Yes, I'll do that

“You will have the chance to take two paths. One you can say ‘No, I don’t do that’ and keep going down the path you’ve always gone down. Or you can say ‘Yes, I’ll do that.’ And you don’t even have to be good at it but you have to try.”

—Phil Snedecor

Wise words from trumpet player, teacher, composer and entrepreneur Phil Snedecor.

Especially in today’s scary and uncertain times, a lot of people in the music business are going to have to say “Yes, I’ll do that” or whoever is doing the asking is going to move on to the next person.

Literally everyone has already had their lives turned upside down by this global pandemic. Some more than others, of course. But everyone is having to make adjustments to what they do, how they do it, when they do it and where they do it.

Even those lucky enough to still be doing what they did before this hit are having to change the how, when and/or where. The future is going to reward two types of people: leaders who will take us where we need to go in these unchartered waters and those who are adaptable enough to help those leaders make their vision a reality.

Things have changed so much in the last 20 years and this trend was already well underway. But this pandemic is like throwing a can of gasoline on the fire. This trend is now expanding exponentially.

So start figuring out how to say yes to things, even when you’re not sure. But keep in mind the last part of Phil’s quote:

You don’t even have to be good at it. But you have to try.

Different is better than better

"Different is better than better." 

—Brian Clark (CEO of Rainmaker Digital)

Yes!

There is a very popular etude book for tuba by Phil Snedecor titled "Low Etudes for Tuba". Phil wrote this book years ago and it continues to sell very well for him in spite of having been released a long time ago. This is not by accident.

It turns out that back in the day John Cradler, Phil's friend who plays tuba in the Presidents' Own Marine Band, told Phil that he should not just write a tuba etude book but one that contains melodies in the extreme low register.

John pointed out to Phil that in spite of the existence of many tuba etude books there wasn't one that specifically addressed this skill head on. Phil asked him if it really would sell. John assured him that it was a glaring hole in the tuba etude book market and that it would.

Sure enough it did and continues to!

The point is that Phil didn't write a better version of a low etude book for tuba. He wrote the first book to do so.

Phil is an incredible writer (both arranger and composer) and very likely could have written a better book than what was already out there if he had been beaten to market by others.

But by writing the first book in that specific niche he was able to sell a whole bunch of them right away. It was a need that people didn't even realize they had and he solved it for them.

The path of least resistance to both impact and financial success is being different. This is much more important than being better.