Intentional Musicianship

What does it really mean to serve your country as a musician?

In this special Veterans Day episode of Intentional Musicianship , retired U.S. Army Bandmaster Jeff Price reflects on more than 20 years of military service, the extraordinary people he served alongside, and the unique role military musicians play in supporting service members, honoring traditions, and representing the United States around the world.

Jeff shares how military music serves a purpose far beyond entertainment.

"Our music reminds us of who we are, where we're from, and what we're fighting for."

Jeff also encourages young musicians to explore the opportunities available through military service and recognize how their musical talents can make a meaningful difference.

This Veterans Day, we honor the men and women who have served in the United States Armed Forces and the military musicians whose performances connect communities, strengthen relationships, and preserve traditions.

· The unique mission of military musicians across the Armed Forces

· Lessons in service, leadership, and purpose from a 20-year Army career

· Supporting service members and building international relationships through music

· Why military music is about the occasion, not the performer

· Career opportunities for musicians considering military service

· Honoring veterans and the people who have shaped our lives

Have a story about your military service or questions about becoming a military musician? We'd love to hear from you.

To all our veterans, thank you for your service.

#IntentionalMusicianship #VeteransDay #MilitaryMusicians #ArmyBand #MilitaryMusic #Veterans #MusicWithPurpose

Welcome to Intentional Musicianship!

The Intentional Musicianship podcast, hosted by Jeff Price, is designed for musicians who aim to elevate their performance on multiple levels. This isn't your average "how to play better" show. We go beyond technique to focus on improving your stage presence, musical storytelling, audience communication, and breaking genre norms to form a deeper connection with your audience. Whether you're an amateur, a seasoned professional, or a music educator, our goal is to help you achieve a greater return on your performance investment. This could range from building a more committed fanbase to increasing merchandise sales. We utilize an adult learning model, so we assume you already have a foundation in performance and aim to refine and innovate on your existing skills. The ultimate goal? To create unforgettable experiences that not only entertain but engage your audience on a deeper level. The call to action is to foster community, encourage engagement, and provide actionable insights, all of which can be further explored at intentionalmusicianship.com.

Have you ever attended a music competition, heard the winners announced, and thought, "Really? That's not what I experienced!"

Maybe there's a reason for that.

In this episode of Intentional Musicianship, Jeff Price explores the difference between how we evaluate musical excellence and how audiences experience a performance.

A 2023 study examining 370 editions of international classical music competitions found that professional juries and audiences selected the same winner only about 38% of the time.

The research doesn't establish why their preferences differed, but it raises an interesting question: Are we measuring everything that matters in a musical performance?

From concert band festivals and traditional choral assessments to show choir and musical theater, different disciplines emphasize different performance standards. While technical fundamentals help musicians develop excellence, visual communication, storytelling, characterization, and audience engagement are often more deeply integrated into some performance settings than others.

And as the saying goes, what gets measured gets done.

Preparing to earn an excellent rating isn't necessarily the same thing as preparing to connect with an audience.

In this episode, Jeff invites musicians, educators, and directors to consider three ideas:

1. Understand what you're measuring. Rubrics and adjudication standards help develop musicianship, identify weaknesses, and recognize achievement. But no single evaluation system necessarily captures the entire performance experience.
2. Learn from other musical disciplines. Show choir and musical theater integrate visual communication, expression, and storytelling throughout their performances. What might instrumental and traditional choral ensembles learn from those approaches?
3. Prepare for your audience, not just your evaluation. Technical excellence gives musicians the tools to communicate, but meaningful connections depend on how those abilities are shared onstage.

An excellent rating can recognize musical achievement. But the experience an audience takes home may be what encourages them to return, become fans, and develop a lasting relationship with the performers.

Perfection doesn't equal connection.

The next time you're preparing for a performance, consider how much time you're spending meeting evaluation standards compared with developing the experience you want to share with your audience.

Both matter.

Study mentioned

Asmat, R., Borowiecki, K. J., & Law, M. T. (2023).

