seven deadly skills
a round off
Wrapping up the first series of the Musician’s Survival Project two weeks ago, the final of our Seven Deadly Skills completed things with Adaptability. I wanted to write a brief sign-off post, to thank those who have read it and provided such great feedback. The response to the Musician’s Survival Guide has been incredible, so much so that I will be continuing with a second series as we enter the summer. When 2017 began, I didn’t remotely think that by the end of March I would have written 15,000 words on what I think it means to live working in music - but hell, I’ve discovered something in me I didn’t know I enjoyed quite so much. Life is funny sometimes.
So, what was the idea behind it all? It began, when in December 2016, I was contacted by the music coordinator of Platform One College of Music, Carol Matlock, and asked to hold a music industry seminar for the students there. With a day’s notice and the little time I had, I prepared as best I could by asking myself simple questions; ‘what is the clearest way I can communicate exactly what I have observed in my 8 years working in music, to a room full of budding musicians?’, and ‘what specific traits have I worked on that have ultimately led to money landing in my bank account?’.
Out came the Seven Deadly Skills. I doodled out the concept, using the scratch name 'Lucky Seven' and contacted top notch graphic designer Hugh Huntingford to make sense of my scribbles. It all just seemed to make sense quite quickly in my head-brain. Anything more complicated I felt overloaded, and anything more simple I felt inadequate. The seminar I held at Platform One was largely based around discussing these seven key skills. I took questions from the students, who helpfully illuminated the things I needed to explain more thoroughly. So when it came to writing the blog posts themselves, I was much better prepared having spoken with the students, with a bank of questions in my mind that came 'straight from the horses mouth' so to speak.
Shortly I’ll be releasing the Seven Deadly Skills as a downloadable e-book, so feel free to pop your email address below so I can drop you a line when it’s done. Thank you again for reading and as always I enthusiastically welcome any comments.
See you soon.
Ben Scott