Music from A to Z: Recent Episodes
Az Samad
A simple explanation on picking technique basics based on a question my private guitar student asked today.
A riff on my thoughts on how to explore a musician’s works, both their written output and also their musical works. Lots of thoughts on books by guitarist Warren Nunes.
Sometimes networking is overcomplicated. This is how I think of it and how it has helped me on my musical journey.
An approach to speeding up mastery, something I’ve done for years even when I was a student in Berklee College of Music.
In this episode, you will find one this one seemingly super simple secret that many musicians don’t realise (and even underestimate) in their career as a performer.
Updates on what I’ve been up to, why I’ve been listening to songs from my childhood, the process of growing as a musician… and the struggles.
This is for the perfectionists and procrastinators. How do you start a project and how do you handle failure? Listen to find out one way.
Do you ever feel afraid to publish your content? Do you ever feel your gear is not up to par? Listen to this episode for my thoughts on what stops some musicians from putting their work out on the internet.
Platforms have changed over the 21 years but what lasts even when social media platforms and trends change? Find out in this episode.
2nd time Altimet and I hosted Malaysian Musicians on CH and boy was it an amazing line up of speakers... the stories!
Success can mean different things to different people. In this episode, you’ll discover some ways that you can look at it.
Talking about my experience—the first week starting new Clubhouse rooms with Altimet (Malaysian Musicians on CH) and Zee Avi (Nada Music)
A mish mash of different things I’m working on including some exciting bebop exercises I was checking out from jazz guitarist Cecil Alexander.
Talking about my tooth issues and some important marketing and mindset lessons from Steve J Larsen of Sales Funnel Radio
Sharing some stories about Joshua Wong from the Hong Kong band, noughts and exes. Joshua passed away on 25 December 2020 after battling cancer.
Progress of things today, future plans, content strategy and I’m on the Gumroad University launch page!
Talking about using Figma, a video that got a lot of likes on Facebook and pivoting to a different course idea for this month’s Kelab Gitar Az Samad.
Got some time off, which meant I had time to study some business topics, work on my design skills on Figma and read Peter Thiel’s famous book about startups and founders.
The one that I talk about making online courses and how it relates to Tony Stark making his Iron Man suit. And cake, I talk about cake and how it feels like to be 40 years old.
Flow of consciousness talking about my new courses, gaming life, TV shows I’ve been watching and how it feels like being 39 for the last 30 mins or so.
People die and their knowledge & experience dies with them. In this episode, you’ll find out my perspective on this.
Sharing updates on my experience reacting to the release of No Straight Roads, my new Diminished chords guitar course in Malay, thinking about starting to stream via Twitch and a new guitar club coming up in October.
If you have Gear Acquisition Syndrome (G.A.S), you probably don’t want to listen to this.
How can musicians perform and make a living now in these challenging times? Listen to this episode for my thoughts and forecasts on this topic.
Especially during this era of Covid-19, this one important topic becomes even more important. Don’t make this one fatal mistake.
Some days are pretty horrible, or seem that way. Here’s something you can do to unload those mental burdens.
Is it taking you 10 years to release a new album or work? What’s stopping you? Listen to this episode for some thoughts and reflection on this.
The world is changing for artists, musicians and creatives but are you changing? This episode shares key ideas that are important now.
This is what I learned from this one email marketer and it’s been helping me so much. Listen to this to find out what this is.
Talking about music theory, studying, learning, teaching and how this relates to me rewatching the first episode of Dark.
What a mind blowing experience that TV show was and my recent projects (and other things in progress)
Doing a joint guitar workshop/clinic/masterclass what have you this Sunday with professor Jon Finn from Berklee College of Music. You’re invited too. Sign up at http://gum.co/wrmj1
Jose Rosado, Dennis Demori, Ben Settle all influenced me. If you're a musician and you're wondering what platform is best to reach your fans, listen to this episode.
An issue that stems deeper from insecurity, status in society and self image. Listen to find out about my thoughts on this.
Thoughts on tradition, following what has been done and what an artist can do in the future.
Life can be hard for artists. Listen to me talk about this and my new eBook about this and the creative process.
More on this important topic! Listen to the first three parts first if you haven't yet.
Did you know that there are many reasons to learn ear training AND the reasons can change how you approach your practice sessions? Listen to this episode to find out.
The the 2nd part of a series of very practical tips for developing your ears as a musician, focused on guitarists in particular. This episode shares the basics of figuring out chords for a song by ear.
This is part of a series of very practical tips for developing your ear as a musician, focused on guitarists in particular.
