4 Ways to Improve Your Craft

Whether you're a musician, an artist, or head of Marketing, professional development is vital to innovation and career growth (or, perhaps more importantly, artistic growth). When we're focused on finishing the job, it can be easy to get stuck in a groove that is efficient but lacking in artistic innovation. But we have to remind ourselves that we are working artists. And art, like business, needs to be continuously developed.

​So, below are just a few of the ways composers can refresh their minds and spark creative genius.

1. Watch a Movie

Don’t just listen to what the music is doing, but listen to how the music works within the story and movie. Listen to what the music is doing for each scene. How is the music supporting the drama? What is the music making you feel? If there isn’t music playing, why do you think they opted for silence? How does that make you feel?

2. Listen to Music That Inspires You

​Don’t just listen to film scores because they’re film scores. Listen to what you like to listen to and what you like to play and let that influence your writing. If you like folk music from the ‘70s, then listen to that. Your goal shouldn’t be to sound like other film composers, it should be develop your own unique sound based on your own experiences with music.

3. Practice an Instrument

Practicing your primary instrument allows you to explore and perform music at the most advanced level you're currently capable of. Thoroughly knowing your instrument also allows you to perform music with the most authenticity. After you've practiced your primary instrument, pick up an instrument you've never played before and learn that instrument. Explore what new instruments can sound like. What do they sound like when they're played correctly? What do they sound like when they're played "incorrectly?"

4. Study Great Composers

Studying any music is usually beneficial. Even if an artist or composer isn't considered "great," there's probably something you can learn from. However, I challenge you to find an artist or composer that is far above your skill level and study their work. It's one thing to find a new way of doing something you already know, it's another to discover something you've never seen or heard before.