The Transposed Musician: Teaching Universal Skills to Improve Performance and Benefit Life

by Dylan Savage

Music teachers know their students don’t just learn to play music; they are also exposed to universal life skills along the way. But that’s just part of the story. Currently, most students are largely left to learn these universal skills—like problem-solving, patience, focus, collaboration, critical thinking, creativity, and communication—on their own and often not very effectively. The Transposed Musician not only empowers students to better confront the challenges of the twenty-first century, they will also significantly improve musicianship—a double benefit. Author Dylan Savage spent two decades refining his approach to teaching universal skills through music, and he shares them in this book. Each of the eight chapters of The Transposed Musician focuses on a specific universal skill and shows how students can apply that skill to music. He then shows how teachers can guide those students to “transpose” that skill to life and back again to music with far deeper understanding and musicianship. With practical examples and clear writing, this book is for music educators wishing to help their students become both better musicians and also better-equipped citizens of the world. Students truly become “transposed musicians” for life and for music.

278 pages, Paperback

Published March 1, 2021

Reviews

[Mindy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a must-read for music teachers who want the lessons learned in their studio to transcend music and give their students the winning edge in all aspects of life. I've been a piano teacher for 30 years, and it was thrilling to read this book by someone who not only "gets" the universal value of skills learned in the music lesson, but is presenting a practical system for teaching students to apply these skills outside of the music lesson. The Transposed Musician approach is truly the music lesson of the future.

[Elise Opp · Rating 4 out of 5]

I highly recommend this book for music educators! While it is geared more towards a higher education music studio, I believe it can be applied to any music classroom to better our students, even if they do not become music teachers or professional musicians.