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listen to learn! whether it be a new song, style, or how to interpret a piece. 𖦹｡˚⋆ฺ ♪

- for a song/piece: build a playlist of your repertoire and listen to it before you start figuring out how to play the music on your instrument. in doing so, you are ingraining the piece into your aural memory—your brain is mapping out a blueprint for the structure, dynamics, and overall feeling of the music ♡︎⁂ having this blueprint will greatly speed up the learning process!

- for a style: if you are trying to capture a musical style (eg. pop singing, jazz piano), the first step is exposing yourself to that style ✔︎*｡⋆ listen closely to artists/albums/songs within the genre and see what they have in common—do they tend to sing in a similar register or with a certain larynx position? what is the phrasing like? do you notice any specific textures or repeating motives? once you determine the defining characteristics of the style, try to emulate them!

- for interpretation: search for your piece on any streaming platform and listen to several different artists’ interpretations. figure out what you like and don’t like in each one, and then try to incorporate those choices into your performance! ✲ﾟ｡⋆