THE PERCEPTIVE MUSICIAN
Watch a free lesson below
(playlist includes listening tracks)!
The Perceptive Musician is designed to help musicians and enthusiasts of all types improve their musical, creative, and interpretative craft. My philosophy is simple: music of all styles has a sense of flow, structure, and surprise, and the instructor equips students with tools to take charge of these essential musical elements. To master music takes a lifetime, yet everyone has the ability to learn the foundational principles that make music such a powerful force in our lives and well-being. Private and small group personalized lessons in composition, music software, and theory are also available.
The Perceptive Musician Courses
Module 1: Active Listening and Phenomenology (first session is introductory and therefore free of charge)
Learn how simple Gestalt psychology principles can transform your creative experience. In these four lessons, you will learn about how musicians create drama, motion, structure, and style through melody, rhythm, articulation, tone color, and harmony.
Module 2: Music as Metaphor
How does music express your lived experience? Explore the world of embodied cognition to better understand how to create the sense of movement, action, space, and storytelling within your music.
Module 3: The Physics Behind Music-Making
How do you write for musical instruments (electronic and acoustic)? Dive into the nature of sound and how you can write effectively for a variety of instruments. This last course includes one free 5th week final lesson for those who attend the entire month!
The Perceptive Musician (up to 15 students for 75 minutes): $24.99 weekly or $80 monthly.
Group Lessons in Composition, Technology (MAX, Pure Data, Ableton, etc.), or Theory (3-5 students for an hour): $40
Private Lessons in Composition, Technology, or Theory (1-on-1 for an hour): $75*
* Private students receive free access to The Musician Certificate Program session for the week of their lesson.
The Musician Certificate Program
How does music really work? It’s a question that most with even a passing interest in music ask, yet many aspects of it puzzle the most accomplished professionals. We do, however, know some things that are all too much overlooked, things that will revolutionize the way you approach your music performance, composition, production, and listening experience.
I am pleased to offer The Musician Certificate Program, a year-long program of online classes (with 15 students max per class). We’ll meet via Zoom for 75 minutes each week to define essential musical ideas and psychological principles behind them, listen to and relate those ideas to real music from a variety of genres, break out into small groups to perform activities, and reconvene to share our work. Each class will end with a take-home assignment that, if you do it, will receive my feedback and be shared with other participants as part of an unlisted YouTube playlist. We’ll also have a public YouTube playlist to showcase your best work.
Right now, the program offered is The Perceptive Musician. The other programs may be offered by demand.
The Musician Certificate Program Course Guide is downloadable here.
Questions and Answers
Q: When is the ideal time to start the class?
A: The first lesson of any unit. The modules are designed to go deeper into a subject during the month, but the three modules do not build on each other. Right now, The Perceptive Musician is offered. The other courses (The Interpretative Musician, The Crafty Musician, and The Professional Musician) may be avaiable by demand.
Q: What if I miss a class?
A: Every class is recorded, and participants have private access to the recorded classes during the month they pay for.
Q: What if I cannot read music?
A: Music notation is not used in The Perceptive Musician. Later certificate courses will require basic note-reading skills, and resources will be provided to help those who need it.
Q: What technology do I need to participate in class?
A: You will need a microphone, video, and the Zoom videoconferening software (free on desktop and mobile app). You will also benefit from a paper and pencil during class.
Other questions? Email me directly at dylanfindley0875@gmail.com.