Shannon Heaton - Tucking into the Pulse

In this 45-minute interview, #irishflute player and singer **Shannon Heaton** talks with author **Judy Minot,** focusing in on issues for amateur musicians and anyone who wants to learn music. She offers #practicetips on breathing, phrasing, musical expression and overcoming challenges. Shannon talks about fitting in to Irish traditional music sessions, breathing and phrasing, intonation, consistency in practicing, recording yourself, addressing your inner critic, being a beginner, and setting goals. #musicpractice #irishtraditionalmusic #irishmusic **Memorable Quotes from This Episode**   "If you're really not fluent with a language, you don't just jump in on the high level conversation. But just to say, "hi, how are you?" you just need a couple of words just to sit down and play a few tunes."   "Listening is a thing to do."   "Have high expectations for yourself. How much more beautifully can my rhythm hit? Nobody's going to say, 'Oh, my gosh, she's like, too rhythmic!' It's never going to happen. 'Her rhythm is too clean. Her rhythm is too, too lovely!'"   "Nobody said it better than my friend Alexandra. She said her biggest hurdle to learning by ear... was overcoming her own impatience with herself... At the end of the day, it's just exposure therapy and getting over your own impatience." **Guest Shannon Heaton** is a world-class American performer with Irish roots and universal appeal. She's also a prolific and creative composer and arranger. One reason I wanted to talk to Shannon is that she's passionate about making Irish music accessible to players and listeners of all levels and backgrounds. She's done this with her duo with guitarist Matt Heaton and with her podcast Irish Music Stories. Shannon has created free resources for Irish traditional musicians, including the Virtual Guided Session, the long-running tune of the month video and podcast series, and four books of tunes oriented to beginning and intermediate players. **Chapters:** 00:00 Teaser Open 00:48 Intro 02:10 Irish Music Stories, tunes, and Irish music sessions 04:00 Building blocks: Preparing to play in Irish music sessions 07:46 Learning to have a defined sense of rhythm 09:08 Active listening 13:09 Checking in on your pitch 14:08 Shannon's latest projects 15:58 A 3-minute consistent warmup routine helps with focus 17:21 Playing in the car, playing in the closet 19:15 Recording yourself 21:05 Being discerning vs being critical 21:43 Patreon info 22:08 Breathing 26:24 Phrasing 27:47 Being a beginner at things. Learning by ear as an example. 31:02 Finding time and motivation to practice 34:25 Setting higher goals and challenges 36:30 Composing 38:09 Irish Music Stories podcast 39:03 Working through mistakes and difficulties 40:44 Metronomes and the Casio beats 42:17 The In Harmony tune book 43:14 The importance of learning "session standards" 46:46 Outro