The genius content creator behind the viral instagram account – The Wise Musician.

Michelle Lynne: Hey, everybody. And welcome back to The Fearless Artist Podcast. My name is Michelle Lynne, and today I’m so excited to have my new friend, Nick Akdag, from The Wise Musician on Instagram. Welcome, Nick.

Nick Akdag: Great to be with you, Michelle. Amazing. Thanks so much for having me.

Michelle Lynne: My gosh. Today’s a big day because we’re going to be talking through your huge account, which has a massive following you’ve amassed over the last few years, 250,000 Instagram followers, because you post amazing content of musicians all over. And I’ll let you obviously explain that. And I think so many people have found your page, been inspired by that. And you, up till now, have not revealed who’s behind all of this. So today we’re introducing you to your audience and we’re going to talk a little bit about why you started, what keeps you going, and, uh, yeah, how it is for you to manage something this big.

Nick Akdag: Great. Great. Yeah. Small correction only. I’m at two twenty-five right now, so I hope to get to two fifty. Hopefully, we’ll get to two fifty, but…

Michelle Lynne: Yeah. Um, okay, cool. Let’s start with your origin story. I always like to hear a little bit. So you’re a bassoon player.

Nick Akdag: Bassoon player. I’ve been playing since I was about 12 years old.

Michelle Lynne: For high school, I went to this place called Idlewild Arts Academy in California, which is like a private arts high school. So it’s like a boarding school where you live there and you study music full time.

Nick Akdag: So that changed my life because the level was extremely high compared to what I was coming from and people graduating from there were going to like Curtis, Juilliard, you know, like all the good schools. So like it instantly raises your level to just be around people that are better than you. So that’s what it was for me at that stage. And so, yeah, then I went to Rice University after that and then went to Yale and then I went over to Germany for two years and studied at the Hans Eisler Hochschule in Berlin for two years, which was amazing. California now do a freelancing chamber music. I played with this group called the Kaleidoscope Chamber Orchestra for a while. They’re largely moved out of California at this point, but, um, you know, it was a pandemic casualty kind of…

Michelle Lynne: Oh man.

Nick Akdag: But I was playing with them. That was a conductorless orchestra in California, which was great. And I was part of the artistic team on that group. So we were like, you know, deciding which repertoire we were going to play, who would play with us. We had concerto competitions, we had a new music edition, so it was a whole great thing that we did. And yeah, I’ve been, you know, sub with the LA Phil sub with different orchestras here. And, um, yeah, and I have an academic career as well. I teach at a college out here, so that takes up a lot of my time.

Michelle Lynne: Yeah. Plus you run a full-time Instagram job. I’m curious what this Kaleidoscope Chamber Orchestra, I saw a little bit of a clip and it looked really cool. Like how often were you guys performing?

Nick Akdag: We did about one project a month, you know, it was like a part-time chamber orchestra. A lot of chamber orchestras are run that way, you know, it’s not like every week, but it’s like once a month, but yeah, we’d rehearse all week and the rehearsals were somewhat chaotic because there was no leader, you know, it’s like everybody chiming in and that could get a little crazy with, like, 50 plus people depending on the piece.

Michelle Lynne: Wow.

Nick Akdag: But yeah, it was amazing. And the performances were very high energy and we somehow worked it out, but there are some pieces that we played without a conductor that were extremely challenging, like “La Mer” by Debussy, which is a crazy piece because, you know, every 10 measures you have a tempo change and it’s just, uh, you really need a conductor on that piece, but somehow we did it without, but it worked.

Michelle Lynne: I’m interested in hearing what the leadership aspect of this, because as you’re saying, there’s no leader, but I mean, ultimately somebody has to jump in and make some decisions. Like how did that work?

Nick Akdag: There would be certain people that would tend to run things. You know, the concertmaster obviously was more heavily involved. They tended to be more heavily involved than other people, but yeah, I mean, it was kind of a free-for-all in terms of if you wanted to chime in and give a suggestion, if you’re playing second trombone, you could.

Michelle Lynne: So marketing wise, how are you guys? Did you have a team behind you? Or were you just relying on every individual person telling their network?

Nick Akdag: We had a team and we had a budget for that. We had advertising that we did online and in print, I think. And then we would play all over Southern California at different halls. And yeah, we played, um, Grand Central Station in Los Angeles. We played, um, you know, different halls throughout LA and, you know, the word got out and it was pretty successful.

Michelle Lynne: That’s awesome. Very cool. It’s nice to see when musicians are collaborating. And I think that’s also a bit of what your page is about. You’re on faculty at Ventura College and they’re teaching music appreciation. Is that right?

Nick Akdag: I teach music appreciation. I’ve taught it all really. I’ve taught ear training. I’ve taught music history and that played a lot into this Wise Musician channel because the music history aspect, um, when I was first starting out there, I taught music history and then they actually had me teaching history of rock and roll and I actually still teach that.

