Musicianship Mastery with David Lane
Do you want to be a great musician? A well-rounded musician? Maybe you’re already a good musician, and you want to take that next step. To do that, you need to be able to sight-read well, play by ear, compose or improvise, understand the art of practice, and be versatile in many other ways. Musicianship Mastery (formerly known as The Musician Toolkit) explores these tools, how to improve them, and how you can apply them to a variety of gigs and musical careers whether you’re a professional musician or a committed artist who makes your income outside of music. Join us on a quest to improve your musicianship and to make you the most well-rounded musician you can be!
Episodes

14 hours ago
14 hours ago
Being comfortable with singing is a tool that every musician should have, even instrumentalists. It's also worth exploring all the things the voice can do to come up with your own personal sound that doesn't necessarily have to blend with everyone else. Thao Nguyen, voice teacher and actor, helps us understand how to explore this instrument you carry around with you as well as things to maintain vocal health.
Follow Thao at https://www.thaotnguyen.com/
Musicianship Mastery is formerly known as The Musician Toolkit.
Let me know your thoughts on this episode as a voice message to possibly share on a future episode at https://www.speakpipe.com/MusicianToolkit
If you enjoyed this, please give it a rating and review on the podcast app of your choice. You can find all episodes of this podcast at https://www.davidlanemusic.com/toolkit
You can follow David Lane AND the Musician Toolkit podcast on Facebook @DavidMLaneMusic, on Instagram and TikTok @DavidLaneMusic, and on YouTube @davidlanemusic1

Monday Jun 30, 2025
Monday Jun 30, 2025
This episode offers 6 minor musician tools to add to the original 21, some specific things that will make you a more well-rounded and capable musician!
Musicianship Mastery is formerly known as The Musician Toolkit.
Let me know your thoughts on this episode as a voice message to possibly share on a future episode at https://www.speakpipe.com/MusicianToolkit
If you enjoyed this, please give it a rating and review on the podcast app of your choice. You can find all episodes of this podcast at https://www.davidlanemusic.com/toolkit
You can follow David Lane AND the Musician Toolkit podcast on Facebook @DavidMLaneMusic, on Instagram and TikTok @DavidLaneMusic, and on YouTube @davidlanemusic1

Monday Jun 23, 2025
Monday Jun 23, 2025
The hands don't play on their own and the voice doesn't sing on its own. It just seems that way if you've practiced well. The brain is always in control whether you're aware of it or not. To practice well, you need to understand how the brain works, and how to improve it. This episode offers ways to optimize the power of the brain while practicing music in addition to some things you can do to maintain and even improve the health of your brain.
Musicianship Mastery is formerly known as The Musician Toolkit.
Let me know your thoughts on this episode as a voice message to possibly share on a future episode at https://www.speakpipe.com/MusicianToolkit
If you enjoyed this, please give it a rating and review on the podcast app of your choice. You can find all episodes of this podcast at https://www.davidlanemusic.com/toolkit
You can follow David Lane AND the Musician Toolkit podcast on Facebook @DavidMLaneMusic, on Instagram and TikTok @DavidLaneMusic, and on YouTube @davidlanemusic1

Monday Jun 16, 2025
Monday Jun 16, 2025
This is an important topic for all musicians that many may not be willing to admit. Whether it's being inside a lot, sitting down a lot, or having imbalances in the body due to performance posture, it's important to take practice time for wellness and mindfulness. In this episode, learn about integrating good habits as practice, the powerful but simple solution of breathing well, mindfulness without necessarily meditating, dealing with pain and stiffness, and the importance of nature.
Lisa Joy Glassman actively coaches musicians and those in the music industry to better health and wellness. Find out more about her and her services at: https://www.activepotential.com/
Musicianship Mastery is formerly known as The Musician Toolkit.
Let me know your thoughts on this episode as a voice message to possibly share on a future episode at https://www.speakpipe.com/MusicianToolkit
If you enjoyed this, please give it a rating and review on the podcast app of your choice. You can find all episodes of this podcast at https://www.davidlanemusic.com/toolkit
You can follow David Lane AND the Musician Toolkit podcast on Facebook @DavidMLaneMusic, on Instagram and TikTok @DavidLaneMusic, and on YouTube @davidlanemusic1

Monday Jun 09, 2025
Monday Jun 09, 2025
Something I teach to all composition students is the idea of a compositional pantry and creating music like a chef. In this episode, I'll share what's in my pantry and how to use it as an example of how you can develop your own voice as a composer and write music that fits you to a tee!
Musicianship Mastery is formerly known as The Musician Toolkit.
Let me know your thoughts on this episode as a voice message to possibly share on a future episode at https://www.speakpipe.com/MusicianToolkit
If you enjoyed this, please give it a rating and review on the podcast app of your choice. You can find all episodes of this podcast at https://www.davidlanemusic.com/toolkit
You can follow David Lane AND the Musician Toolkit podcast on Facebook @DavidMLaneMusic, on Instagram and TikTok @DavidLaneMusic, and on YouTube @davidlanemusic1

