Duet Partner Podcast

Sara Campbell is savvy. Not only does she run Savvy Music Studio, a coaching service for music teachers, but she's studied the best standard operating procedures for streamlining the pesky tasks of running a small business. A studio management software like Duet gives you the digital tools to run your business more easily and efficiently. But at the end of the day, your studio is really about who you are and how you connect with your students. You are the only one who can map out systems and business management strategies that allow you to get the most out of your tools and create the deepest relationships with your clients. Sara Campbell has worked with hundreds of music teachers to create customized branding foundations, business plans and marketing and social media strategies. So she is the perfect person to guide us on how to set up systems that take the drudgery out of running a small business.

There are so many exceptional resources on the internet for music teachers. So where do you start? When it comes to games, worksheets, printables and teaching ideas, Amy Chaplin is an expert. In this episode, Amy shares her favorite idea sources, tips and tricks for keeping your resources organized so you can pull them out whenever you need a clever activity.

Amy Chaplin is a pianist, educator, entrepreneur, writer, and active presenter at the local, state, and national levels. She enjoys talking about all things piano teaching, studio business, organization, and good-food related, combining all these passions at PianoPantry.com and more recently on the new Piano Pantry Podcast.

Chaplin runs a successful independent piano studio in Northeast Indiana. She holds a Master's in Piano Pedagogy and Performance from Ball State University, a Bachelor of Music in Choral Education K-12 from Huntington University, and a certification in Music Learning Theory (MLT) and its practical application for piano from the Gordon Institute for Music Learning (GIML).

Amy has been on the Indiana Music Teachers Association board for over ten years in various leadership roles, including state President. She has been a guest writer/speaker for several professional piano teacher outlets, including Piano Bench Magazine, Alfred Music Blog, Top Music Co., Vibrant Music Teachers, and was on the Key Ideas podcast with Leila Viss. Her “Happy Birthday by Ear” product was featured on episode 28 of the Beyond Measure Podcast with Christina Whitlock.

Join Ariel Haubner and Avi Friedlander for a discussion full of inspiration and ideas that are sure to inspire your teaching. Mr Friedlander shares the importance of finding mentors who are willing to share their years of experience with young teachers. They discuss the importance of writing things down, and creating order and structure in your development as a teacher. Mr Friedlander is a wealth of information, you'll definitely want to tune into this episode!

Well known as a Suzuki cello workshop and institute clinician, Avi Friedlander teaches a variety of methods from classical to jazz and rock. Mr. Friedlander is the director of the Barston Suzuki Center at the Music Institute of Chicago, a Suzuki teacher trainer, teaches Suzuki Pedagogy faculty at Roosevelt University/Music Institute of Chicago and teaches string pedagogy at the University of North Florida. He holds Masters and Bachelors degrees in cello performance from The University of Michigan, and pursued his professional studies degree from The Cleveland Institute of Music. Mr. Friedlander is the former Assistant Principal cellist of the Atlanta Opera, former member of The New World Symphony and former professor of Cello at Emory University in Atlanta. His primary teachers have included Anthony Elliott, Stephen Geber, Irene Sharp, Tanya Carey and David Premo and he has also worked with Richard Aaron, Hans Jensen, Janos Starker and Bernard Greenhouse. Mr. Friedlander has studied improvisation methods with Eugene Friesen from the Berkley College, Stephan Braun from Berlin and Tim Kliphuis from Amsterdam. In addition to his own compositions, Mr. Friedlander writes his own arrangements for solo cello of rock tunes from Jimi Hendrix to Pearl Jam and is the author of his method books, “chopping around” and “pizzing around”, which introduce alternative styles to cellist.

Anthony Arnone is the cello professor at Iowa State University. He has a knack for following his curiosity, and bringing new and innovative projects to life as a result. He shares about his recent experience performing all 6 of Bach’s cello suites, creating Iowa Cello Days for his students, and an incredible book project he recently completed. He is a beautiful cellist, an avid runner, and a generous teacher. I came away from our conversation together feeling inspired and ready to practice - I hope you do too!

See Anthony's book on Amazon here or reach out to him for a copy at Iowa State.

Join guest podcast host, teacher Ariel Haubner, as she talks with cellist and author Brittany Gardner. They dive into the importance of creating a space in our studios where children feel safe to try, and trust their efforts will result in growth and beautiful music making. You’ll find ideas for connecting to your own wisdom as a teacher, and feel supported by Brittany’s wisdom, expertise and warmth.

Dr. Garrett Hope has made several pivots in his life as a musician – from composer to performer to teacher to consultant. And now he’s helping others do the same. In everything he does though, Garrett believes that musicians should do more than just trade time for money – musicians should craft businesses around their endeavors that efficiently repurpose their artistic output and properly reward them for their value. In our conversation, Garret offers philosophical convictions for this attitude as well as practical tips on how to achieve the vision he promotes.

Visit Duet Partner to automate your music studio management.

Andrea Miller has always had a passion for business. Even as a young pianist and piano teacher, Andrea was intrigued by financial literacy and entrepreneurship. She turned her skills into her music studio coaching business, Music Studio Startup, where she is particularly known for advising on financial questions. Which makes her the perfect guide for preparing for tax day! In this episode, Andrea shares her best practices for staying on top of the paperwork and organization needed to make tax time less painful.

Streamline and automate your music studio with Duet Partner.

Duet is delighted to be partnering with Kelly Riordan, a studio management consultant, to guide teachers through tax season. Are you maximizing your deductions? Wondering which forms you need to submit? Asking yourself if you need a CPA? This invaluable episode will help you feel confident as we approach tax season.

Find more tips for taxtime preparation by joining Duet Partner.

As the founder of Violinist.com, Laurie Niles is an expert on building an online community of musicians. But how can we as teachers build that same enthusiasm and collaboration within our own music studios? Laurie talks competition, collaboration, sibling rivalry, and the unifying power of music in this episode.

The journey of a musician inevitably involves years of training. There's often lots of joy in this journey - inspiring teachers and colleagues, exciting interactions and performances - but there's one element that's universally disliked: the cost. Karen Poleshuck has had all of the good parts of the journey which she'll share with us, and she'll also offer reflections on what she might have done differently in getting to be one of the most accomplished cello teachers in New York.

Sign up for Duet to focus on the music, not the management.