Michelle Lynne: So as a classical musician, tell me about this. Like how was that for you to, or was this something that you had already been interested in?

Nick Akdag: I’d already been interested in. I’ve been a fan, you know, I’ve been reading books for quite a while, but you know, this was the way they run things at colleges, sometimes you get a last-minute assignment. So I had about a week to prepare to teach a college-level course. So I was studying like six hours a day, you know, reading books, whatever, just figuring it out. I got pretty into it, you know, reading tons of books. I got real into Elvis. I’ve been to Graceland three times since.

Michelle Lynne: Okay. So just for everybody listening, can you give like an overview of your Instagram account? And then we’ll go back to how your course content kind of flowed into the Instagram.

Nick Akdag: Yeah, the Instagram account started because I was, as a teacher, I noticed that it was very helpful to see examples from people that are at a very high level in order to help students to know how to think and to know how to practice and whatnot. So I would take clips from interviews that I had seen that inspired me and that really I had been thinking about for years in some cases, and I would show them to these students and I got feedback on it. And people said that they were really helped by seeing them and they stuck in their heads as well. And so, yeah, I decided to just kind of take some of that stuff and put it online and help people online. And it seems to have worked to some extent. And, uh, I mean, there’s a lot of editing involved as well. And you really have to know what to do in terms of how to put the most interesting information at the very beginning of the video. That’s a whole nother thing we can get into if you want me to talk about editing, but…

Michelle Lynne: Yeah, I know you’re really into editing because our previous conversation that was really insightful. It’s interesting how you’re saying, you know, being inspired by people at this high level. It’s kind of a little, uh, throwback to your boarding school experience. Maybe there’s something, a tie-in there.

Nick Akdag: Yeah, I mean, it’s just learning from people that are better than you. And I’ve always been a reader. I’ve read tons of musician autobiographies. That’s kind of my thing. That’s what I read almost exclusively is musician autobiographies. I’d read dozens, maybe hundreds. I don’t know. I have them all bookmarked, with little bits of information. So what I’m looking for is just the kind of that peek behind the curtain. Like this is how this person thinks because a lot of books are filled with fluff or interviews are filled with fluff, things that are not so relevant, a lot of gossip, you know, life stories or whatever that don’t necessarily pertain to how people think. But once you find that little nugget of wisdom in terms of this is how this person thinks about music and being a musician, you know, then you share that.

Michelle Lynne: And okay, so tell me why you think your content has resonated so much. I mean, 225,000 people think that these nuggets are giving them something. How has that come to pass for you?

Nick Akdag: Well, what I’d like to do is just kind of blow people’s minds. I mean, I’m a big fan of finding that piece of information that totally shifts your thinking. Like once I hear something, it’s going to completely shift how I think about a certain thing. I love encountering things like that in all different aspects of life, whether it’s like politics, history, whatever, you know, something that just totally blows away your assumptions on something. And so that’s really what I look for is just this, the little bit of information that is just going to blow your mind. And then I put that in the first 15 seconds of a video and it seems to blow other people’s minds too and help them. And yeah, it resonates, but, you just have to kind of trust your gut in terms of what you think is interesting and helpful for people.

Michelle Lynne: Something that you posted that blew my mind was Christina Aguilera forgetting the words of the “Star Spangled Banner” at the Super Bowl, which I didn’t know until I saw your post about it. And I really like how you’re saying, things that get stuck in your head, things that you think about after you see the piece of content, because we are so inundated with content. I don’t know how many pieces of content we see per day. So when you have something that sticks, I think you’ve nailed it. Like that’s where we kind of need to hang out. And so with my performances, I mean, I remember thinking last night, like, Hey, if Christina can forget the words, like I’m going to be fine. Like she is bounced back from that and had made a huge career. And I mean, I didn’t even know that about her. So the average person may not know that happened to her. Although in the moment it might’ve been devastating. What are some of the mind-blowing pieces of content that you’ve had recently?

Nick Akdag: I’m trying to think, well, that’s, that’s certainly one that I think about a lot, you know, there have been ones over the past couple of years since I started this in late 2022, just certain ones about tone, about intonation. There was one that was very helpful for me to hear. Branford Marsalis, the saxophone player, Wynton Marsalis’ brother, him talking about tone and changing your tone, you know, as musicians, we think about tone a lot, you know, how do you change your tone and a lot of people look externally, they look to change the gear, they look to change the reed, the mouthpiece, whatever, you know, and look to change their tone that way. But what his argument was, was you have to change your tone internally first, like change how you hear yourself in your head first, and then everything else will become externalized. So it’s really about changing it from the inside out. And so that was one that I heard, you know, several years ago and that stuck with me and I think people responded to that too.