Jazz guitarist Cecil Alexander has new musical exercises available in PDF format on his website. Should you get them? Here are my thoughts.
Thoughts on this great book for guitarists interested in expanding their harmonic vocabulary.
My thoughts on this instructional video by Peter Farrell, which is part of his many videos teaching George Benson's approach to playing jazz guitar.
Stopped exercising for a bit and now back at it. Thoughts on negative thoughts and dealing with it.
Fiction vs Non-fiction books, which one is better for you? Find out my thoughts on this episode.
A jumble of thoughts, if you're curious about what I'm doing now, this is the right place.
If you're not sure about what to do on social media as a musician, here are some thoughts.
Ada band? Tapi takde gigs? Kesian, kesian.. Dengarlah episod kali ini untuk dapat tips paling top untuk band awak dapat gigs.
Masuk studio, latih band, lepas tu macam tak improve? Mungkin band awak ada miss tips ini. Dengar, fokus dan selamat mencuba!
Nak dapat gigs? Nak dapat endorsement? Nak peluang lebih baik? 5 benda ini penting untuk band awak. Dengarlah.
Thoughts on the thought process of being a performing musician, stress, coping with stress and the challenges that face musicians internally and externally.
About this mistake and various ways of overcoming this so that you can build and deliver better art
Discover some of my thoughts of handling feelings of being overwhelmed especially with work or challenges in your life.
I answer a question from two UiTM mass comm students who just interviewed me for their research project.
Ini semua tips paling top saya boleh beri. Gunakan yang sesuai untuk awak. Industri ini sukar dan mencabar, jadi kena berilmu baru boleh berjaya dalam jangka panjang.
Semua ini benda yang saya amalkan dan ajar kepada students saya. Dengarkan dan hadamkan.
7 cara yang awak boleh gunakan untuk menjana pendapatan alternatif sebagai pemuzik moden yang bervisi dan berisi.
9 kemahiran penting yang teramat-amat, tapi ramai akan tak peduli. Akibatnya, kerjaya mereka akan tergendala atau tak maju ke depan.
5 asas penting supaya awak mendapat kerja dan peluang dalam industri muzik. Ini semua real world experience ni, bukan teori semata-mata.
Saya bercerita dalam Bahasa Melayu pula kali ini, pasal ilmu 'real world', kongsi tips untuk membantu mereka yang ingin berkerja dalam industri muzik sepenuh masa.
This wraps up this series of podcast episodes on the topic of, 'How to Make a Living in the Modern Music Industry'.
4 core aspects that define effective social media use. These are not tactics! This is what is behind the actual tactics. The thinking behind the work.
7 ways to make money as a musician besides the common performing, teaching and behind the scenes work route.
Ideas on how to attract work and money as a musician. This is an introduction to some things that I will be covering at my upcoming talk at UiTM Shah Alam.
This is an excerpt from a class I taught via Skype, talking about the importance of appreciating the different stages as a creator, as an artist.
In this episode, I ask this question: what makes you happy? I'll tell you what makes me happy and in return I askyou what makes you happy? Simple question but very important.
In this episode I share some a random assortment of stories from my childhood and how these random thoughts are things you can probably relate in some kind of way.
If you want to be more successful in your music career you have to know WHAT and WHY you're doing something. This is how you get to the HOW of what you want to do. Listen to this podcast episode to find out my thoughts on this process.
There are so many ways to make a living as a performer. Here I share some thought and considerations for performers to take when choosing gigs.
I read this tweet by I am Nick Yates on Twitter and I was inspired to record this podcast episode which talks about my thoughts on consistency and how it is the key to being successful.
In this episode I share my experience trying to keep a morning routine and also working on guitar licks. Also working on the project for the day. A few thoughts on consumerism and the need to buy new stuff for me to learn. Is it just because I like learning? Is it desire? Is it a need? Is it a want? Why do I want this? Also... just the entire process of what I am going to do on this Saturday.
In this episode, I share what I think people should be learning now if they're musicians and what you need to survive as a musician and thrive in the new music industry. This is my candid opinion on the situation and what I wish young musicians would learn now in order for them to have a successful music career.
Recap of work for today, including video segmenting, demo video edits, FB Live, Twitter Thread writing and more.
Work today, video editing, talking about a TV show and the state of the Music Industry.
What does a TV show have to do with being a musician? Listen as I share thoughts on this.
This is how I approach learning songs and how I encourage my students to do so as well.
Learn about my recording setup and the basics of what I recommend for musicians who want to start recording their own music.
