The mindset of a DIY music artist!
The process of traditional learning!
The months of May and June are an exciting season in a young person’s life. For many, it’s the time when they graduate. Graduation speeches are filled with the hopes of a bright future and a better tomorrow.
Education is so important in everyone’s life but particularly for a DIY music artist because it opens many doors of opportunity.
Even when a student decides not to go to college, whether they realize it or not, their education and learning continues! For DIY music artists, education is a foundation that keeps us growing and evolving into our better selves.
I was always curious about life and how and why things happened and so I enjoyed classroom learning. I enjoyed having an understanding of life and history and new ideas and learning from others. Don’t get me wrong, though, I didn’t enjoy every subject. There were some subjects I loved more than others and for those I couldn’t understand as easily, I realized it was because I wasn’t into that subject or the teacher’s teaching style didn’t help make the subject more interesting and engaging. I did, however, enjoy academics and eventually I earned a Masters degree.
But truth be told, the learning cycle is pretty much the same for 14 years—sit in a classroom, listen to a lecture, take tests, graduate. If I think back to remember about everything I learned, I barely recall anything that stuck with me. All those years I spent in a classroom from elementary through graduate school and barely any of the things I studied for tests has stayed with me. Yes, there are some experiences that I distinctly recall that I still remember, but the material I worked so hard to learn and understand so I can get an A, has disappeared from my memory.
We all learn differently!
We each have a style for how we learn and it goes without saying that the education system has some learning to do as well! The methods by which the education system teaches is the same for every single student:
subjects are taught through a lecture
homework assignments reinforce the material learned
tests determine if you comprehended the material or not
graduation happens when you achieve competency in all subjects
This method is perfect for academic students who love processes. But what happens to those students who are not into processes? The ones who are creative and whose learning style is slightly different?
We know not everyone learns the same way. Some people learn by being hands on; others learn by listening; others by seeing, etc. It’s my opinion, the education system should diversify how it teaches students so that each person receives the education that fits their style of learning. I think more students would enjoy learning if they were taught in the way they learned best.
Over the years, I learned that I am a hands on learner! Listening to lectures doesn’t work for me because as much as I want to retain the info, it doesn’t always stick. But if I’m involved in the process and I have the opportunity to use my senses, my understanding, my involvement, then I’m certainly going to learn and retain what I learned.
What kind of learner are you?
So, have you figured out what kind of learner you are? Which is your best style to learn? Do you easily comprehend simply by listening? Or do you learn better if you have hands on experience. Your preferred style for learning determines the way in which you absorb the information and put it into practice.
All of life is a classroom to the DIY (do it yourself) music artist! What is a DIY music artist? DIY stands for “do it yourself” and a DIY music artist is one who runs his or her own music business. You’re the artist but you’re also your own manager, publisher, social media manager, distributor, etc, etc.
In the very beginning of your music career, you’re going to play many different roles and you will have to find the right balance to be creative and also run the business side of your career. But I promise, with the right pace and determination, you will easily achieve your goals.
There are so many life lessons that will keep growing and evolving. If you’re looking to make a difference and have your music matter to others, then life and the experiences you have will give you notes, tidbits and teaching moments that allows you to incorporate it into your artistry.
You have the unique opportunity to learn to be musically technical and excellent in your artistry. Perhaps you had music or voice lessons that helped you get to where you are. But perhaps, you weren’t able to afford lessons and you had to work hard to be musical and develop your talent.
You had to read a lot or listen to youtube videos. You had to stay up late working long hours to learn an instrument. You probably have applied every learning style that exists (hands on, visual, listening, social, physical, etc) to reach your personal goals. Its obvious that if you are passionate about your music, you will do whatever you must to be your very best musical self.
“This is the mindset of a DIY music artist!”
Passion for your craft!
Passion is the greatest motivator for learning! Your passion drives you to figure things out along the way. Passion is what causes you to invest time, effort, money to achieve personal goals.
“This is the mindset of a DIY music artist!”
I would dare say that DIY music artists are the most committed, most diverse, most focused and most talented and most passionate of all who acquire learning! DIY music artists spend hours and hours learning an instrument and becoming really good at it. Training and development are at the core of your artistry because without it, a DIY music artist becomes stagnant with limited potential.
That passion to create music doesn’t allow you to sit back and wait for things to be done for you or to give up when something feels too hard. No, that passion drives you to push hard EVERYDAY! You don’t get a day off because each day is an opportunity to work on your music and your craft and so you understand if you take a day off, its one day longer to reach your goal. And so you work so diligently everyday focusing on small goals that you set yourself.
Don’t get me wrong! All work and no play is not the ideal mindset of a DIY music artist. Its so important to have down time because you need to give the creative side of your brain the rest it needs to blossom fresh with new ideas. You have to give yourself rest otherwise you will crash and burn!
The DIY music artist uses the process of getting to a stage, as their classroom!
The stage is your classroom!
We’re living in the greatest era where DIY music artists no longer need a record label to achieve success. Each artist has the opportunity to be their own record label and find success simply when they invest time and effort to learn and grow!
Its the passion to succeed that propels a DIY music artist to spend hours and hours writing music, then there’s the hours spent rehearsing! Eventually performing live music and touring becomes a dedicated focus that leads to studio time to record and release music.
Every time a new album project is released, this same cycle happens over again and each time you grow in the process.
Developing confidence and success!
DIY music artists are versatile! There are so many skills they develop along the way that it’s inevitable for them achieve success! The more skills they develop, the more confident they become to accomplish more! For example, DIY music artists learn how to do their social media accounts well because they recognize the importance to stay connected to fans! Then there’s marketing, distribution, promotion, sales, technology, fanbase expansion, and more; all these things are part of the learning process that a DIY music artist develops skills for. Every phase of a DIY music artist’s life is spent learning, putting into practice and learning some more. The more you grow in knowledge and practice, the more confident you become and the more successful you are when is really about making progress and moving forward.
“Make the stage your classroom”
So what’s my point in all this? I think DIY music artists are the most excellent of all students! You are in a class all by yourself. Your determined and focus mindset helps you achieve far greater things than what you could’ve learned in a classroom. Your passion and drive deserves accolades and you will see those accolades on the stage because that’s the place you’ll get to as you keep creating music and working hard to connect with fans.
As a DIY music artist don’t ever stop learning, keep investing in yourself and keep improving yourself to become the best artist you can be. Be authentically you and keep learning the things you don’t know! Eventually, you will reach the point where you will build a team around you who will support and help you achieve even more goals.
Make the stage your classroom!
PS…feel free to let me know in the comments how you’ve managed to learn, develop and grow as a DIY music artist!