Do Experts and Laypersons Differ? Some Evidence from International Classical Music Competitions.

Related Episodes

Episode 52: Do You Have a Roadmap for Your Performance?

Understanding your musical destination, shaping phrases, and communicating a larger musical story rather than simply performing individual notes.

Episode 50: What Makes a Great National Anthem Performance?

Considering the purpose of a performance and how musical choices can serve the audience and the occasion.

Episode 48: Are You Fixing the Problem or the Symptom?

Examining how musicians identify and address issues during musical preparation.

Visit intentionalmusicianship.com for more episodes and resources.

#IntentionalMusicianship #PerfectionDoesntEqualConnection #MusicEducation #MusicPerformance #Musicianship #AudienceEngagement #StagePresence #MusicAdjudication #ConcertBand #ChoralMusic #ShowChoir #MusicalTheater #MusicTeachers #MusicalStorytelling #CenterStage #musicalkrubrik

Welcome to Intentional Musicianship!

The Intentional Musicianship podcast, hosted by Jeff Price, is designed for musicians who aim to elevate their performance on multiple levels. This isn't your average "how to play better" show. We go beyond technique to focus on improving your stage presence, musical storytelling, audience communication, and breaking genre norms to form a deeper connection with your audience. Whether you're an amateur, a seasoned professional, or a music educator, our goal is to help you achieve a greater return on your performance investment. This could range from building a more committed fanbase to increasing merchandise sales. We utilize an adult learning model, so we assume you already have a foundation in performance and aim to refine and innovate on your existing skills. The ultimate goal? To create unforgettable experiences that not only entertain but engage your audience on a deeper level. The call to action is to foster community, encourage engagement, and provide actionable insights, all of which can be further explored at intentionalmusicianship.com.

How well do you know what's happening within 30 miles of where you live?

You might be surprised by the musicians, organizations, businesses, and opportunities right in your own community.

In this episode of Intentional Musicianship, Jeff Price explores the arts ecosystem surrounding his home in Fairmont, West Virginia. Even after decades of performing, teaching, and attending concerts throughout the region, he continues discovering organizations and opportunities he never knew existed.

From schools and community ensembles to churches, festivals, professional performers, and businesses supporting the arts, there's more happening around us than we might realize.

Not every opportunity needs to become a job. Sometimes it's about performing, teaching, volunteering, learning, or simply enjoying the arts.

Where might you bring value through your musicianship?

Use these ten categories to explore the opportunities within your own community.

1. Your interests and goals: Performing, teaching, learning, volunteering, earning income, developing a business, or attending performances.

2. Schools and universities: Music programs, guest artists, summer camps, private instruction, and community involvement.

3. Community ensembles: Bands, orchestras, choirs, theater companies, dance groups, and other community organizations.

4. Professional performing arts: Professional orchestras, touring artists, chamber music series, and theatrical productions.

5. Churches and faith communities: Music directors, accompanists, instrumentalists, vocalists, and technical support.

6. Venues and events: Theaters, amphitheaters, festivals, restaurants, weddings, and community celebrations.

7. Teaching and instruction: Private studios, music stores, dance academies, workshops, and arts education.

8. Production and media: Recording studios, podcasts, sound and lighting, video production, publishing, and digital content.

9. Businesses and services: Instrument repair, arranging, equipment rental, music retail, marketing, and arts management.

10. Funding and support: Arts councils, nonprofit organizations, foundations, local governments, sponsors, and donors.

Thirty miles isn't a limit. It's a starting point.

Related Intentional Musicianship Episodes

Episode 8: Your Network Makes the Dream Work Exploring professional relationships, collaboration, and musical networks.

Episode 11: Get Out of Your Practice Room and Perform Discovering accessible performance opportunities and developing musicianship through live experience.

Episode 51: Music in the Marketplace: Where Do You Find Your Fit? Understanding the musical marketplace and recognizing where your interests and abilities might fit.

Visit intentionalmusicianship.com for more episodes and resources.

