The Dangers of Swapping Instruments

I know that today’s post may seem a bit silly to some, but I wanted to touch on this subject because of questions some of my music students’ parents had about swapping instruments. First, to answer a specific question: “Is it normal that my child’s music teacher played their instrument?” Yes, it is, but they …

On Being Professional VS Being an Amateur

I recently read an incredibly interesting article by James Clear on the difference between being a professional as opposed to being an amateur. While the article is geared towards writers, the article can be applied to anyone who has a career as a creator (consultants, musicians, artists, etc.). There are a lot of ways to …

Groove LTD Gearing Up for the Release of their First Album

This post is a brief interruption from our regular programming because U-Nam and I have exciting news! We’re thrilled to announce that our latest collaboration, Groove LTD, is ready for it’s album debut! But we need your help! We are currently running a crowd funding campaign for the project through Indiegogo and by pre-ordering the …

The Development of the Saxophone

A History of the Saxophone, its Performers, Styles and Pedagogy Prior to World War II Almost every musical style where the saxophone is heard today initially resisted and rejected inclusion of the saxophone because of its abrasive and “primitive” sound. As both its players and the instrument itself have been refined and players have improved, …

A Fun Way to Work on Ear Training | Memrise

The skills necessary to become a successful musician go beyond just playing our instrument well. In addition to being a good musician, we need to have a good business sense, the ability to juggle a diverse range of tasks, and more. Once we start getting busy with gigs, the business aspects of music, and practice, …

How Learning Languages Has Made Me a Better Musician

I began studying languages around the same time I began to study music, and they are similar in as many ways as they are different. The one way I’ve found that doing both has benefitted me the most, however, is in that I can take the study skills and habits I develop for one and …

5 Practice Materials That I Actually Use

A while back I challenged myself to use Project365 to practice for an hour every day for an entire year. Although that’s really technically what we’re already supposed to be doing as musicians, there are times that we take a day or two off from practice. And as long as that day or two off …

What We’re Listening to This Month | Jun 2015

It’s time for our listening list for the month of June! It has been a while since our last update – we shared a playlist back in February – so we’re definitely overdue! Every few months we try to feature a few songs or albums that we’re listening to here at Teen Jazz. We’ll showcase …

Most Popular Music Advice Articles | 6 Month Update

Today I’d like to share the most popular music advice articles and music business tips on Teen Jazz the past six months. We work hard to bring you the most relevant music advice and reviews and here are the ten articles that you liked best so far. 10 Popular Music Business Books // We try …

Do You Have an Album Out?

Today I thought I’d do something a little different and open Teen Jazz up to you. Do you have an album out? If not, what about a single or an EP? So if you have an album or project out, feel free to tell us about it in the comments and share a link to …