The Scrappy Piano Teacher Podcast

Jaclyn Mrozek
  • 5.0 (19)
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Updated Weekly

The Scrappy Piano Teacher Podcast, formerly The Music Teacher Mastermind Podcast, is a piano teacher podcast for independent piano teachers who love teaching but struggle with running a studio or need some encouragement. I’m Jaclyn Mrozek, a piano teacher and studio owner with 28 plus years of experience, all while homeschooling and raising three kids, so yes, I get it. This podcast covers piano teaching, piano studio business systems, private and group lessons, burnout, and sustainable strategies to help piano teachers build joyful studios with clarity and confidence.

  1. 2d ago

    Your Students Are Overscheduled. Now What?

    Your Students Are Overscheduled. Now What? What do you do when your piano students are too busy to practice? Between school, sports, theater, jobs, homework, and everything else competing for their time, many music teachers are trying to figure out how to set realistic practice expectations without simply lowering the bar. In this episode, I am talking about overscheduled students, piano practice motivation, and what the research actually says about kids with increasingly packed schedules. I also share how I handle this in my own studio through our Honors Program, where students look honestly at their schedules and set realistic practice goals for the year. We also talk about student ownership, Self Determination Theory, involving parents in the conversation, and why sometimes the answer to a student who only has twenty minutes is not telling them to find forty. Sometimes we need to teach them how to use the twenty minutes they already have really well. The Scrappy Piano Teacherwww.scrappypianoteacher.com Coda Bookswww.scrappypianoteacher.com/coda Molly Gebrian, Learn Faster, Perform Better: A Musician's Guide to the Neuroscience of Practicinghttps://amzn.to/4gdjHjQ MakeMusic Studiohttps://studio.makemusic.com Use code SCRAPPY90 for 90% off your first three months of MakeMusic Studio. You can also schedule a demo to see how MakeMusic Studio could work for your studio. 2024 MTNA Member Survey Are Children Spending Too Much Time on Enrichment Activities? by Carolina Caetano, Gregorio Caetano, and Eric Nielsen Self Determination Theory Jennifer Breheny Wallace, Never Enough Molly Gebrian, Learn Faster, Perform Better Being realistic does not mean getting rid of standards. It means creating expectations that make sense for the actual student sitting in front of us and then helping that student follow through. If this episode helped you, remember, sharing is caring. Send it to another piano teacher or independent music teacher who might enjoy the conversation.

  2. Aug 3

    Does Your Registration Fee Have a Job?

    Does Your Registration Fee Have a Job? How to Calculate Music Studio Fees How did you decide what to charge for your studio registration fee? Did you calculate it from real expenses, or did you choose a number that simply sounded about right? In this episode, Jaci looks at how independent music teachers can calculate a registration fee using real information from their own studios. She shares how her registration fees once became general emergency money, why that approach did not solve the underlying problem, and how teachers can give each fee a clear and specific job. You will hear practical ideas for reviewing expenses such as: • Books and student materials• Recitals and studio events• Piano tuning and instrument maintenance• Studio software and payment processing• Registration and administrative work Jaci also explains how to separate shared studio expenses from individual student expenses and use that information to calculate a realistic starting point for your fee. CALCULATE YOUR REGISTRATION FEE Create three columns: Column 1: Everything you want your annual fee to cover Column 2: What you spent on each item last year, or your realistic estimate for this year Column 3: Whether the expense belongs to one student individually or is shared across the whole studio Then calculate: Shared annual expenses ÷ expected number of students = shared cost per student Shared cost per student + average individual student costs = starting point for your annual fee That number does not automatically have to become your final fee. You can still decide what belongs in tuition, what you may choose to subsidize, and what makes sense for your families. The important thing is that you are making the decision using real information from your own studio. The episode also explores two ways to collect registration fees: charging the full amount upfront or spreading it across monthly tuition. Jaci shares the results of her own studio experiment, in which 85 percent of participating families chose to roll the fee into tuition. Finally, she discusses how Profit First style buckets can help ensure that money intended for books, recitals, maintenance, or other expenses is still available when it is needed. The goal is not to copy another teacher’s number. Your fee may be higher, lower, included in tuition, or structured completely differently. What matters is that it is accurate, intentional, and connected to the real cost of operating your studio. RESOURCES Free Recital Expense Calculator and Profit First Cheat Sheet:https://www.scrappypianoteacher.com/resources FREE SCRAPPY CIRCLE Join Jaci and Eric Branner on August 14 at 1:00 p.m. Eastern for a casual back to school teacher conversation and Q&A. Eric will also share a short look at how Fons has grown into Make Music Studio. RSVP and submit your question:https://www.scrappypianoteacher.com/scrappy-circle Visit The Scrappy Piano Teacher:https://www.scrappypianoteacher.com

