5 key skills to be musical

5 Key Skills to be Musical

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Becoming a musician means more than just learning to play an instrument.

• There are a wide variety of skills involved in being a capable and versatile musician.

• Dr. Chad West is an Associate Professor and Chair of Music Education at Ithaca College.

• He has compiled what he describes as the five core musicianship skills.



"The Big 5” musicianship skills.• The five core musicianship skills are:

• Executive • Notation • Rhythmic • Tonal • Creativity

• “External skills”: the executive and notation elements of musicianship.

• “Internal skills”: tonal, rhythmic, and creative skills

• Inner skills let you bring music to life in your own way.



“Traditional” music education began in the second part of the 20th century and

continues today.• Dr. West refers to it as the “current practice”, which

focuses heavily on mechanical skills.

• In the past, “traditional” music education developed internal musicianship skills and music was passed on aurally.

• Notation and technique are easier to teach and more quantifiable to assess.

• But just because something is observable doesn’t mean it’s the most important!



Internal musicianship hasn’t necessarily been neglected in 20th

century music education.

• Good elementary school music programs do emphasize basic musicianship skills.

• These developed internal musicianship skills are referred to as “readiness skills”.

• Secondary school music teachers shouldn’t assume that all students have them.

• Teachers risk failing to continue their development past the elementary level.



“Audiation”: hearing and understanding non-physical

sounds in your mind.• A simple example of audiating is when you get a tune

“stuck in your head.”

• Another example would be your mind anticipating the resolution to a chord progression.

• When students are not being musical, they are simply being mechanical.

• Without audiation, students are just pushing buttons as they decode dots on a page.



It’s no longer necessary to play a musical instrument or to know music

theory to be a musician.

• With a computer, iPad, smartphone, humans can produce music without an “instrument.”

• Notation isn’t a requirement to create music, only to create “school music.”

• There are benefits of learning music theory and playing “traditional” instruments.

• But you can have an entirely satisfying musical career without these skills.



Many online “informal” music education approaches develop internal

musicianship skills.

• YouTube tutorials often start with the holistic approach of making real music.

• "School" music often starts with exercises that bear no semblance to music.

• Music becomes an “exercise” rather than an art and a chore.



Tips for beginners learning internal musicianship skills

• Sing

• Move to the beat

• Create rhythms

• Create melodies

• Listen to lots of music



Tips for more advanced musicians:• Learn tunes by ear without notation

• Transcribe melodies, harmonies, and rhythms by listening to them over and over

• Create alternate endings to familiar tunes in different keys and modes

• Take a familiar tune and recreating it in a different style

• Create new tunes completely from scratch.



Traditional methods of teaching don’t always focus on the necessary

skills for today’s music-making.

• Lacking are the advanced technological tools of making music and older core aural skills.

• By learning the five skills of musicianship, you can become a complete musician.



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