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Play Every Day

Building a Thriving Music Practice Community

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January 2023 - present

“Kristen is a true artist when it comes to community design. She helped shape the Play Every Day music practice community, and her work made all the difference.

Kristen brings a rare blend of logistical smarts and deep empathy, creating systems that truly support people. She’s a clear communicator, incredibly detail-oriented, and—just as important—fun to work with. I’m super proud of what we built together. It simply wouldn’t have been as good without her”

-Jason, FiddleHed & Play Every Day Founder

The Challenge

Transform a large YouTube following and an experimental card-based music practice method into a thriving online community and revenue-generating platform.

Working with creative founders is the BEST

One of the perks of working with a musician is sometimes you get serenaded while on Zoom calls

My Role

As Lead Community Strategist and Relational Designer for Play Every Day, I partnered with Jason Kleinberg, founder of Fiddlehed, to revolutionize how students learn fiddle online. I evolved from conducting initial card playtesting to leading strategy and relational design of the Play Every Day community.

The Journey

Our process evolved organically:

  1. Initial card playtesting with Fiddlehed students

  2. Community strategy development to support the learning methodology

  3. Membership platform creation with clear value proposition

  4. Successful migration of existing students to the new platform

  5. YouTube audience transition strategy to convert followers into community members (ongoing)

The Results

Today, Play Every Day has become:

  • A thriving membership community built around innovative learning techniques

  • A successful revenue generator that benefits both the business and members

  • An evolving platform that continuously refines the card-based learning system

Community Design & Implmentation

Working closely with Jason and community manager Jocelyn has been a creative dream. Together, we designed and launched several innovative group music practice experiences, all using the Play Every Day methodology:

  • Monthly Practice Challenges: 1-2 week, prompt-based activities to build consistent habits

  • Practice-Buddy System: Peer accountability partnerships for sustained engagement

  • Weekly Student-Led Music Potlucks: Community-driven practice sessions

  • Evergreen Music Courses: On-demand learning experiences

The community incorporates both synchronous and asynchronous teaching modalities, creating multiple pathways for members to connect and learn together despite challenges like sound and video lag.

My Stack

Circle - community home

Zoom - community calls & internal team comms

Notion - org home base

FigJam - canvas

Google (docs, forms) - general comms and org

What's Next

Building on success with fiddle instruction, Jason plans to expand the Play Every Day methodology to piano, guitar, and other instruments—creating a comprehensive ecosystem for music education.

Working Highlights

Collaborating with creative founders like Jason has been incredibly rewarding—sometimes even including impromptu serenades during Zoom calls!

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