About making new songs, other skills related to making music and surviving/thriving in the music industry.
The neverending desire for gear can stop us from making cool stuff. In this episode, discover how I think about the creative process and the gear lust that surrounds society (not just musicians).
Hey guys, The #AskAz Show EP 02 was originally done live on my FB page on Jan 18 2019.
In this episode, I talked about how to practice tremolo picking, chord scales ideas over a Dmin7b5 chords, blues soloing ideas, how to memorise scales, how to create modern chord voicings inspired by Nick Johnston, Plini, Chon (all those cool guitar players), Tommy Emmanuel inspired voicing ideas from his arrangement of Close To You and how to get inspired to practice (when you're not motivated).
I also talk about the new course, How To Start Teaching Guitar Lessons for guitarists who want to get started teaching for side income. Grab the course here: http://azsamad.com/teach
Hey guys, this was #AskAz Live Q&A Episode 1 on Jan 17 2019 originally done live on my FB page.
In this episode, I talked about why people buy new guitars, picking technique, soloing, playing over changes, the importance of knowing the guitar accompaniment (harmony), chromatic embellishments and more.
I also talk about the new course, How To Start Teaching Guitar Lessons for guitarists who want to get started teaching for side income. Grab the course here: http://azsamad.com/teach
A 3 step guide, to learn songs by ear.
Check out my new course, How To Start Teaching Guitar Lessons at http://www.azsamad.com/teach
Special extended episode sharing the 7 important lessons I learned during my time as a student at Berklee College of Music.
Brand NEW How To Start Teaching Guitar Lessons Course is out!
http://azsamad.com/teach
A day of work and learning today. Good stuff... A bit of a ramble but some important thoughts here.
Gary Vee, Yin, Grant Cardone and many folks are responsible for this new thing and the process.
Special extended episode sharing the 3 keys (S, S & S) to being a good guitar teacher.
Brand NEW How To Start Teaching Guitar Lessons Course is out!
➡️ Get it here: https://payhip.com/b/v9Cu
What I learned so far after rereading these classic letters from direct response copywriter Gary Halbert
This can be a sensitive or emotional topic for some musicians... but let's talk about this.
Are you a musician, performer or music educator? Focus on these folks and notice what happens.
Things I've learned in 2018, and the 3 things to focus on in a changing music industry in 2019.
I am guilty of buying so many instructional videos and books. How do you get the most out of all of these things. Here are some tips for you. :)
How I make podcast episodes, write blog posts and social media updates. This is how I create in between other things.
Music career considerations: geography! Is where you're based important? Here are some things to consider.
Discover how this podcast came about, my process, what I've learned so far and where we're headed next. :)
Fascinated with the whole thing and how the different creative industries collide together
Quantity vs Quality - why I do what I do & what you can learn from my process (and the thinking behind it)
How did learning User Experience and User Interface help me as a musician? Listen and discover what I experienced at Anisa Sanusi's Level Up KL 2018 masterclass.
Value is the thing and the internet is the great connector... we just have to make the move.
Joel Bauer was in Kuala Lumpur and I attended his talk on Design Your Destiny. Here are some thoughts I had after the event.
One possible strategy that has worked for me and I've noticed other people have been using.
Some people are trying to make illness optional and land on the moon, and we are trying to...
Learn how to focus in your music career via the exercise that you will learn at the end of the podcast.
Where I talk about why musicians don't progress in their career (it's not illegal downloading or Spotify!)
Discover what made me level up my playing over the years, again and again. (and a story about my class with Jonathan Kreisberg)
Looking beyond the music industry is important to understand why people get stuck in their careers... And how to get out from the rut.
As a musician, dancing can help you play better music. Wanna find out how? Listen to this latest episode. :)
Thoughts on creating content on social media, connecting with fans and friends as well as considering "the container". Includes insights I've learned from Gary Vee and Jay Abraham too!
These are three main things I learned from catching Gary Vee live today at the National Achievers Congress in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
I attended the National Achievers Congress in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and was inspired. As a musician, these are some of my takeaways from attending day 1.
Learn about how I view learning, experimenting with the process and maximising what works.
What I learned after getting 4 degrees in music and embracing the 'real world'. Talking about the other stuff besides just the music.
Just the main stuff, here I share what I think serious musicians should learn to help their understanding of harmony.
Mistakes that musicians do and suggested best practices. Hint: It's more about giving. Also, I talk about an upcoming next project coming soon.
It takes the same amount of time for these two things but one is more useful than the other.
Most people are doing this one thing, instead of doing these other two things. And, that's why they don't improve.