#IntentionalMusicianship #ArtsEcosystem #MusicOpportunities #CommunityMusic #MusicEducation #MusicCareers #MusicBusiness #PerformingArts #LiveMusic #MusicTeachers #MusicianDevelopment #CenterStage

Welcome to Intentional Musicianship!

The Intentional Musicianship podcast, hosted by Jeff Price, is designed for musicians who aim to elevate their performance on multiple levels. This isn't your average "how to play better" show. We go beyond technique to focus on improving your stage presence, musical storytelling, audience communication, and breaking genre norms to form a deeper connection with your audience. Whether you're an amateur, a seasoned professional, or a music educator, our goal is to help you achieve a greater return on your performance investment. This could range from building a more committed fanbase to increasing merchandise sales. We utilize an adult learning model, so we assume you already have a foundation in performance and aim to refine and innovate on your existing skills. The ultimate goal? To create unforgettable experiences that not only entertain but engage your audience on a deeper level. The call to action is to foster community, encourage engagement, and provide actionable insights, all of which can be further explored at intentionalmusicianship.com.

Have you ever followed your GPS perfectly, only to discover you've ended up in the wrong place?

Preparing a musical performance isn't all that different from planning a road trip. Whether you're performing a single piece or an entire concert program, knowing the notes doesn't necessarily mean you know where you're going.

In this episode of Intentional Musicianship,, Jeff Price looks back at the days of AAA TripTiks and explores how creating a musical roadmap can help performers, educators, and ensemble leaders prepare more effectively.

Through personal experiences with a student learning to think horizontally rather than vertically, and an ensemble struggling to understand its conductor, Jeff explores how preparation, clear communication, and flexibility can transform a performance.

Three takeaways you can use in your next rehearsal:

1. Map your musical journey. Understand the larger musical story, not just the individual notes.

2. Identify your important intersections. Prepare the entrances, breaths, transitions, and endings that deserve special attention.

3. Adapt your route. Consider your fellow musicians, available rehearsal time, and the circumstances of your performance.

A roadmap doesn't mean every musical decision is predetermined. It gives us the confidence to recognize alternatives, respond to unexpected moments, and enjoy the experience.

And remember, we're not traveling alone. Our audience is coming along for the ride!

The goal isn't simply to get through the music. It's to tell our story and bring our audience along for the journey.

Have a performance preparation strategy that's worked for you? Join the conversation at intentionalmusicianship.com.

#IntentionalMusicianship #PerformancePreparation #MusicalStorytelling #PerformancePractice #MusicalPhrasing #MusicEducation #MusicEducators #MusicalCommunication #AudienceEngagement #LiveMusic #Musicianship #RehearsalTechniques #Conducting #EnsemblePerformance #StagePresence #MusicPerformance #PracticeWithPurpose #MusicianDevelopment #StorytellingThroughMusic #CenterStage

Welcome to Intentional Musicianship!

The Intentional Musicianship podcast, hosted by Jeff Price, is designed for musicians who aim to elevate their performance on multiple levels. This isn't your average "how to play better" show. We go beyond technique to focus on improving your stage presence, musical storytelling, audience communication, and breaking genre norms to form a deeper connection with your audience. Whether you're an amateur, a seasoned professional, or a music educator, our goal is to help you achieve a greater return on your performance investment. This could range from building a more committed fanbase to increasing merchandise sales. We utilize an adult learning model, so we assume you already have a foundation in performance and aim to refine and innovate on your existing skills. The ultimate goal? To create unforgettable experiences that not only entertain but engage your audience on a deeper level. The call to action is to foster community, encourage engagement, and provide actionable insights, all of which can be further explored at intentionalmusicianship.com.

What happens when an outstanding musical organization struggles to attract audiences while another performer has people spending hundreds or even thousands of dollars for a concert experience? Is it the quality of the music, the price, the audience, or something else entirely?

Maybe understanding the marketplace can give us another frame of reference.

In this episode of Intentional Musicianship, Jeff Price explores how audience choices, business models, and changing expectations influence the opportunities available to musicians.

