Home | Music is Easy : Learn Music in Flow

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What?

Music is Easy is the result of 10 years of research and testing into Flow State Learning, informed by my own journey of learning all the instruments while leading thousands of hours of Music Education sessions and playing hundreds of gigs around London and the UK.

Started on this journey by Kenny Werner's seminal book 'Effortless Mastery' while studying at the London Centre of Contemporary Music, I participated in a groundbreaking cognitive neuroscience study into Flow State Cognition at Goldsmith's University in 2017 - The After-Glow of Flow: Neural Correlates of Flow in Musicians.

Music is Easy began with applying a Game Design approach to Music Learning. When the task is fun and a Learner has agency, they are able to achieve Flow State in their learning. In Flow State, Mastery is developed at exponentially increased rates compared to un-engaged, 'forced' learning. The two are simply not comparable: years worth of progress may be made in days.

How?

The Western system of music codification is majestic, wonderful, beautiful, elegant - but it is very complicated.

Conventional Music Teaching - in the UK at least - requires new learners to tackle the entire system of codification at the same time, with Stave notation, rhythmic notation, sophisticated use of language, learning Italian at the same time as trying to figure out how to make their instrument make nice noises!

In Computer Game terms, this is like giving the player access to all the tools, abilities and sophistications of the Game Systems at once. This almost always overwhelms the Player, leading to frustration and emotional turmoil. A well designed Game will introduce mechanics one-by-one, giving the Player the chance to develop intuitive mastery of these basic tools before layering on further complexity.

This is the design philosophy of Music is Easy. Consisting of 4 Core Learning Frameworks expressed as simple to learn but endlessly elaborative Games.

These Games are :

C is to the Left - a Tool for understanding Western Harmony using the pattern of the Piano Keyboard, and a Cognitive Diagnostic Device for identifying and supporting Access Challenges.

The Word Game - a Framework for practicing playing notes on the instrument, for creating patterns to practice, for writing Melodies. The Word Game contains emergent Gameplay and the Learner will discover and manifest Codification - as the difficulty level is increased, a Learner is required to implement principles of Codification as it becomes too confusing to use letters instead of noteheads on a Stave.

The Rhythm Game - a Framework for reading, practicing and writing Rhythms. By using a visual grid and counting numbers while clapping, Players are able to effortlessly expriment with all kinds of rhythms, including subdivisions to 16th notes and different time signatures, developing intuitive mastery of the feeling of Rhythms with a visual framework that evolves into codification naturally through emergent Gameplay. This can then be superimposed onto written Music, giving Learners a fun way to practice rhythms, and in time the ability to read written Rhythms accurately, quickly, and easily.

The Meow-Coaster - a Framework for developing the use of the voice as a Tool in Music, and a powerful tool for overcoming the fear of public speaking, and performance anxiety by using the diaphragm. In a nutshell, everybody can sing and use their voice expressively. The Meow-Coaster tricks them into singing the word 'Meow', and then they realise they can sing, so they do. The Meow-Coaster is one of my most powerful Tools, and it has a 100% success rate. Everybody can sing.

Who?

Hi, I'm Ed!

I've been a professional Jazz Musician and Educator in London for over a decade. When I was little, growing up in Indonesia and Singapore, I didn't know you could be a Musician as a job, so despite having always played the Tenor Saxophone I ended up studying Law and Anthropology at the LSE. I was fascinated by why people did things, and found my calling in Economic Anthropology. After graduating, I had a big think about life, and with several bad experiences at internships in Law Firms under my belt, decided I wanted a Career where I would be respected for my skills, compensated for my value, and did not have to navigate always complicated and often toxic corporate environments.

I was incredibly lucky, and thanks to my Grandma I had the opportunity to study a second undergraduate degree at the London Centre of Contemporary Music. Though I could read well and had got Grade 8, my ability to navigate Harmony and Theory was almost non-existent. I chose to attend LCCM with a primary focus on the Guitar, duplicating as much of it as I could on the saxophone.

Without access to any other funding I was also working full time in Music Venues to pay rent and eat. I slowly gained a professional and Musical skillset, learning about Music Performance and Harmony at Uni, while learning to Sound Tech, Stage Manage and about the Industry in Venues. At the same time, I got involved with Event Management through LCCM, organising more events at the venues they booked for Performance Exam Gigs.

For nearly a year, between Uni, Music venue bar work, and Events, I worked between 80-100 hours a week. As I developed my professional skills, I was able to secure better paid Sound Engineering Work, then Teaching Work, then Gigs - and after 18 months or so I was able to drop the last of my Bar work, filling the gaps with street performance - including playing on the Banks of the Thames at Low Tide.

I continued to get Private Teaching work through Agencies, and in my 3rd year I started working with Newham Music Service, delivering full class music lessons in Primaries and Secondaries, small group instrumental lessons, and designing and leading workshops.

Since then, I have worked with a number of Music Services and Independent Schools, including Wandsworth Music Service, Bromley Music Service, and have delivered thousands of hours of Music Sessions while refining my own understanding of Learning, Music and Neurodiversity throughout, maintaining a personal practice routine of often 6+ hours a day.

I have been exploring forms of delivery of Music Education and Interactive Content through Twitch, YouTube, Discord, and MineCraft. In addition to my own work, research and community initiatives, I work with MAMA.Codes, an EduTech company delivering coding workshops for young people around London and the UK.