Listen "184: Rick Beato"
Episode Synopsis
When record producer Rick Beato posted a video on YouTube of his 8 year old son in a dizzying demonstration of perfect pitch, complex harmonic understanding and a general fluency with the building blocks of composition, he had no idea just how big an impact it would have on his life. Already in his 50s, Rick had decades of experience invested in his career in the record business. Five years later he is a full time YouTuber - his channel "Everything Music" has over 2 million subscribers - and has made nearly 800 videos, on subjects including Ear Training, Music Production, Improvisation, Scales and Modes, Film Scoring, Music Theory and Composition, Perfect Pitch, and Guitars. For curious musicians, music students, and music appreciators in the YouTube generation, Rick's channel is simply part of the furniture, something you probably have come across one way or another. But despite being a very public facing teacher and generator of ideas, there is not so much information about him. If you watch his videos then you know that he lives in Atlanta, but that he's from the Northeast. He went first to Ithaca college, then to the New England Conservatory, and then in his early 20s he actually taught at Ithaca College, at first his students were only a few years younger than him. If you watch the videos, then you know his kids a little bit, you know his friends, you know his interests, you know his life. Still, he walks a fine line between a kind of exhibitionism - which is a necessary evil of being a public figure - and the arms length of a teacher. We talked recently about his personal journey, how he organizes his time, what motivates him and what inspires him, teaching "high information" music to children, making a living on YouTube, staying fresh, and walking the line between telling the story and being the story. www.third-story.com www.patreon.com/thirdstorypodcast www.rickbeato.com
More episodes of the podcast The Third Story with Leo Sidran
310: Remembering Phil Upchurch
08/12/2025
309: Madison Cunningham
24/11/2025
308: Theo Bleckmann
10/11/2025
307: dodie
27/10/2025
306: Vera Brandes
19/10/2025
305: Jacob Jeffries
10/10/2025
304: Leonor Watling
04/10/2025
303: Stella Cole
10/09/2025
302: Ben Sidran at 82
14/08/2025
301: Mary Sweeney Returns
08/08/2025
ZARZA We are Zarza, the prestigious firm behind major projects in information technology.