Inspired by a Cadenza article examining the challenges facing American orchestras, Jeff takes a broader look at the marketplace and how musicians, educators, and organizations can better understand where they fit.

From the changing price of a Five Guys hamburger to Taylor Swift's concert experiences, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra's programming, and the popularity of candlelight concerts, this episode examines how people decide where to spend their time, attention, and money.

You'll discover three ideas to consider in your own musical environment:

1. Notice the patterns in your marketplace. What are audiences choosing, what influences those decisions, and what can those choices tell us about the experiences people value?

2. Understand how your musical environment operates. Whether you're involved with a professional orchestra, a school music program, a community ensemble, or an independent band, understanding funding sources, audience expectations, and organizational relationships provides another perspective.

3. Consider where you fit. Explore how your musical interests, skills, and experiences connect with the people you hope to reach. Sometimes a small adjustment, a new relationship, or a different approach can create opportunities.

Jeff also introduces practical business concepts, including price sensitivity, supply and demand, differentiation, customer experience, and value propositions. He touches on nonprofit funding, publicly available IRS Form 990 information, and how understanding the business side of music can expand professional possibilities.

Whether you're a student, music educator, community musician, or established professional, this episode offers another frame of reference for considering your musical opportunities.

Success at center stage isn't always about improving what happens during the performance. Sometimes it's about understanding where that performance fits into the lives of the people we hope to reach.

Continue the Conversation

Who are you trying to reach? What other choices compete for their time, attention, and resources? Have you discovered an unexpected opportunity or changed something about how you connect with an audience?

We'd love to hear about your experiences.

Visit intentionalmusicianship.com to continue the conversation.

References and Further Reading

Cadenza: The Fall of the American Orchestra Read the article

Aubrey Bergauer: Run It Like a Business: Strategies for Arts Organizations to Increase Audiences, Remain Relevant, and Multiply Money Without Losing the Art

League of American Orchestras: Orchestras at a Glance, October 2024 View the report

Internal Revenue Service: Tax Exempt Organization Search Explore nonprofit organization filings

Fever presents Candelight

Related Intentional Musicianship Episodes

• Episode 6: Navigating Audience Expectations and Preferences
• Episode 19: Customer Service vs. Customer Experience: Building Audience Engagement and Lasting Connections
• Episode 30: Was It Worth It? ROI, Expected Value, and Transformation in Performance
• Episode 42: Money, Fundraising, and Finishing the Experience
• Episode 46: Small Changes, Better Performances: Piloting the 1%

#IntentionalMusicianship #MusicInTheMarketplace #MusicBusiness #MusicCareers #MusicEducation #AudienceEngagement #CustomerExperience #ArtsManagement #LivePerformance #MusicianDevelopment #MusicMarketing #CommunityMusic #ProfessionalDevelopment #FindingYourFit

Welcome to Intentional Musicianship!

The Intentional Musicianship podcast, hosted by Jeff Price, is designed for musicians who aim to elevate their performance on multiple levels. This isn't your average "how to play better" show. We go beyond technique to focus on improving your stage presence, musical storytelling, audience communication, and breaking genre norms to form a deeper connection with your audience. Whether you're an amateur, a seasoned professional, or a music educator, our goal is to help you achieve a greater return on your performance investment. This could range from building a more committed fanbase to increasing merchandise sales. We utilize an adult learning model, so we assume you already have a foundation in performance and aim to refine and innovate on your existing skills. The ultimate goal? To create unforgettable experiences that not only entertain but engage your audience on a deeper level. The call to action is to foster community, encourage engagement, and provide actionable insights, all of which can be further explored at intentionalmusicianship.com.

What makes a great national anthem performance? Is it the voice, the arrangement, the interpretation, or understanding the role you're being asked to play in the moment?

In this episode of Intentional Musicianship, Jeff Price draws on his experiences as a U.S. Army musician and Bandmaster to explore national anthem performances from a different perspective. From performing O Canada in Canada, to auditioning Soldiers for graduation ceremonies, timing The Star-Spangled Banner with a jet flyover in Alaska, and performing at Fort McHenry, each experience points toward the same question: What does this moment need from the musician?