Monday Jun 02, 2025
Monday Jun 02, 2025
The fear of missing out (FOMO) comes in 2 forms for a musician. The first is social and live events that you're not able to do because of rehearsal and performance. The other is not using all the skills you practiced because there isn't enough time to achieve a professional goal on all of them. Saying I CAN do this, I'm good at this, and even to a point that I LIKE doing this aren't always good reasons for not putting it aside. This episode tries to address this 2nd version of FOMO, to encourage you that it's okay to not do everything so that you can go all-in on your well-rounded life as a musician!
Musicianship Mastery is formerly known as The Musician Toolkit.
Let me know your thoughts on this episode as a voice message to possibly share on a future episode at https://www.speakpipe.com/MusicianToolkit
If you enjoyed this, please give it a rating and review on the podcast app of your choice. You can find all episodes of this podcast at https://www.davidlanemusic.com/toolkit
You can follow David Lane AND the Musician Toolkit podcast on Facebook @DavidMLaneMusic, on Instagram and TikTok @DavidLaneMusic, and on YouTube @davidlanemusic1

Monday May 26, 2025
Monday May 26, 2025
Let's talk about making use of apps and other technology to help your growth as a musician. We talk about the explorer's mindset needed to embrace technology rather than fearing it. We then dive into categories such as practice apps, metronome apps, assessment tools, and a few others. The featured guest is Sam Reti, who teaches guitar and also uses his passion for technology to help music teachers with his online lesson platform: https://www.muzie.live/
Musicianship Mastery is formerly known as The Musician Toolkit.
Let me know your thoughts on this episode as a voice message to possibly share on a future episode at https://www.speakpipe.com/MusicianToolkit
If you enjoyed this, please give it a rating and review on the podcast app of your choice. You can find all episodes of this podcast at https://www.davidlanemusic.com/toolkit
You can follow David Lane AND the Musician Toolkit podcast on Facebook @DavidMLaneMusic, on Instagram and TikTok @DavidLaneMusic, and on YouTube @davidlanemusic1

Monday May 19, 2025
Monday May 19, 2025
Way back on Episode 27, I talked about the power of having quarterly goals. Since then, I've spent over a year in an accountability group centered around quarterly goals, and have gained more clarity on what works and what doesn't. This is a revised look at one of the most powerful ways to keep succeeding at anything.
Previous episode on this topic: https://www.davidlanemusic.com/toolkit/episode/77965d9f/the-power-of-quarterly-goals-or-ep27
Musicianship Mastery is formerly known as The Musician Toolkit.
Let me know your thoughts on this episode as a voice message to possibly share on a future episode at https://www.speakpipe.com/MusicianToolkit
If you enjoyed this, please give it a rating and review on the podcast app of your choice. You can find all episodes of this podcast at https://www.davidlanemusic.com/toolkit
You can follow David Lane AND the Musician Toolkit podcast on Facebook @DavidMLaneMusic, on Instagram and TikTok @DavidLaneMusic, and on YouTube @davidlanemusic1
This episode is sponsored by Fons, an online platform that helps music teachers with smooth, automated assistance such as securing timely automatic payments and scheduling. Click here for more information or to begin your free trial.

Monday May 12, 2025
Monday May 12, 2025
Sight reading is the first time you play through a piece of music, but the "sight reading mode" can last for a long time. The sight reading mode is the stage where you feel like your eyes have to stay glued to the sheet music for nearly every performance second because your mind and body has no real familiarity with the music. It's not that you're trying to play it from memory, but everything is just cautious and not clicking. This episode offers 7 things you can do to take your music to the next stage of learning!
Musicianship Mastery is formerly known as The Musician Toolkit.
Let me know your thoughts on this episode as a voice message to possibly share on a future episode at https://www.speakpipe.com/MusicianToolkit
If you enjoyed this, please give it a rating and review on the podcast app of your choice. You can find all episodes of this podcast at https://www.davidlanemusic.com/toolkit
You can follow David Lane AND the Musician Toolkit podcast on Facebook @DavidMLaneMusic, on Instagram and TikTok @DavidLaneMusic, and on YouTube @davidlanemusic1
This episode is sponsored by Fons, an online platform that helps music teachers with smooth, automated assistance such as securing timely automatic payments and scheduling. Click here for more information or to begin your free trial.

Monday May 05, 2025
Monday May 05, 2025
Playing your instrument while following other musicians is an art, and one of the essential tools of musicianship. Dr. Rachel Ehring chats with me in this episode about why this is a good skill to learn, the challenges unique to collaborating, and how this opens the doors to opportunities for both amateurs and professionals.
Links for this Episode
Rachel's Website: https://rachelehring.com/
1:1 Coaching: https://skilled-trailblazer-7766.kit.com/products/private-1-1-coaching
Free Collaborative Rate Calculator: https://skilled-trailblazer-7766.kit.com/b5e06d175a
Free Webinar on Accompanying: https://skilled-trailblazer-7766.ck.page/a77faf8007
Instagram @RachelEhring
Musicianship Mastery is formerly known as The Musician Toolkit.
Let me know your thoughts on this episode as a voice message to possibly share on a future episode at https://www.speakpipe.com/MusicianToolkit
If you enjoyed this, please give it a rating and review on the podcast app of your choice. You can find all episodes of this podcast at https://www.davidlanemusic.com/toolkit
You can follow David Lane AND the Musician Toolkit podcast on Facebook @DavidMLaneMusic, on Instagram and TikTok @DavidLaneMusic, and on YouTube @davidlanemusic1
This episode is sponsored by Fons, an online platform that helps music teachers with smooth, automated assistance such as securing timely automatic payments and scheduling. Click here for more information or to begin your free trial.

Thank you for listening!
If you would like to help financially support this podcast, we gratefully accept donations of any amount through this link.
Your donation can be one-time or renew monthly. Thanks so much for your support!
You can also leave a voice message for possible inclusion on an episode at https://www.speakpipe.com/MusicianToolkit . Please leave at least your first name and what your message is regarding. Also feel free to say something about yourself if you're a musician and/or a teacher.