Michelle Lynne: Going back to your students, I know that your class was, like, massively successful. I think your students love you. According to Rate My Professor, you are very knowledgeable. You’re really funny. You make the lectures applicable, accessible. Tell me more about, like, what was the response in the classroom?

Nick Akdag: It really depends on which class it was, but it was very helpful for them to hear. And, you know, I just, I heard positive feedback on it. It’s really hard to tell in real time, but, you know, you hope you’re helping people and you hope to keep them engaged and just keep things moving. And, uh, it’s, it’s challenging nowadays because people have phones and you kind of know when you’re losing people is when they start to look away and look at their phones. So, you know, you just have to keep things moving. And if you keep the energy high, they’ll tend to not do that.

Michelle Lynne: That’s a good tip for me. Cause I also teach, um, but also with Zoom courses. So then it’s really easy for people to just be doing like five things at once. As a classical musician, okay, like all, I know a lot of classical musicians would call themselves like, oh, we don’t go into other genres. We don’t, you know, how have you overcome any resistance from your peers or people that I don’t know, are turned off by other genres?

Nick Akdag: Yeah, that’s a thing. That’s interesting. I tend to be kind of ecumenical about it, meaning like, um, I just think music is music and it, the certain, the same principles apply across the board to an extent, there are certain principles in classical music that wouldn’t apply to say punk music or, you know, rap, for example. But yeah, I think, uh, this, the basic fundamentals apply across the board though, in terms of how to get better, how to perform, how to think about music. What is music for? Why are we making music? Who is it supposed to serve? Is it supposed to serve us or is it supposed to serve the listener and that kind of thing?

Michelle Lynne: Yeah, I completely agree with you. But I think for me, it was more like in recent years after leaving university that I started to realize this. I think somehow in our training it was, you’ve got like the purist and then there’s all this other stuff and we don’t go there or, you know, pop music is, you know, whatever, four chords and repetitive. So I really appreciate with your content that you’re letting these artists, as you’re doing, share their wisdom. And there’s a lot of fundamentals that are the same and especially the performing aspect, which I think classical musicians aren’t trained in, you know, and, and bringing a crowd in, we talk all the time about classical music needs more audiences. Well, then maybe we should, as performers, learn how to connect more with audiences and share the message from the stage. And I don’t know, do you have thoughts about that?

Nick Akdag: Yeah, I mean, I think people can tell when you’re just trying to execute rather than say something through music. And the problem with classical music is that it’s so difficult to perform. I mean, we spend our whole lives building the technique. And so when you do go and perform, a lot of people tend to turn it into a technical exercise where they’re just trying to execute well, do it well. Well, uh, there’s more to music than that. And so I think, you know, learning from other genres, genres that are perhaps a little easier to play a little genres that are perhaps more accessible. In terms of just getting into it, like rock music, for example, a lot of times, you know, you just need the three chords and if you have something to say, you can get into it. And so learning from genres like that in terms of, uh, what do you say through music and applying that to classical music, I think is helpful for classical musicians, for sure.

Michelle Lynne: Yeah, I completely agree with you. And my recent experience has been learning, you know, all of 14 Queen songs. I’m playing for Candlelight and ABBA and a lot of pop stuff and, um, film music and all of these genres that I previously hadn’t really touched or explored. And then just recognizing that there’s so much value and I have so much respect for these artists, especially when you hear, as you’re saying about their lives and what they were putting into their art and, you know, the lyrics and the, the heart and the message behind it and how they were connecting with people and yeah. Why we’re doing this anyway, you know,

Nick Akdag: Yeah, it’s a transfer of energy. And, um, that applies to social media too. When you create a post, you’re transferring your energy to other people through the internet, through Instagram or whatever. And so if there’s no energy behind what you post, then it’s not going to resonate with people. I really do feel that way. And, uh, people can tell, I think if you’re faking it or copying someone else, you can tell.

Michelle Lynne: So, I’ve never heard anyone describe it like that. Tell me more about this energy transfer and, how have you discovered this?

Nick Akdag: Well, I’ve heard other people talk about it, but I mean, it’s just what I’ve noticed, you know, if you’re not into it, people can just tell it’s like, your post is like a, it’s tentacles reaching out through the internet to other people, to other people’s eyes. And it’s really just like a, you’re putting your energy into it. So if you don’t put your passion into it, then it’s going to be very noticeable. So I think, you know, just make things that you’re interested about and start there. I think you have to be interested. I mean, that’s where I start with all these posts. It’s just, uh, what am I into right now? Um, a lot of it comes from like, what book am I reading right now? What interview did I watch that I resonated with, but a lot of times it starts with books. What book am I reading right now? That’s really resonating with me. And then I want to share that with people and I’m really into it. And then I have a lot of energy behind it and I make a post about it. And then that resonates with people.

Michelle Lynne: I love that. So beautiful. So what are you reading right now?