We also look at Whitney Houston's iconic 1991 Super Bowl performance and why interpretation isn't necessarily the problem. The better question is whether your musical choices fit the performer, the audience, and the occasion.

In this episode:

• Why a national anthem is more than another piece of music on the program
• How changing from featured performer to leader can completely change an audience's experience
• Why singability matters
• What Whitney Houston's Super Bowl performance can teach us about interpretation and context
• Why sometimes the performance has to fit something as practical as a jet flyover
• The responsibility of performing another country's national anthem
• What performing at Fort McHenry taught Jeff about being part of a moment that was already bigger than the performer

The music tells you what notes to play. The moment tells you why you're playing them.

Whether you're a student, educator, community musician, or professional performer, the challenge is the same: Know the music. Know the moment. Know your role. Prepare well. Respect the people you're there to serve. And then lead the moment.

Would you rather give a great performance at an event or help create a great moment for everyone at the event?

Maybe sometimes those are exactly the same thing.

Mentioned in the podcast

The Story of Whitney Houstone Epic National Anthem Performance at 1991 Super Bowl

The Lasting Power of Whitney Houston's National Anthem Defender's Day

Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine

#IntentionalMusicianship #NationalAnthem #NationalAnthemPerformance #LivePerformance #PerformanceTips #Musicianship #MusicEducation #MusicEducator #PerformingMusician #AudienceEngagement #StagePresence #MusicPerformance #MilitaryMusic #ArmyBand #TheStarSpangledBanner #OCanada #WhitneyHouston #FortMcHenry #LeadTheMoment #MusicPodcast #FrancisScottKey

Welcome to Intentional Musicianship!

The Intentional Musicianship podcast, hosted by Jeff Price, is designed for musicians who aim to elevate their performance on multiple levels. This isn't your average "how to play better" show. We go beyond technique to focus on improving your stage presence, musical storytelling, audience communication, and breaking genre norms to form a deeper connection with your audience. Whether you're an amateur, a seasoned professional, or a music educator, our goal is to help you achieve a greater return on your performance investment. This could range from building a more committed fanbase to increasing merchandise sales. We utilize an adult learning model, so we assume you already have a foundation in performance and aim to refine and innovate on your existing skills. The ultimate goal? To create unforgettable experiences that not only entertain but engage your audience on a deeper level. The call to action is to foster community, encourage engagement, and provide actionable insights, all of which can be further explored at intentionalmusicianship.com.

What are musicians really getting from that familiar tuning note before a concert?

It may be a slightly controversial question because the answer might not be tuning.

In this episode of Intentional Musicianship, Jeff Price looks at the traditional opening tuning note used by bands, orchestras, and other instrumental ensembles and asks what value it actually brings to the performance.

For the audience, the tuning note is part of the culture of the concert. It signals that the musicians are ready, the room is settling, and the performance is about to begin.

For the musicians, it can serve as a psychological release valve. It gives everyone one last opportunity to play the instrument, feel that everything is working, hear the ensemble around them, and mentally lock in before the first downbeat.

But does that one pitch actually tune the ensemble?

Jeff shares a memory of his friend and fellow Army musician Chris Schweigert, along with a recent concert experience that raised the same question. By the time musicians reach the stage, the real preparation should already be complete. They should know their instruments, understand the pitch environment around them, and be ready to listen and adjust throughout the performance.

The episode also offers a reminder for educators. Part of the training process is helping musicians learn how to prepare themselves so that when performance time arrives, they can trust the work they have already done.

Three questions can help musicians examine any preconcert routine:

1. Why do I do this?
2. What value does it add to my performance or to the audience's experience?
3. What would happen if I did not do it?

#IntentionalMusicianship #PerformancePreparation #MusicianMindset #EnsemblePlaying #ConcertCulture #PerformancePsychology #MusicEducation #ListeningSkills #StageReadiness #PreConcertRoutine

Welcome to Intentional Musicianship!

