learned that if I failed to give myself a reference for my own productions, it was too easy to get stuck and not finish - or not finish something I felt was ready for release, use, or pitching.
Reference tracks fix all of this, and give you a map to create music that has a strong probability of resonating with the world.
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Being a Professional Craftsperson Is About Building Skills That Allow You To Create With Intention - This Is The Path to Mastery
It comes down to this: Hobbyists and Intermediates are often at the level where they are trying to “stumble” into something good.
Professional music craftspeople know they can make something good - and are now obsessed with understanding the language of music so they can create good things with intention - because this is the ultimate path to mastery of the craft, freedom of expression, and sustainability.
So if you’re aspiring to get to that next level of creation - get back to those fundamentals and practice, practice, practice… and don’t forget to stay curious!