Nick Akdag: What am I reading right now? There’s, um, the Beatles engineer, Jeff Emmerich, he wrote a book and I tend to read those anything to do with music, autobiography related. So I’ve read them all, all different genres.

Michelle Lynne: We’ll get your top five and put them in the show notes for all of our listeners. Um, sending energy. Okay. So what kind of energy do you get back? I know you have tons of comments, people thanking you on your post. What is some of the response that you’re getting?

Nick Akdag: I get messages. I get responses in the comments. People share them with comments that they themselves make on the post, things like that. You know, you can just feel it to a certain extent.

Michelle Lynne: But you also have some pretty interesting followers that you want to share.

Nick Akdag: I do. Yeah. I mean, you know, you have celebrities. I have celebrities following me. People like Pharrell Williams, Justin Timberlake shared one of my posts. Even he follows me, John Mayer. John Mayer is just really into music. You can tell. So he follows all pages that are similar to mine, you know, Hillary Hahn.

Michelle Lynne: Oh, really? Okay.

Nick Akdag: Yeah, she’s amazing.

Michelle Lynne: I use her as,

Nick Akdag: Yeah. Use her as a, as a model. Right. She’s…

Michelle Lynne: Yeah, as an example in my entrepreneurship class because she started the 100 days of practice challenge where she shows her process and I’m trying to encourage other musicians like let yourself be seen before it’s perfect. You’ll build an audience that way you get better that way. And if you don’t believe me, look at Hillary Hahn because she’s doing it. She’s got the following.

Nick Akdag: It’s really an inspiration that she lets herself be vulnerable in front of people. She just takes a camera and she has no makeup on. She’s just like, you know, in the morning practicing and she’s putting herself on camera and, and not sounding like she does in a concert hall. You know, it’s, it’s just amazing. So completely agree with you.

Michelle Lynne: And I don’t know why there’s such a stigma around sharing when, you know, I mean, I can’t imagine how vulnerable she feels, but at the same time, the way that she does it looks effortless. It looks like it’s very natural for her to do so. So it’s a great inspiration for a lot of us who feel uncomfortable putting ourselves out there.

Nick Akdag: Certainly is.

Michelle Lynne: Speaking of putting yourself out there, up until now, you’ve been an anonymous account. Do you want to talk about that and share a little bit?

Nick Akdag: Yeah. You know, I mean, part of it is just not messing with what works. So what I did in the beginning was just put these out there and it seemed to work. So you know, I was confused, should I change it or should I just keep doing what I’m doing and just try to keep doing what I’m doing. And I’m still doing that to an extent, but I think, you know, at a certain point you get to a point where it’s just, uh, you’ve done the same thing for such a long time. And you can only watch things go viral so much where it’s just like, okay, now what happens next? And it’s, it’s weird. Cause you never know what’s going to go viral. And, um, so I think that’s important too, is just keep putting stuff out there and you never know what, what’s going to resonate, like some of them. I posted where I was just like, this is just a cop-out. Like, I’m just kind of putting something together really quickly. Sorry, I got to do this, but I’m going to publish it anyway, because I just got to get it out there because of consistency. And then it gets a million views and you’re like, whoa, okay, that’s weird, but just happens.

Michelle Lynne: Have you figured out kind of a, a formula or why some things work and others don’t?

Nick Akdag: I mean, sometimes you can really generally tell when it’s going to go viral sometimes, but generally you can’t, but a lot of times you can tell when you found something really good. If the information just is so impactful in the first five, six seconds, like it really has to catch your eye and your ear in the first five seconds or less, really three seconds. If it can blow your mind in that amount of time, then it’s going to hold people a lot of times. When it’s that slow introduction, like it takes like a while to get into it, then people will just scroll away and you can tell it’s not going to go viral. So, it’s putting the most important and impactful thing in the very beginning. And the technique I use is watching, you can do this with your podcast, for example, watch through the whole thing and then leave, go do something else, go for a walk, whatever, and try to take note of what am I still thinking about, you know, half hour, hour later, what is staying with me? What’s kind of running through my head still. And then that is the thing that people will resonate with pretty much always. So that’s the thing that I’ll take and then put it out there.

Michelle Lynne: I love that. Yeah. I know editing is really important to also consistency. You were sharing with me earlier, your, your strategy around that.

Nick Akdag: Yeah, it’s, it’s so important. I think these algorithms program themselves around consistency. So if you’re not consistent. They forget about you. And actually, if you are consistent, but then you stop being consistent, they will reset you and then you have to start pretty much from the beginning. So what I’ve done is I’ve been consistent this entire time. I mean, I started this about less than two years ago and I’ve never missed. At the beginning, I was posting. Every day of the week, and that obviously became too much. And then I decided, okay, I’m going to pick two days out of the week, which are Mondays and Thursdays and at 8 AM Pacific time, that’s very important. And I’ve never missed once I’ve been on vacation in Europe, I’ve been in Istanbul, posting from like a cafe. And, um, I mean, there’s incentive, right? Because when you start building it, then you’re like, okay, I don’t want to lose all this. Right. And so then you’re not going to miss.

