Hi, I’m Russell (founder of Incubator).
If there’s one thing music comes down to, it’s playing what you want to hear.
Not playing to sound like someone else. Playing for yourself. Because out of all the musicians in the world, you’d rather listen to yourself than anyone else.
Everyone has something to say and Incubator Academy will teach students how to bring that out through music in the easiest way possible.
Effort, expectations and pressure have no place at Incubator Academy. This is a go-at-your-own-pace environment.
You won’t learn music theory at Incubator Academy. You’ll specific methods to help you trust your ear, play what you want to hear and write more honest music.
Each class meets weekly for a semester (3 months). No music experience necessary.
Everyone learns differently. To ensure each student gets personalized attention, each class is limited to around 10 students..
If you want to slow down and be with music in a safe environment while learning to utilize instinct to become the musician you want to be, sign up for the first semester of Incubator Academy, running September through December 2026.
For the first semester, just Russell
Weekly for 3 months
3 hours
20% learning concepts through lecture and discussion
80% practicing concepts through writing and playing
Any homework is optional
Yes, studnets will collab with the other class for the end-of-semester recital (open to the public).
As many as you want
Miss no more than 20% of the classes.
Meets: Mondays 8:00 - 10:30 PM
Starts: Monday, Sept. 21
Instructor: Russell Michelson
Description: When you take away percussion and lyrics, every song can be boiled down to voicings (bass line, melody, harmony 1, and harmony 2.).
4 pitches moving with each other are at the heart of every song.
These voicings carry with them emotion and the clearer this emotion, the stronger the song.
We'll study and create music at the voicings-level, stripping songs down to their core, learning in the process what qualities make a good voicing.
Most of this class will be composing voicings, performing them for each other and analyzing them together.
No music experience necessary.
There will be a collab with the lyrics class for the final recital, open to the public.
Meets: Sundays 7:30 - 10:30 PM
Starts: Sunday, Sept. 20
Instructor: Russell Michelson
Description: The best lyrics are in your unconscious mind. You can access them through improvised performance and hold on to them using a specific process taught in this class.
In this class, students will learn a fluid, intuitive method for generating lyrics and melodies they're proud of.
Most of this class will be putting this method to use, improvising for each other and writing/editing lyrics.
The final recital will be a collab with the voicings class.
Music incubator where D.C. musicians write, record and perform original music.
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