The Intentional Musicianship podcast, hosted by Jeff Price, is designed for musicians who aim to elevate their performance on multiple levels. This isn't your average "how to play better" show. We go beyond technique to focus on improving your stage presence, musical storytelling, audience communication, and breaking genre norms to form a deeper connection with your audience. Whether you're an amateur, a seasoned professional, or a music educator, our goal is to help you achieve a greater return on your performance investment. This could range from building a more committed fanbase to increasing merchandise sales. We utilize an adult learning model, so we assume you already have a foundation in performance and aim to refine and innovate on your existing skills. The ultimate goal? To create unforgettable experiences that not only entertain but engage your audience on a deeper level. The call to action is to foster community, encourage engagement, and provide actionable insights, all of which can be further explored at intentionalmusicianship.com.

Why does the sound at a live performance sometimes seem off? Some musicians disappear, others suddenly jump out, and our attention immediately goes to the sound technician. But what if the problem we hear is only the symptom, and the actual problem started much earlier?

In this episode of Intentional Musicianship, Jeff Price explores the difference between fixing the problem and fixing the symptom, using microphone discipline as a practical example. Experience as a musician does not automatically mean experience performing with microphones. Understanding how to work consistently with amplification is a skill that needs to be developed and rehearsed.

You'll discover four actionable ideas for improving amplified performances and solving the right problem:

1. Understand your relationship with the microphone, recognizing that different microphone setups may require different approaches.

2. Treat amplification as a collaboration between the musician and sound technician, with each responsible for a different part of what the audience ultimately hears.

3. Practice the conditions you will encounter in performance rather than relying on sound check to teach microphone technique.

4. Work upstream before changing personnel, buying equipment, or trying to fix the most visible symptom.

Jeff also revisits the Five Whys and explores leading and lagging indicators as tools for working backward from what the audience experiences to something earlier in the process that musicians and educators can actually influence.

Whether you're a performer, educator, ensemble director, or someone working behind the soundboard, this episode offers a reminder that sometimes the thing everyone sees going wrong is not the thing that went wrong first.

Before fixing what appears to be wrong, ask: Are you fixing the problem, or are you fixing the symptom?

#IntentionalMusicianship #MicrophoneDiscipline #LiveSound #LivePerformance #MusicPerformance #PerformanceTips #PerformancePreparation #SoundCheck #SoundTechnician #MusicEducation #MusicianTips #FiveWhys #RootCauseAnalysis #ContinuousImprovement #PerformancePractice #AmplifiedPerformance #MusicianLife #PerformWithPurpose #PerformancePlanning #MusicalExpression

Welcome to Intentional Musicianship!

The Intentional Musicianship podcast, hosted by Jeff Price, is designed for musicians who aim to elevate their performance on multiple levels. This isn't your average "how to play better" show. We go beyond technique to focus on improving your stage presence, musical storytelling, audience communication, and breaking genre norms to form a deeper connection with your audience. Whether you're an amateur, a seasoned professional, or a music educator, our goal is to help you achieve a greater return on your performance investment. This could range from building a more committed fanbase to increasing merchandise sales. We utilize an adult learning model, so we assume you already have a foundation in performance and aim to refine and innovate on your existing skills. The ultimate goal? To create unforgettable experiences that not only entertain but engage your audience on a deeper level. The call to action is to foster community, encourage engagement, and provide actionable insights, all of which can be further explored at intentionalmusicianship.com.

This may be before your time but when I was a kid I read Choose Your Own Adventure books. You made a decision, turned to a different page, and discovered where that choice took you. Sometimes it worked. Sometimes it didn't. And sometimes you wished you could go back a few pages and choose again.

Our musical lives aren't all that different.

As we gain experience, we aren't starting from page one anymore. Every teacher, performance, audition, job, success, failure, course, colleague, and unexpected opportunity becomes part of the frame of reference we use to decide what comes next.