Michelle Lynne: What is the reward for you in this?

Nick Akdag: Well, when you see the numbers coming in, you don’t want that to go away. You just want to keep the momentum going and see where it leads. So yeah, it’s just very important to never miss. And what I said about earlier, about the specific time that you post 8 AM, I think that’s very important too, because I really do feel like, and I could be wrong on this, but I feel like it is a thing. These algorithms look for a very specific time. So if you always post at 8 AM and then suddenly you post like five hours later, one time that it will deduct you in the algorithm. And I’ve noticed that too, because one time I was trying to make a post. My phone was glitching. I had to go to work. I couldn’t do it for four hours. And then I did manage to get it posted, but it was about four and a half hours late. And that video severely underperformed. So I do think that you have to be extremely consistent. Just make a post and schedule it. You can do that in Instagram, schedule it and release at the exact same time, the exact same day, like clockwork and you’re going to grow.

Michelle Lynne: Okay. I love that. I’m definitely going to apply all this. What kind of influence and impact do you think that you’re making? And I mean, I know the numbers are exciting, but it’s more than that. It’s knowing that you’re having such a difference. You’re making such a difference in the minds of people. Like how is that for you?

Nick Akdag: I love helping people and I think that’s what it’s all about. I think when you play music too, you should try to help people. It shouldn’t be just about your ego. It should be about helping people and transferring music through you out into an audience. So I think that applies to this as well. I mean, I’ve heard a lot of great feedback from people. And yeah, I just want to help them grow because these are the things that I wish I had heard earlier. In my life in terms of how to think, how to think on stage, how to think in terms of growth, how to think in terms of just why am I a musician? A lot of people don’t even know why they’re a musician. They do it because of fame or to look good on stage or whatever. And really what I’ve discovered through listening to great people like Quincy Jones or whatever, it’s, it’s not about you. It’s about the music and you’re just a vessel in a sense. So things like that and just thinking correctly, you know, it makes all the difference.

Michelle Lynne: I just want to highlight what you’re saying because that helps me personally so much too. When I walk on stage and I know this isn’t about me, this is about creating an experience for everyone in the room to enjoy something that unifies us. One interesting thing last night, the France elections were happening and the results were actually released during my show. So I was very aware that there’s a lot of division in the room, probably. And yet, all 200 of us are sitting here, united around music that they love, and that was such an interesting thought for me to have, and they weren’t allowed to look at their phones, they all had to wait half an hour after the election results were out, and just thinking of like, yeah, music is something that unifies us. I love what you said about classical musicians don’t know why they’re musicians a lot of time, probably. You know, for me it was always like, well, I just started and then I kept going, just never stopped. I don’t know the fame aspect that you mentioned really accounts for the average classical musician because a lot of us aren’t there.

Nick Akdag: Well, what do you think about when you’re performing? I mean, what’s going through your head?

Michelle Lynne: I mean, it’s what you said already. It’s sending energy and it’s giving and serving and creating space for people to receive and enjoy. And, you know, I tell them at the beginning, make yourself at home. This is a moment for you to rest and to get a break from your life. And, you know, you’re here for an hour and you’re going to be thinking, you’re having thoughts. You know, I tell a lot of stories in between, because I want them to think of the people that they love. I relate a lot of the lyrics because I’m playing a lot of pop music now. So I talk a lot about the stories and the lyrics, or I share personal stories about my family who’s in Canada and I’m over here in Europe playing. And that really resonates with people. And maybe through your content too, when there’s this story and this human aspect coming through, I mean, there’s got to be a reason why your account is connecting with so many people.

Nick Akdag: Yeah, people can tell, like I said, they can tell when you’re being real and when you’re not being real.

Michelle Lynne: So for you, because you haven’t yourself been on your page, it’s like you’re using the wisdom of the artists, but in an authentic way, because you’re editing it according to what stuck out to you.

Nick Akdag: Yeah, exactly. I mean, you know, it’s just, I’m not sure how interested people would be in me as a bassoon player. Maybe they would, but yeah, things that resonate and things that have helped me think correctly and sharing that. So, and writing original captions and doing original edits and thinking about it in an original way from an original angle. I’ve made it a real strong point to not repost other people’s stuff in terms of their edits, when you do see one go viral, like if I’ll do one that really does resonate and then you start looking at your Instagram, you’ll see like six different accounts, posting it. The same thing, my video basically, or the video I edited. A lot of accounts build themselves around that. I mean, that’s okay. You know, I just decided to not do it that way and make it all original.

Michelle Lynne: Does that bother you as a creator to see other people kind of steal your work?

Nick Akdag: I mean, not really. You want to get credited, you know? So I try to credit people when I take a video from, you know, when I use a video to make one of my reels, I’ll credit them as much as I possibly can. And I think that’s pretty much it. What it’s about is just credit people and they’ll be appreciative to get the attention.

Michelle Lynne: I noticed with your captions, I really like how you point things out in the video through the writing. And especially your own thoughts on it. You know, you’ll specifically say when you find something interesting or inspiring or what about it. And I think that’s such a beautiful way that you’ve embraced the role as an educator. Not just in your classroom, but now online because you’re teaching people what to pay attention to. And that’s really a gift and what people need because, you know, again, we can talk all day about classical music is dying and we need more audiences, but I’m always saying, well, maybe we need to educate more people about what to listen to and for so that they can find their way in it. How do you view your role as an educator in this?

Nick Akdag: Well, especially when it comes to classical music, if a lot of people assume that you need to have education to even get into it, my argument is, is that it just go and listen to the awesomeness of it and absorb the sound and forget about having to know something before you get there. Thanks for pointing that out in terms of the captions, because honestly, you never know if anybody reads them or… I kind of assume that nobody’s going to read them. I just put them out there and I write them. And a lot of times it’s if I’m reading a book on someone and I make a reel on them, then I’ll take parts of that book and put it in the captions and different quotes in there that are helpful. And yeah, just kind of elaborate on the video and talk about it and why it’s important.

Michelle Lynne: And I think that’s what connects the dots for people who are coming onto your page and we can hear the artist talk, but then you make it relatable and that’s how people can kind of get connected. So with your new content shift where I think the idea is that you’re going to appear more on the page and teach with your own video, right?

Nick Akdag: I have a lot of things that are written and thoughts on practicing. How to grow intonation, especially as one that I’m really into. I don’t know. That’s kind of specific, but things like that. So there are a lot of real ideas that I have. I’m not sure to what extent my face is going to be in there. It’s probably going to be in there a little bit, but we’re going to talk about just practicing. I’m a big believer in efficient practicing. How efficient can you be not wasting time? I’ve delved into that a lot recently. The 80, 20 rule. 80 percent of your practicing is probably a waste of…

Michelle Lynne: Yeah. Isn’t that comforting to all of our listeners?

Nick Akdag: Take the 20 percent that really is great and really helps you improve and only do that and then move on to different things. So a system that I’ve devised recently is creating a list of all your weaknesses. And working on them for sometimes only one minute a day, but five minutes a day, maybe, and going down the list and realizing that you’re most effective during that first one, two, three minutes. If you work on something for 15 minutes or half an hour, the curve starts to go down in terms of the efficiency with which you’re practicing, you’re going to be concentrated for the first five minutes, but you’re going to definitely lose concentration 15 minutes in, and then it becomes just a waste of time.

Michelle Lynne: What are some of your 20 percent strategies?

Nick Akdag: So for example, on bassoon, double tonguing is a thing, vibrato is a thing, and intonation. So I have this entire list of, for example, double tonguing. And I’ll work on that for a minute, and I have a timer. And I have a metronome that’s set up to maximize that minute. So I just double tongue really fast for a minute. And then move on to the next skill, which might be vibrato. And I found that if you do that every single day and you’re consistent, just like on the wise musician, if you’re consistent, you will improve with a minute a day, it’s very interesting, but…

Michelle Lynne: Okay. I, I totally am with you. I’ve heard that switching tasks so quickly, you can lose energy in the switch. Do you find that?

Nick Akdag: If the switch is efficient though, then you’re going to be good. It depends. Yeah. I do agree with you to an extent because a lot of times if you do switch tasks, you’re going to be distracted and get on your phone or lose energy in terms of focus. I don’t know if you’ve used this timer called Seconds Pro. People use it at the gym. It has like these screens on it. And so it will flash go. And then when it’s done, it will ring really, really loudly. And then give you about 30 seconds in between to switch to the next skill. And then you get to the next skill and then you start doing it. And so, yeah, it’s, um, it’s a great app. It’s called Seconds Pro. Check it out.

Michelle Lynne: I have improved so much and I think it is this one percent better every day. It’s something that I’m really trying because I’ve been playing the same programs now for a couple of years with some of them. And so thankfully to Instagram and Facebook, it’s like, here’s your one year ago today memory. And it’ll be me playing the same piece. And I’m like, Oh, I’m way better now. Cause you just don’t know, right? Like time goes by and you hope, but then I’ve got proof. So I don’t share any of those old videos.

Nick Akdag: It’s really hard listening to, and there’s also this thing about, and as you age, you know, it’s like you start to get into these mental ticks where it’s like, Oh, was I better before?