  3. Jul 20

    Your Fall Studio Checklist

    Before fall lessons begin, take a step back and make sure the systems underneath your studio still fit the teacher, business owner, and human you are today. In this episode, Jaci shares five areas every music teacher should revisit before the new teaching year: Studio policies A calendar built around margin Business bank accounts and Profit First buckets Administrative systems and studio software Your teaching philosophy Your studio may have worked beautifully last year and still need to change this year. The goal is not to keep adding more. It is to build a studio that supports your students, your income, your energy, and the rest of your life. Policy workshop replay, policy workbook, editable studio calendars, Profit First resources, and teaching philosophy workbook: https://www.scrappypianoteacher.com/resources Explore Make Music Studio: https://studio.makemusic.com Use code SCRAPPY90 to receive 90 percent off your first three months of Make Music Studio.

  4. Jul 6

    Musical Informance: Engaging the Audience

    In this episode, I’m joined by Ashley Danyew to talk about musical informances and how they can offer a fresh, educational alternative to the traditional student recital. Ashley shares what a musical informance is, how the idea developed in her own studio, and how this kind of event can help students share more than just a polished performance. We talk about helping students speak, demonstrate, explain musical ideas, and give the audience a deeper look at the learning process behind the music. We also discuss the practical side of planning a musical informance, including choosing a theme, preparing students, communicating the idea to parents, pacing the event, and finding a simple first version that feels doable for independent teachers. If you have ever wished your studio events could show more than the finished piece, this conversation will give you a thoughtful and practical place to start. In this episode, we talk about: What a musical informance isHow Ashley began using informances in her studioThe difference between a recital and an informanceHow informances help students share the learning processWays to prepare students to speak, demonstrate, and performHow to choose themes and repertoireHow to introduce the idea to students and familiesHow teachers can try a simple first version in their own studiosResources mentioned: Free Musical Informances Handout:https://musician-co.myflodesk.com/musical-informance-handout Musical Informance Planning Guide for Piano Teachers:https://learn.ashleydanyew.com/musical-informance-guide Penelope Roskell’s Essential Piano Technique Level 3, which includes Patchwork Polka:https://www.sheetmusicplus.com/en/product/essential-piano-technique-level-3-23115113.html Connect with Ashley Danyew:https://www.ashleydanyew.com Listen to Ashley’s podcast, Field Notes on Music Teaching & Learning:www.ashleydanyew.com/fieldnotesLearn more from The Scrappy Piano Teacher:https://www.scrappypianoteacher.co

  5. Jun 22

    Say It Clearly: Communicating Studio Changes

    Communicating studio changes can feel surprisingly hard.Maybe you are raising tuition, changing your makeup lesson policy, adding flex weeks, switching to autopay, adjusting your lesson model, or simply trying to make the year run a little more smoothly.You know the change needs to happen.But then you open the email to tell your studio families, stare at the blank screen, and wonder, “What exactly am I supposed to say?”In this episode, we are talking about how to communicate studio changes clearly, warmly, and professionally without burying the important information or over explaining your decisions.I share a story from my very short-lived door to door sales era, what it taught me about repetition and clarity, and how that applies to the way we communicate with studio parents.Because parents are busy. They are not living inside our studio teacher brains. They are not thinking about tuition models, flex weeks, makeup policies, and registration deadlines all day long.So if we want families to understand what is changing, why it is changing, and where to find the information later, we need to say it clearly, repeat it with grace, and make the details easy to find.In this episode, we talk about:• Why one email in August is usually not enough• How to announce studio changes without burying the information• Why bullets are your best friend in parent emails• How to explain the reason behind a change without writing a novel• Why you do not need to apologize for running your business• How to use newsletters, waiting areas, policies, registration forms, and portals to reinforce important information• Why repeated reminders are not annoying when they are helpful• How to prepare for follow up questions before they come in• Why you can have clear policies and still offer private grace when it truly fits the situationI also mention the marketing idea often called the Rule of 7. I do not treat it as a proven magic number, but the general idea is useful: people often need to hear or see information more than once before it sticks.As music teachers, we already know this. We do not teach a student one concept one time and expect it to be locked in forever. We come back to it. We explain it another way. We give reminders. Studio communication works the same way.If you want more specific wording examples for tuition changes, autopay, flex weeks, makeup lesson policies, even monthly billing, and newsletter reminders, I have a detailed blog post for you at: www.scrappypianoteacher.com/scrappynotesAnd if you missed the Policy Triangle and Calendar Workshop, the replay and workbook are available at: scrappypianoteacher.com/resourcesNext time, we are taking a little break from the admin heavy conversations and talking about something really fun: student informances with Ashley Danyew from Musician and Company.Thanks for listening, teacher friend. Have a fabulous teaching week!

