Founder of Crescender
Lincoln Maurice writes about music, learning and the practical work around making music. He is the founder of Crescender.
A new number one and a long-running favourite tell different stories. Use this week's ARIA charts to ask better musical questions, rather than treating popularity as a lesson plan.
A film cannot contain a musical life. The useful question is which choices its compression makes visible, and which myths about creativity it asks us to accept as history.
Fair support does not mean an identical practice routine for every child. Start with the obstacle in front of the learner, then change the amount and kind of help.
Pat Finnerty's musical dissections point towards a useful habit: turn irritation into a specific musical question, then test whether the change you propose actually makes the song better.
The ear and the page give you different access to music. A practical way to train both, without turning your strongest skill into an argument against learning the other.
Minutes show that practice happened. A useful journal records the problem, the attempt and the next decision, without turning every session into an essay.
The lasting achievement of MIDI was a shared language. Its history offers a useful way to think about compatibility, musical expression and buying equipment that can keep working together.
Beethoven welcomed a machine that could specify tempo. Two centuries later, its most useful lesson is still learning what a number can tell you and what it cannot.
A clear vocal starts with a quiet room, a repeatable position and a performance worth keeping. Here is how to diagnose a home recording without shopping your way around it.
A reliable memory gives you several ways into a piece. Here is how to build musical landmarks, practise recovery and test what you know before the performance tests it for you.
Dorian is more than the white notes from D. Hear the colour of each mode by keeping one tonic, changing the defining notes and making short phrases that actually use them.
Build relative pitch through singing, tonal context, rhythm and short transcriptions. A practical sequence helps the skill reach the instrument instead of staying inside an app.
An ABN does not settle your employment status, and music lessons are not automatically GST-free. A practical way to organise the business without letting it consume the teaching.
Council boundaries, act categories and local conditions shape a busking plan. Here is how to check current rules and prepare a workable set without relying on stale fee lists.
A guitar in a spare room and a guitar travelling to paid gigs may need different cover. Start with what happens to the instrument, then read the policy against that reality.
A performer can give a song a life its writer never imagined. That comes from understanding the material and making decisions, not from pretending the writing credit changed.
Interpretation is a complete musical craft. Trying to write can still change how you hear other people's songs, and it keeps open a possibility you cannot assess in advance.
There is no useful national price without context. Compare the teaching, calculate the annual cost and allow for the instrument, materials and performances that make lessons a working musical life.
The gig is only one part of a musician's sound exposure. Rehearsals, teaching, headphones and recovery need a place in the same hearing plan.
Compare the exam format, repertoire, supporting skills, entry rules and real preparation cost before deciding which music examination board suits a learner in Australia.
A slipping bow can mean too little rosin, too much residue, worn hair or a contact problem. Here is a careful way to find the cause without making more trouble.
A simple count-in, count-out and payment reconciliation gives a band a trustworthy merch picture without requiring the singer to become a full-time warehouse manager.
AI can help with preparation and administration, but a useful music lesson still needs listening, judgement and a student who can explain what they have made.
Agree on expenses, reserves, performance fees and songwriting income before the money arrives. A clear worked example makes each choice easier to discuss.
Before making practice a daily argument, check the task, the instrument and the place it occupies in family life. A workable plan gives the child a clear next step and a reason to take it.