Michelle Lynne: Do you know who I just heard talking about this? Actually, Tim Ferriss had Steven Pressfield on his podcast. And I know you’ll know who Steven Pressfield is because he wrote, uh, “The War on Art.” And Tim literally asked this question. He said, Steven, I feel like I’ve written my best books. My best days are behind me. And Steven was like, yeah, that’s resistance. That’s just the voice of resistance. So ignore it and get to work, sit down and put in your hours. And, you know, Steven’s thing is that he sits down and writes for two hours and doesn’t judge it, doesn’t think about it, and then goes on with his day. And he knows he’s overcome resistance for that day. I know you know this, but it was such an interesting concept for me. And like, Oh, Tim, thank you for being vulnerable on your podcast for the rest of us listening.

Nick Akdag: That’s amazing that he would say.

Michelle Lynne: I know he literally used the podcast as kind of a coaching session for him, which makes me feel better because, um, I had Chris from Honesty Pill on recently. And he was talking about being efficient in practicing, like you’re sharing, too. And I think all of my insecurities came out. I’m like, but I, what if I should be doing five hours a day? And I was listening back like, Oh, Michelle, like you use this as like a personal coaching, but yeah, it might maybe helps other people.

Nick Akdag: Yeah. He’s great on that stuff too, in terms of just not wasting time.

Michelle Lynne: Yeah, I totally agree with you. You get distracted by all the stuff that we have to do, but I like this idea that you have of being so precise about what exactly am I trying to accomplish.

Nick Akdag: Yeah. It really depends on the skill. If it’s the main thing you’re working on that day, then yes, you should work more than a minute on it, of course, or five minutes even, but if it’s the skills that you need to maintain, the skills on the side that you’re still trying to improve, you know, the little tiny micro skills, I call them, then yeah, a minute a day. If you do them every day, that’s the catch. You got to do them every day. And, um, if you do them every day from a minute or five minutes or three minutes, yeah, you will improve over time. So it’s that recall aspect too. I mean, it has to, you remember things better when you can recall them and that’s the test to see if you really do know them. So you actually learn through recall. So yeah, it’s just recalling them every day too.

Michelle Lynne: Like muscle memory.

Nick Akdag: Yeah.

Michelle Lynne: The consistent improvement over time with your Instagram. So have you noticed that you’re getting better at this, that it’s easier for you? You come up with ideas quicker. Like how has that been for you?

Nick Akdag: For sure. You get better at editing, you get better at definitely coming up with ideas, definitely better at writing and putting it out there. But it’s hard to tell sometimes. The thing is, is that the metric that you’re using to prove if you’re getting better or not, I guess, what would that be? Views? The thing about views is they can fluctuate. So I, for example, we’re in the summer right now. I really do feel like there’s a lull in the summer and there’s a marked lull during the winter holidays, Christmas and New Year’s. So you’re going to get a lot less views during this and the month of January for some reason, you know, so you can still be improving, but not notice the improvement because of reasons like that.

Michelle Lynne: Is there another metric that you would use? Like, an engagement metric.

Nick Akdag: Comments for sure. Shares. Yeah. Generally views though is the main one. I mean, you can, you never know what’s going to resonate, so you’re just going to put stuff out there.

Michelle Lynne: And is that the approach that you’re going to be taking now that you’re going to be more front facing on the account?

Nick Akdag: It seems like it. Yeah. You just keep putting it up.

Michelle Lynne: I mean, so what is, you know, the message that you want to come from you? Is it going to be like, hey, here’s what I think about these great artists? Or is it also like, here’s what I’ve learned through my expertise and my years and all the books that you’ve read?

Nick Akdag: It’s both. And just trying to help people through everything I know. I mean, I felt like I learned a lot. I’ve, you know, I’ve studied this for decades and read a ton of books and I write a lot and just trying to help people that I guess maybe are a couple steps behind me, or even people that are ahead of me, and maybe thinking about it in a different way.

Michelle Lynne: Yeah. I mean, that’s the beauty of collaboration is that you can share different angles of the same subject and learn.

Nick Akdag: Yeah. I mean, I’ve really just tried to be an informer in an educator, maybe not as much as a, an entertainer. And there are a lot of accounts that do that, but I guess that’s not my role. That works for a lot of people, but I’ve tried to stay away from the entertainment aspect of it and just focus on informing and helping people grow.

Michelle Lynne: Well, I think you let the content speak for itself. Like, I mean, these artists are entertaining in their own right because they’re big names that you’re sharing. So I think in the same way that you were mentioning earlier being a vessel for the music to flow through us, it’s like you’re giving these artists space and letting what they have to say just by editing it for clarity.

Nick Akdag: Yeah. I mean, a lot of times it takes, you know, watch an interview. That’s an hour long of somebody talking and find nothing or an hour long and find just maybe a few seconds of something that’s interesting. So it’s really the tip of the spear of the most interesting possible thing I can find at the very front of the video. And you edit it again in a way where you put the very most interesting thing in the very first five seconds of the video and especially the first 15 seconds. That’s the most important thing. Cause you know, on Instagram, there’s that, that fold where if somebody shares on a story, it goes away in 15 seconds. So you have to get everything interesting in that first 15 seconds are the most enough to keep them to keep watching. Right.

