Qualities of A Musician (10 traits to be successful)

Being a musician is awesome. We get to use instruments and technology to turn mental notes into polished sounds. It’s kind of cool. But what are the key qualities of a musician? And what traits are most important for success?

Welcome to my list of the top characteristics for the modern musician to have and hone.

So let’s skip the chit chat and dive right in.

Let’s start with the importance of being forever curious.

1. Ongoing Curiosity

Relentless curiosity is crucial for growth.

As musicians, we have an arsenal of tools and tech to play with – but a lot of it requires a lot of work to learn. I mean, playing guitar and writing songs that way felt natural and intuitive.

So when I started learning music production, I was suddenly thrown in the deep end and felt like a complete beginner. It would’ve sucked a lot more if I wasn’t so genuinely curious to learn the damn thing.

So stay curious and embrace a beginner’s mindset. Focus on the learning part – there’s always room for improvement.

TIPS: How to boost your musical curiosity:

Have a beginner’s mindset
Learn things tied to your future goals or values and mission
Focus on new skills in your zone of proximal development
Timebox and practice daily – 1% better daily adds up and becomes exponential growth over time

2. Creative Confidence

Trying new things and believing in your ideas is crucial to grow as a musician.

This can be a hard thing to maintain. I know how hard it can be to take a new creative risk – especially when it goes against the grain, or seems to ignore “best practices”.

So cultivating creative confidence is key. It’s OK to question ourselves sometimes and hold our projects to a high standard, but try to keep a good balance and perspective on things.

TIPS: How to boost your musical confidence:

Cultivate a creative mindset
Stop comparing yourself and your music to others
Write down your strengths and weaknesses (and start chipping away at your weaknesses)
Zoom out and appreciate how far you've come over the years

3. A Way With Words

Being a solid musician usually requires good communication skills – and not just for scripting lyrics.

Being a modern brand is all about communication. Social media, video content, marketing copy and connecting with your audience is all about communication.

So having a way with words and knowing your personality is a huge asset.

TIPS: How to boost your communication skills as a musician:

Start journaling or start a blog
Be intentional with your word choices and messaging – match your brand image
Study other musicians you look up to
Use metaphors and colorful language to paint a better picture
Sometimes, less is more

4. Emotional Awareness

Music is emotional. Being connected to your words and songs is critical.

When I first started taking my voice seriously, I would solely focus on technique, breath control and all that. Of course, these things are super important, but I completely ignored emotion.

So my singing sounded kind of detached and unconvincing. Even now, there are some parts that are “technically” meh, but they work perfectly because of the emotion I’m portraying.

TIPS: How to boost your emotional awareness as a musician:

Have a clear direction and theme or purpose for your songs
Meditate and connect with your emotions
Talk it out with someone

5. Audience and Fan Focused

Having your audience top of mind is essential. Without our fans, we’d be alone.

One of the biggest qualities for being a successful modern musician is including your audience, connecting with them and making them feel like you genuinely care – because you should.

So if you’re curious about how to build your brand out more, just start with your audience. Who are they, what do they care about and what do they want from you?

TIPS: How to be more audience focused:

Use your analytics – which posts, songs and content gets the most love?
Be relatable
Be authentic
Respond to comments and engage with your fans

6. Hard Working and Focused

Being successful in anything requires hard work and focus. And this is one of the most important qualities of being a musician.

As artists, we should do everything we can to have fun, reach our flow state and practice daily.

It’s not always easy to stay focused and work hard – inspiration can be fickle. But if you do show up day in and day out, that’s when amazing things start to happen.

TIPS: How to focus better and get more done as a musician:

Focus on the process and fall in love with it
There are no finish lines – focus on checkpoints
Timebox your practice and music-making time
Don’t wait for motivation to make music
Don’t forget though, avoid burnout and have a good work-life balance

7. A Business and Marketing Mindset

As independent artists, we have an incredible collection of resources, tools and opportunities. But to take full advantage of these things, we need to have a business-savvy mindset.

Modern musicians often handle everything from the music-making, the promotions, the marketing, the branding, the content, the monetization, the distribution and everything in between.

So we need to have a firm grasp of basic business practices and digital marketing.

TIPS: How to boost your business and marketing skills as a musician:

Watch YouTube and learn the basic of social media strategy and digital marketing
Invest in yourself and take an online course
Don’t just listen to one source – cross reference and look for common themes
Focus on your audience and adding value
Know when to outsource things

8. A Healthy Relationship With Mistakes

I love mistakes. I’m obsessed with my weaknesses. And I can’t wait for my next failure.

This mindset has been incredibly helpful for my mental health and relationship with building a music brand.

The way I see it? Failures and mistakes are like opportunities and doors that lead you to the next higher skill level. You just need to find the key.

TIPS: How to embrace musical setbacks:

Focus on your strengths
Have a growth mindset (see number 10 below)
Remember mistakes are common – even for experts
Find the lesson you can learn from the mistake
Laugh it off

9. Self Awareness

One of the key qualities of a musician is self awareness.

It’s all too easy to fall into the trap of comparison and questioning your sound or abilities. So practicing self awareness is essential.

I still struggle from time to time, but I’ve been getting a much better handle on who I am as an artist, musician and creative.

TIPS: How to become more self aware:

Ask your friends and family
Write an about me page or your artist bio
Consider your personality and traits outside of music
Consider your goals, skills and who you want to be
Be open to change

10. A Growth Mindset

Having a growth mindset is essential. It’s a way of seeing setbacks and failures as opportunities and learning moments. It’s the belief that any challenge or skill can be learned.

The opposite would be a fixed mindset, which is like saying “you’re either born with it or you’re not…”

Having a growth mindset is so much better. And it’s way more accurate. According to science and brain neuroplasticity, our brains are flexible and able to change and adapt to new information and learn new skills.

TIPS: How to cultivate a growth mindset as a musician: