I love starting the New Year with a new reading list.

It’s my tradition here on the blog to share my book list in January: this year, I’m planning to read a mix of novels, personal & intellectual books, nonfiction & memoir, and a couple of business books to balance things out.

As a musician, your work demands creativity, focus, and energy—sometimes all at once.

From teaching to practicing, performing to dealing with all the behind-the-scenes admin work, it’s easy to feel burnt out creatively, lose focus, and lack motivation.

You’re balancing multiple jobs and projects at any given time. But it’s not just about being productive—it’s learning how to find clarity and reset your focus.

Pushing through when your attention starts to wane isn’t always the best strategy. Instead, what if the key to doing better work was knowing when to take a step back, when to take a break?

One of my favorite ways to kick off the New Year is by diving into a new reading list. It’s become a tradition here on the blog to share my book picks at the start of each year—a mix of business insights, inspiring memoirs, thought-provoking nonfiction, and a few captivating novels to round things out.

Copyright.

It's a sticky subject and one not often taught in music school.

Copyright law protects anything with intellectual property rights. This includes poetry, books, photographs, art, song lyrics, music, and more.

How does it affect what you do as a musician, teacher, freelancer, artist, or small business owner? What do you need to know?

What does it mean to be a leader? And what does it take to be a great one?

Leadership has been defined as “the art of motivating a group of people to act towards achieving a common goal.” (source) Thus, a leader is one who inspires and directs that collective action.

This requires a certain set of skills and character traits, though experts say you can learn and develop these skills with time and experience. 

You don’t have to be born with all of these skills and traits to be a great leader.

Happy New Year! I’m excited to share my book list for 2024.

I like to vary my reading material throughout the year by choosing books from several different categories. Here’s what’s on this year’s list:

It’s that time of year—time to share my book list for 2023.

As you know, I like to mix up my reading material throughout the year by choosing books from several different categories.

If you’ve been following along for a while, you know that every January, I share my book list for the upcoming year. I usually choose books from several different categories because I like mixing up my reading material throughout the year.

One of my favorite traditions is putting together a book list at the beginning of each year. I try to choose a variety of books (old and new) from a few different categories:

Business, Spiritual & Lifestyle, Fiction, Personal/Intellectual, Nonfiction/Memoir

This helps me be intentional about the books I read and ensure some diversity (so I don’t end up reading only one type of book!).

Looking for books to read this coming year? I hope you find something interesting and relevant on this list.

The beginning of a new career is an exciting time, full of energy, motivation, and possibility.

Maybe you’re taking that first step from music student to music professional, newly-printed diploma in hand (or in the mail - sometimes these things take a while).

Or maybe you’ve been working for a few years and are ready to make a change and set off in a new direction.

Maybe you’re in between things: trying to figure out what you want to do and what kind of musician you want to become, or maybe you’re beginning a second career later in life.

Wherever you are today, and wherever you hope to be in the next few months, here are 5 helpful tips for getting started: