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.
Episodes
39 episodes
What Now? An Interview with Shirley XiaoLing Wang
Shirley XiaoLing Wang moved from Taiwan to Los Angeles at fifteen, arrived without knowing English, and found her way back to her own voice through opera. Today she is an operatic soprano, two-time TEDx speaker, keynote concert speaker, and...
Why I Don't Care If You Become a Good Guitarist
"What's your philosophy on teaching?"After an adult student unexpectedly asked me this question, I realized that after nearly 30 years of teaching, my answer had very little to do with any particular method.In this episode, I expl...
A Song in Any Key with Connor Chee
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 (hea...
Care Is the Strategy
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 build...
Making Lessons a Team Sport: How John Kozicki Built a Rock School
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.Jo...
Net Positive: The Rebrand, Your People, and Upholding Agreements
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...
Making a Resilient Living with Jason Sifford
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 prog...
The Opposite of Anxiety is Creativity with Leila Viss
Leila Viss has spent her career helping musicians find and trust their own creative voice. In this conversation, she shares the philosophy behind Space to Create, what her son’s accident taught her about music and grief, and why the opposite of...
Roberto Hermosillo on Building a Modern Music Career
What does a contemporary, thriving music career actually look like?Roberto Hermosillo has built it. He's a GRAMMY-nominated guitarist, studio musician, songwriter, TV actor, and the owner of Roberto's Music Studio, a boutique lessons ag...
Jaclyn Mrozek of the Scrappy Piano Teacher
Jaci Mrozek just took the entire month of May off, and she's still getting paid. In this conversation, she walks us through exactly how she built a system to support her "radical sabbatical."Jaci is a piano teacher, presenter, and host o...
Level It Up! Narciso Solero's Framework for Teaching Piano Repertoire
Narciso Solero spent 30 years developing a framework in his head before he finally put it on paper. The result is Level It Up!, a series that organizes composers' piano repertoire from easiest to most advanced. Level It Up! has attracted teache...
.png)
Composer Elizabeth Swift on Creativity, Saga Land, and the Art of Saying Yes
Elizabeth Swift didn't start composing until well into her teaching career. She wasn't trained to improvise. And the first time someone handed her a lead sheet and said "just noodle for a few minutes," she broke into a cold sweat.Today s...
.png)
Anne Katherine Davis on MLT, Audiation, and the Science of Musical Thought
Anne Katherine Davis teaches piano from Mexico to students and teachers across the world. Her approach is unlike what you’ll find in standard method books. Grounded in Edwin Gordon's Music Learning Theory, Anne is passionate about audiati...
.png)
Beyond the Method: Tim Topham on Creative Teaching in a Distracted World
Tim Topham, founder of TopMusicCo and author of No Book Beginners, joins Eric to talk about creative teaching, the four pillars of modern piano pedagogy, the challenge of keeping students engaged in the age of TikTok, and why in-person communit...
Follow Your Curiosity: Designing a Sustainable Music Career with Dr. Lisa Neher
Dr. Lisa Neher didn’t choose one lane.She’s an opera singer, composer, professor, private studio teacher, actor, and President of New Wave Opera... and she does all of it at a high level.In this conversation, we explore what it ac...
Structure + Freedom: How Tony Parlapiano Built popMATICS
Tony Parlapiano is the creator of popMATICS, an online music school built on a simple but powerful idea: great music education lives at the intersection of structure and freedom.In this episode, Tony shares how popMATICS ev...
Why I’m Wildly Optimistic About the Future of Teaching Private Music Lessons
There’s a lot of excitement right now, and also a lot of anxiety in the music lessons industry. After returning from the NAMM Show and talking with teachers and industry leaders, I’m still wildly optimistic about the future of teaching private ...
Merging Business and Art: Lessons on Gratitude, Risk, and a Life in Music with Brian Chung
Brian Chung has lived a rare kind of career—one where music and business were never opposites, but partners.In this wide-ranging and deeply human conversation, Brian shares the full arc of his journey: from a five-year-old who wro...
Clarity Over Chaos: Building a Professional Music Teaching Business with Michael Richey
What does a truly professional music teaching practice look like in 2026?In this episode of The FourForty Podcast, I’m joined by Michael Richey, owner of Tennessee Music Academy, a multi-teacher, in-home music studio serving Nashville fa...
The Happy Musician: Burnout, Boundaries, and Building a Sustainable Career with Candace Lark-Masucci
Candace Lark-Masucci is a harpist, educator, and musicians’ life coach helping artists build careers that are emotionally grounded, mentally healthy, and financially sustainable.In this deeply honest conversation, Candace shares her jour...
MTNA at 150: Creating Artist Citizens and the Future of Music Teaching
Brian Shepard, CEO of the Music Teachers National Association, joins the FourForty Podcast for a thoughtful, wide-ranging conversation about the past, present, and future of music teaching.As MTNA approaches its 150th anniversary, Brian ...
A Gratitude Practice for Music Teachers with Eric Branner
In this solo episode, Eric explores gratitude as a critical skill for musicians, educators, and creative entrepreneurs. Practice a guided meditation, hear stories from the studio, and craft your own gratitude statement. This o...
Scaling with Soul: The Sloan School of Music Story
In this episode, Eric talks with guitarist and entrepreneur Anthony Sloan: co-founder and CEO of the Sloan School of Music.What started as a family idea grew into a two-location music school, retail operation, and community hub offering ...
The Three-Legged Stool: Building a Successful Music Career with Joe Bergamini
Drummer, educator, author, and industry leader Joe Bergamini shares how he built a resilient, multi-hyphenate career spanning Broadway pits, international touring, best-selling drum books, and more than 35 years of private teaching.We ta...
Make an Offer, Add Value, Create an Asset: Studio Growth with Josh Gillis
Today I’m talking with Josh Gillis, founder of Catfish Alley Studio in Columbus, Mississippi. Josh is one of the kindest, most curious, and most future-leaning educators in the Fons community. He’s building a modern, community-centered music st...