Michelle Lynne: Yes. I know about that 15-second story problem.

Nick Akdag: Oh, yeah. Well, one other thing I was going to say is, I don’t know if you’ve seen this YouTuber, Casey Neistat, he has this massive YouTube channel. He’s like a content creator and he’s not a musician, but I’m not too into him in terms of his content. I’ve seen a few of his videos, but one thing I heard him say, which was extremely interesting was that when he makes a video and when he edits a video, he looks down into the one tenth of a second. You can do that actually on Premiere Pro, you can zoom into one tenth of a second. And what he does is try to make sure that there’s no empty space, even down to one tenth of a second. So if it’s not moving within even one tenth of a second, it’s going to lose people. So you have to really think of it. At a micro level like that. Like if there’s a lot of empty space in the video or nothing’s happening or it’s not moving, people will scroll away. You know, it’s like lizard brain. Got to keep it moving.

Michelle Lynne: Okay. So question for you, like, is that something that you only see in short form video content? Because you know, what about podcasts? There’s a lot of empty space. People are having a conversation. There’s pauses. Should we chop all that out or do you let it kind of breathe organically?

Nick Akdag: On a podcast, leave it in for sure. But on a short form video, or if you’re doing a YouTube video, like the style he’s talking about, yeah, you want to keep it moving. But on a short form video, it’s a whole different thing. It’s a whole lizard blank brain way to look at it. You have to think of people aren’t even thinking, they’re just looking at it. And they’re deciding at an instinctual level, whether they’ll keep watching it or they’re going to keep moving. So it has to catch them right away. Like before they even listen to it, it’s like what they see, you know, almost. So when you make short form video, if you want to grow that way, cut out all the empty space, cut out the stuff that’s not so relevant. Be ruthless with the editing.

Michelle Lynne: Awesome. I’ve been thinking about some videos of mine that have performed better and I think it is because I went in and I was like, all right, this isn’t necessary. But it’s like, oh, but I thought it was funny. It’s like, yeah, but I think, you know, we were trying to always create for the viewer and the clarity of the messaging.

Nick Akdag: And if the most interesting thing happens later in the video, take that and edit it and put it in the front.

Michelle Lynne: Love that. So I hear you saying so often that you want to help people. What’s the future of Wise Musician? Do you see yourself as a mentor to 225,000 people? How do you want to help them further? Are you going to grow your community in a more inner circle kind of way? And what do you want to bring people into?

Nick Akdag: Yeah. Various ideas. I have things that I’ve written. I’m going to put some material out there. The hope is to start a podcast.

Michelle Lynne: Okay.

Nick Akdag: Meaning start creating original videos where I’m interviewing the person because I find with a lot of interviews, a lot of the questions are fluff or meaningless. And I just want to really focus in on how do you think? How do you get better? How do you practice? How do you hear yourself inside your head? That kind of thing, you know, really like focused questions.

Michelle Lynne: I think that’s a great place to start because you’ve watched hundreds and hundreds of hours of interviews. So, you know, what you like and what works, and then you can bring that into your own content.

Nick Akdag: So if you have any questions, contact me through The Wise Musician. But yeah, I mean, one thing I want to say about making content online is just trust your gut. And trust what resonates with you and don’t do something that doesn’t resonate with you. And if you trust your gut and if you find it extremely interesting, there’s a really good chance that somebody else will too.

Michelle Lynne: That’s awesome. Nick, I want to so much for sharing your wisdom and your approach to this and how you’ve reached so many people. I think what you’re doing is awesome. I mean, I was looking through your followers before this call and there’s so many people that, you know, my followers and it’s just like you’ve created this beautiful community. So I hope to see the podcast come up really soon and I hope to hear more of the teaching that you give from you because I think you have so much to offer. So everyone can follow you at Wise Musician, wise_musician, right?

Nick Akdag: I’m on YouTube as well. It’s not as big, but I’m on YouTube through there as well. The plan on YouTube is to start creating other videos. But as of now, I kind of cross-post them on YouTube. So you could look there.

Michelle Lynne: And if you had to share one action point, what would you tell our listeners to do?

Nick Akdag: I would say create something that inspires you and be extremely consistent, ruthlessly consistent, and never miss. Just like you do when you practice. Consistency is everything when you practice. Think of content creation the same way. Just never miss, never miss. And the world will start to work in your favor when you do that.

Michelle Lynne: Cool. I love it. I’m going to do it. Thanks so much, Nick. This has been awesome. For everybody listening, if you have enjoyed, then I want you to screenshot this episode and share it to your stories, and we’ll reshare. Thanks for being here, Nick, and we look forward to seeing a lot more of you on your own podcast.

Nick Akdag: It’s been amazing being with you. Thanks so much.