We caught up with Neil Rigg, Director at the Music Study in Leeds and Co-Director of Renaissance Arts (see RA’s promo video above to get an idea of what their students do). Both offer hands on post-graduate training, advice and courses around the arts for those that want to progress their talents from theory into practice.
Neil shared his top 10 tips for those studying music but alot of them apply to study in general…
1: Play hard, Work harder. You’ve got to work hard to rise above the rest in every industry. Work hard for 45 hours and then play hard for 20. No more, no less.
Make a list of your 10 most inspirational people in your chosen career. Be as committed as them and after you have followed their footsteps take some further ones and outshine them.
Be fearless . Don’t be scared of getting it wrong. Love him or hate him , Trump lost 10 million before becoming the most powerful man in the world. And Thomas Edison went through hundreds of failures of the… oh forget Edison, he’s long dead.
Plan your life , get a five year diary, use iCal , make arrangements lists and organise everything to the last detail.
Don’t just learn the theory, bust out riffs on every instrument you come across. Being a well-rounded musician is as much about being able to tap out a paradiddle on the corner of a pub table listening to Drake as it is being able to read Vivaldi’s Symphony in G minor on sight.
Always show your best smile, be polite and take an interest in those you work with. You don’t have to be their best friend but regardless of what you think of them if you are working with them respect the work place
Learn how to be careful with money invest in your future. Keep your receipts (including even dog food for your ‘record label guard dog’) and keep straight with the tax man.
Keep learning , no matter how far you advance your never too old to learn something new. I guess that’s a no brainer though, you being a student and all.
Take note, even if you don’t think it’s right in your own mind. See the bigger picture it’s not all about you. And take actual notes. Richard Branson spends 64% of his fortune on Moleskin notebooks and Mont Blanc pens commiting 97% of everything he encounters to paper. While that might be a complete lie, the fact that the majority of successful ideas start out life in the ink chamber of a biro pen before being scrawled onto the back of a napkin is not. Honest.
Yep. Practice.
Visit themusicstudy.co.uk for more information on post-graduate options for music students.