Success Beyond The Score

Success Beyond the Score is a project born from Millicent's willingness to support men and women in their music journey. Through her podcast, mentoring, courses and resources, she has already helped people at different stages of their careers to achieve their goals.

Last month, she talked about the what, why, how, when and where of creating and achieving your vision in music. The only question left to answer is "with whom". We aren't born knowing! Having mentors or teachers is an essential part of taking our craft to where we want it to be. That's why Millicent is putting together a new way to guide and support singers and musicians in their journey. In order to assist with that, we are currently conducting a survey to assess the topics of greatest interest among our audience, and how you'd like to learn about them.

Click here to start the survey.

It will take you at most five minutes, and you will get a gift to thank you for your time at the end. Your contribution will help us unde...

First, we defined the what, then, the why. After that, we looked at the how, and that defined almost everything for us. Now, we just need to make the time and space to execute our plan, and we will achieve our vision.

This sounds easy, and it would be in a world less congested, noisy and stressful than the one we live in. We have responsibilities with our family, friend and community. We have jobs and maintain a home. The technology that's supposed to assist us more often than not becomes an addictive distraction, bombarding us with notifications that demand our attention 24/7. It's challenging to catch a breath and have time for ourselves. 

Despite all this, it's possible to make time and space for our vision by working smarter, not harder. Don't sacrifice sleep or overexert yourself, that will only lead to health issues and burnout. Instead, keep your priorities at the forefront of your mind, and use them to take decisions. You are the owner of your attention, your energy and your ...

In the first article of this series, we thought about what we want to achieve. Then, in the second entry, we reflected a little deeper to understand why we want what we want. So far, the most practical part of this exercise has been to write ideas down, you haven't had to stand up from the couch just yet.

Now, however, we have arrived to the point where the vast majority of people get stuck: the how. How can we get to where we want to get? What do we need? Where and how to start? The questions and the uncertainty can easily overwhelm you.

The first thing that we need to do is to step back, breathe, and focus on the elements of our vision. What is there that you need to acquire? What do you need to do in order to acquire those things? You'll be surprised by how frequently a daunting task becomes simple and easy just by paying no mind to anxiety, considering instead the logical steps needed to execute it.

Let's say that your goal is to play at open mics in the next year. What do you n...

The podcast Success Beyond The Score was one of the foundational initiatives of the website full of resources that you know today. While the first season is already a few years old, it contains valuable information and perspectives that are still helpful. If you got a moment, why not revisit some of the episodes? Perhaps something in there will be relevant to where you currently are in your music journey.

For your consideration, here are the three first episodes of season 1:

1. Introduction

The what, why and by whom of the podcast Success Beyond The Score.

2. Is age a number?

Is your age important to what you do? Does it elevate or decimate your music? 

3. Who's going to make your music happen?

Who do you need to contact to make your music career happen, get you gigs and help you move forward?

If you have any comments, questions or observations about the content of these chapters, we would love to know!

Last time, I talked about my thought process when I decided to move on from being a hobbyist and become an established musician. I explained how I started cementing my vision by writing down what I wanted to achieve, condensing my beautiful dreams into describable goals. I also invited you to do the same, so you had your own material to follow along this series.

Now that you have the what, the next question is why. What is the reason behind your wish to reach something? What is the purpose that your goals serve to yourself? If you don't understand why you are doing what you do, or you lose sight of it with time, your motivation will dwindle. You need energy to overcome the challenges and obstacles that you will inevitably find on your way, and this energy, this drive that you need, can be fuelled by your reasons.

Just as we wrote down our whats to solidify them, we need to document our whys. Going back to them now and then to remind ourselves of our purpose keeps us focused and pushi...

I wasn’t born a full-time award-winning musician. In fact, I spent the first couple of decades of my adult life working in a completely different field. During those years, music was a hobby, a fulfilling one that I loved, but nothing more than that. Whilst I did catch the attention of a record label or two, it never came to anything.

At 42, I attended a concert by a friend. Seeing him shining on stage, being aware of his achievements and career, made me realise that I wanted that too. With my children in secondary and primary school, I was at a point when I finally had time for myself. The conditions were there, I could give professional music a shot! I hesitated for a long time, but finally, I decided to try.

I gave myself a timeframe, which was of five years, and sat to write down all the things I wanted to achieve during that period. At that point, I didn't know how to get there, but that didn't matter. The first step towards reaching a goal is to know what the goal is. Then, in ...

There are two days left for you to join Time For My Music. Upon signing up, you will get free trial access to the community's library of resources and information, and you will also get a 20 minutes one-to-one talk with Millicent, in which you will be able to learn more about the dynamics of the group and talk to her about your music journey and aspirations.

You can learn more about Time For My Music here and sign up here.

For your consideration, here are some highlights of the testimonials that the members of Time For My Music gave during the Evening Showcase last year, which was the first face to face concert they put together as a group:

With Millicent's support, we've been able to achieve things that we never thought were possible.
—Michelle

What Millicent gives us is the confidence to come out and play in front of people.
—Patricia

Time For My Music is togetherness, a way to put ourselves out in the world as musicians together.
—Melody

We have been pushed out of our comfort zo...

We're happy to announce that ‘Time For My Music’ is currently open to new members. The community-focused online programme, aimed at women, offers information, resources and support for emerging musicians to reach their goals in the music industry.

Learn more about it in the about page.

This is the right programme for you if you’re a female musician, singer, DJ, rapper or spoken word artiste, and you’re in one of the following situations:

• Music is your hobby, but you would like to take it to the next step by performing and eventually get paid.
• You’re returning to music after a break, and could use some support and a boost of confidence in order to get back in.
• You have gigged occasionally, but it doesn’t seem to be working, and you’d like to give your music one last push to see if you can realise your music dreams.

There's no level of gigging experience required, and you can join from anywhere in the world.

Sign-up now and get access to a free trial of the community group unt...

It may sound like an empty inspirational quote, but it's true: music is part of the human experience, and because of this, it's never too late (or too early) to start playing, writing or even recording.

Mama Kay is a brilliant example of this. This Japanese woman released her first song, titled ‘36 hours’, one day after her 59th birthday. This age is outstanding on its own, but considering the East Asian music ecosystem, in which pop idols tend to fade into obscurity before hitting 30, it becomes even more impressive. The song, a gentle example of Japanese city pop—which is a genre that hasn't been particularly popular since the 80s, although it's been doing a comeback in the last decade—has gathered thousands of hits across social media, and hundreds of thousands of people now follow Mama Kay, enjoying her subsequent releases.

Whilst we celebrate Mama Kay's success, let's not forget that internet numbers don't determine the worth of your music. Social media platforms are promotio...

No matter at what scale, life very rarely goes as planned. Some things are easier than we thought they'd be, many others are harder. Accidents and inconveniences dot our agendas, we get sudden ideas that we then have to fit in our day somehow. Mundanity gets in the way of greatness and viceversa. We're left juggling constantly while wishing there were more hours in the day.

For example, last year, my family and I finally got around to remodelling the kitchen. It was long overdue, and we were sure that the final result would be very good. However, doing it meant dust, noise, and a cramped house. My piano ended up blocked by a bunch of boxes. I had to keep an eye on what was going on during times I'd normally dedicate to practise. It hindered my creativity for some time, it made preparation for gigs more difficult, too. Yet life didn't stop. The expectations of my clients didn't change. I still had to show up and step firmly on the stage.

Although it was strenuous, discipline made it p...