– most important, consequential, or influential

It’s time to start a campaign – a revolution – for the proper spelling of your title in the Northwest Rhode Island Symphony Orchestra. You can check the pronunciations (pun intended) and definitions of each word for yourself. To help put an end to this madness and ignorance, I have looked up each word from Merriam-Webster and included their info below. We only use slightly different terminology. Remember, musicians – we apply and interview for openings just like the rest of the world. That could be a make or break moment for you. If you were applying for a position in a business organization, heaven forbid, if you misspell your title.

WRONG! Musicians, everything out there that has your name tied to it, reflects YOU! Your Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter and other profiles all give an image of whom you are to the rest of the world. Since I didn’t see any red or green squiggles, I must be okay.” “So what if spell check didn’t catch a mistake. Many times I have sent a text where auto correct did not do its job – we have all seen those hilarious fails. We assume robotic formatting/correction did what it was suppose to do. We forget to actually look at our resume (or any document for that matter) to see if everything is correct. Then we win an audition, and we are so excited to include on our resume that we are the Principle Trumpet of the Intercourse (PA) Symphony Orchestra.

As musicians, we are constantly writing and updating our resume, trying to market ourselves through websites and social media, while we are practicing. All the time, I see one word – an important word – spelled wrong. In a day and age where we live and breathe by spell check, we have almost lost our own knowledge (if there was any) of spelling and grammar. I have to admit, this is one of my BIGGEST PET PEEVES when I read articles and profiles written by musicians that misspell the title of that first chair orchestral musician. “C’mon blogger! Use the RIGHT spelling of the word!!!!” I know what some of you (hopefully) are thinking.

Principal vs principle player