In this episode of Intentional Musicianship, Jeff Price looks at adult learning and why experienced musicians don't have to accept or reject someone else's entire method to learn something valuable from it.

The question may simply be:

What can I use from this?

We also explore pedagogy, andragogy, and self-determined learning; why experience helps us ask better questions; and why learning from someone doesn't require becoming them.

The next time you encounter a new idea from a teacher, colleague, book, course, masterclass, podcast, or even social media, take what is useful, add it to your toolbox, and let your experience help you decide what comes next.

Concepts discussed:

Pedagogy vs. Andragogy vs. Heutagogy: Understanding Learning Styles Across Lifespan

#IntentionalMusicianship #ChooseYourOwnAdventure #MusicianDevelopment #AdultLearning #MusicEducation #MusicPerformance #ProfessionalDevelopment #LifelongLearning #Musicianship #MusicCareer #PracticeWithPurpose #PerformanceSuccess

Welcome to Intentional Musicianship!

The Intentional Musicianship podcast, hosted by Jeff Price, is for musicians looking to elevate their performance beyond technique. This isn't just about playing better, it's about enhancing stage presence, storytelling, audience connection, and breaking genre norms to create unforgettable experiences.

Whether you're a seasoned pro, an educator, or an aspiring performer, our goal is to help you get more from your performances, from growing a loyal fanbase to increasing gig opportunities. We assume you already have the technical foundation, now let's refine, innovate, and maximize your impact.

Join us in the conversation at intentionalmusicianship.com.

What happens when you already have a good performance, but you think one small change could make it even better?

In this episode of Intentional Musicianship, Jeff Price explores the idea of piloting the 1%. Make one intentional change to an already solid performance, test its impact, and use what you learn to decide what happens next.

Inspired by a student's observation during a recent master class, "Sometimes you've just got to change something," Jeff connects musical experimentation with the idea of a pilot used in business and Six Sigma.

Instead of rebuilding an entire performance or committing resources to an untested idea, isolate one change and determine what you expect it to accomplish.

The process starts with four simple questions:

Why am I changing something? What am I changing? What do I expect that change to accomplish? What happened as a result?

The episode looks at two different examples. Musically, a performer might pull out a section and intentionally exaggerate the phrasing, dynamics, articulation, or other musical choices to make the communication as clear as possible and determine whether the idea actually reaches the audience.

On the audience engagement side, something as simple as adding a QR code to a concert's digital media can become a pilot. If the goal is to encourage audience members to connect through social media, the response can be measured before committing additional money or resources to putting that QR code into printed programs or other materials.

The measurement follows the purpose of the change. Sometimes the result is something you hear, see, or experience. Sometimes it is something you can count.

Sometimes the pilot may even show that an idea works, but the improvement is not worth the additional time, money, people, technology, or complexity required to make it happen.

The goal is not constant change. It is intentional improvement.

Keep it. Modify it. Or let it go.

The performance itself can help develop the next performance.

#IntentionalMusicianship #PilotingThe1Percent #SmallChangesBetterPerformances #LivePerformance #MusicPerformance #PerformanceTips #PerformanceImprovement #AudienceEngagement #AudienceConnection #MusicalCommunication #MusicalExpression #PerformWithPurpose #PerformancePlanning #CriticalThinking #SixSigma #DMAIC #ContinuousImprovement #Stagecraft #MusicEducation #MusicianTips #BreakingTheFourthWall #IntentionalPerformance

Welcome to Intentional Musicianship!

The Intentional Musicianship podcast, hosted by Jeff Price, is for musicians looking to elevate their performance beyond technique. This isn't just about playing better, it's about enhancing stage presence, storytelling, audience connection, and breaking genre norms to create unforgettable experiences.

Whether you're a seasoned pro, an educator, or an aspiring performer, our goal is to help you get more from your performances, from growing a loyal fanbase to increasing gig opportunities. We assume you already have the technical foundation, now let's refine, innovate, and maximize your impact.

Join us in the conversation at intentionalmusicianship.com.