The Fourforty (440) with Eric Branner

The FourForty Podcast is where musicians and music teachers share their journeys as educators, entrepreneurs, and creative leaders. Each conversation explores the real work of building a meaningful career in music... and the impact it makes beyond the studio.

The Fourforty (440) with Eric Branner is a business podcast hosted by Eric Branner, with 37 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

Eric Branner hosts The Fourforty (440) with Eric Branner, a business show with 37 episodes published.

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  Episode #34

  A Song in Any Key with Connor Chee

  Aug 12, 202657 minS3

  Connor Chee made his Carnegie Hall debut at 12, trained at Eastman and the University of Cincinnati's Conservatory, and was on track to be a concert pianist. Then he went home to Arizona, reconnected with his grandfather, a Navajo Hataalii (healer and medicine man) who carried hundreds of traditional chants in memory, and started arranging them for piano. This inflection point became a career: five albums, a commission honoring the Navajo Code Talkers, and a growing catalog of piano works, including Sand Paintings, published by Alfred Music. In this conversation, Connor and Eric talk about composing by ear, the challenge of writing music for beginning students, his journey from prodigy concert pianist to celebrated Navajo composer, and projects like working with the Frances Clark Center commissioning Indigenous composers for elementary piano students. Learn more about Connor's work here. www.connorchee.com TikTok Instagram Facebook Connect with us: Join a supportive community for teachers & creatives at the Fons Family Facebook Group a supportive community for teachers & creatives Follow on Instagram: @makemusicstudio Learn more about MakeMusic Studio (Formerly Fons)

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  Episode #33

  Care Is the Strategy

  Jul 28, 202631 minS2

  If traditional marketing avenues don't feel wonderful to you, if daily posting feels exhausting, if asking for referrals feels awkward, this episode is for you. Eric shares a personal framework built from two decades of teaching and building MakeMusic Studio (formerly Fons): the most effective marketing strategy for most music teachers isn't a strategy at all. It's caring, rabidly and voraciously, about the people you already serve. Eric tells the stories about how single moments of care ripple through a community and grow a studio more effectively than any flyer or ad could He talks about noticing what shoes his students wore, just to understand them better, and how that small attention became part of his brand. He shares ten years of hosting an annual recital called the Guitarbecue, cooking for a guest list of 200, and how that one event was his entire marketing strategy without ever feeling like one. Eric draws on three books that shaped how he thinks about business: Seth Godin's This Is Marketing, Lisa Earle McLeod's Selling With Noble Purpose, and Simon Sinek's The Infinite Game. He also shares a moment watching Suzuki guitar veteran Mary Lou Roberts teach, and how her unwavering belief in the medium itself was more compelling than any technique she demonstrated. If you've ever felt like you should be doing more marketing and it just doesn't feel like you, this episode offers a different path: focus on the people in front of you, and let the story take care of the rest. Connect with us: Join a supportive community for teachers & creatives at the Fons Family Facebook Group a supportive community for teachers & creatives Follow on Instagram: @makemusicstudio Learn more about MakeMusic Studio (Formerly Fons)

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  Episode #33

  Making Lessons a Team Sport: How John Kozicki Built a Rock School

  Jul 15, 20261h 2mS2

  John Kozicki quit a marketing career and a touring band to teach guitar. He then built two music schools around a single conviction: students play longer, learn more, and have more fun when they're playing with other people. John is the founder of Michigan Rock School in Oakland County, Michigan, and the host of the Rock School Proprietor Podcast. He's built two schools from the ground up, operated both, and sold one. Today he runs a year-round band program, coaches at least one band a week, and is finishing a mixed-instrument beginner band curriculum he plans to release to schools everywhere. We talk about a star instructor of eight years just moved on, tech transitions happening all at once, and what makes his school model work so well. The band program philosophy, the trimester structure, how he thinks about qualifying families at enrollment, his upcoming ska band camp, and what changed in him the night he took his daughter to see Green Day. We discuss the "curse of knowledge..." why the further you are from beginner, the harder things can become, and about what it means to invite your audience in, not just perform for them. This was a very fun chat! 🌊 🌊 Connect with us: Join a supportive community for teachers & creatives at the Fons Family Facebook Group a supportive community for teachers & creatives Follow on Instagram: @makemusicstudio Learn more about Fons (Now MakeMusic Studio!)

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  Episode #32

  Net Positive: The Rebrand, Your People, and Upholding Agreements

  Jul 8, 202630 minS2

  In this solo episode, Eric shares three things that have been on his mind. First, the story of Fons becoming MakeMusic Studio, from a 2016 studio management platform built for his own guitar students, through the years of growth, becoming part of the Peaksware brand family, and what the rebrand means for the community who uses it. Second, an encouragement for joining a professional organization, even if you've been on the fence. Eric shares the immense value of being together with your people. Third, something more personal: a practice Eric's been working on around keeping agreements with himself, not just with everyone else. If you've ever felt pulled in a lot of directions as a teacher, this is a reminder that showing up for yourself is critical to becoming the best version of yourself to help others. 🌊 Connect with us: Join a supportive community for teachers & creatives at the Fons Family Facebook Group a supportive community for teachers & creatives Follow on Instagram: @makemusicstudio Learn more about Fons (Now MakeMusic Studio!)

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  Episode #31

  Making a Resilient Living with Jason Sifford

  Jun 18, 20261h 6mS2

  Jason Sifford is a piano teacher, composer, and performer based in Iowa City. He runs an independent studio, writes pedagogical music published by Willis/Hal Leonard and FJH Music, composes original musical theater for a children's theater program that now reaches hundreds of kids across Iowa, and recently joined the MTNA Board of Trustees as West-Central Division Director. He also just launched Piano Blocks, a newsletter for piano teachers on Substack. In this conversation, Eric and Jason talk about building a career rooted in community and curiousity, make the case for 45-minute lessons, and share the origin story of Jason's highly successful theater project. We also discuss his unique strategy for his latest Substack project. This episode is perfect for any music teacher contemplating the arc of their career. Topics covered: The 45-minute lesson format and why it works Leaving academia to go freelance and what that decision made possible The Aspen moment: finding your place in the club How a COVID-era theater project became a six-show, 17-employee operation Composing for students: writing only what doesn’t already exist A/B testing your music with real students “Passive income” and why the crank never stops Piano Blocks: writing for yourself first, audience second The income quilt, building a resilient career Work-life balance by the year, not the week Learn more about Jason's work here... Website: jasonsifford.com Piano Blocks on Substack: jasonsifford.substack.com YouTube: youtube.com/@jsifford Instagram: @jasonsifford Sheet music: search “Jason Sifford” at halleonard.com 🌊 Connect with us: Join a supportive community for teachers & creatives at the Fons Family Facebook Group a supportive community for teachers & creatives Follow on Instagram: @getfons Learn more about Fons (Soon to be MakeMusic Studio!) TikTok: @getfons

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