  6. Jun 8

    Survey Says: Music Teacher Edition with Karen Thickstun

    In this episode, I’m joined by Karen Thickstun, NCTM, MTNA past president and coordinator of MTNA Business Resources and MTNA Business Digest. We talk through some of the fascinating results from the 2024 MTNA Member Survey and what they reveal about independent music teachers, including lesson rates, rate increases, studio policies, marketing, payment methods, student retention, software, and legal considerations. This conversation is such a helpful reminder that while many of us teach independently, we are also part of a much bigger profession. The survey gives us a chance to see what other teachers are experiencing, what challenges are rising to the surface, and what we may want to think through more intentionally in our own studios. Karen and I will also be presenting an MTNA webinar on June 23, 2026, called Communicating Value and Boundaries: Studio Policies That Serve and Protect. And if you want hands-on help outlining your studio policy and calendar, my final Policy Triangle Workshop is coming up on June 19th at noon Eastern. You can join at scrappypianoteacher.com/scrappysessions. The workshop includes a policy audit from me, even if you need to watch the replay. Next episode: In two weeks, we’ll be talking all about communicating changes to your studio families, along with some fun tips and tricks. Be sure to follow and subscribe! Thanks for supporting this work to help all independent music teachers.

  7. May 26

    Tuition Pricing With Confidence

    Pricing music lessons can feel simple until you actually have to choose the number, put it in your policy, send the email, or say it out loud to a parent. In this episode, Jaci talks about how independent music teachers can build a tuition number with more confidence. Not by copying another teacher’s rate, not by guessing, and not by choosing the number that feels the least awkward, but by using a clearer framework. This episode loosely applies ideas from How to Price Effectively by Utpal Dholakia to independent music teaching. The six pricing pieces discussed are: CostsWhat does it actually cost to run the studio and pay yourself sustainably?Customer ValueWhat are families receiving beyond lesson minutes?Reference PricesWhat expectations or comparison points might families already have, and why should those be treated as context rather than the deciding factor?Value PropositionWhy this studio, at this price?Price ExecutionHow will the price be communicated, rolled out, and implemented?EvaluationAfter the change, did the pricing decision actually support the studio?Jaci also talks about capacity as an important music-teacher-specific layer, because the number of students or teaching hours a teacher can realistically carry directly affects whether pricing is sustainable. The goal is not to find a magical number. The goal is to build a tuition number with a backbone, so you can communicate it clearly and actually follow through. Resources mentioned: Policy Triangle & Calendar Workshop: www.scrappypianoteacher.com/scrappysessions Music Studio Startup Tuition Calculator & Pricing Advice: www.musicstudiostartup.com/how-much-do-i-need-to-charge-for-music-lessons/ Piano Sensei Tuition Calculator:teachers.pianosensei.com/resources/tuition_calculators/ How to Price Effectively by Utpal Dholakia: https://amzn.to/4nRcucQAffiliate link Subscribe for Scrappy Snippets and teacher resources: www.scrappypianoteacher.com

  8. May 11

    Tuition Models and Real Talk with Eric Branner

    In this episode of The Scrappy Piano Teacher, I’m joined by Eric Branner for a practical and honest conversation about one of the biggest questions independent music teachers face: How do we structure our tuition, raise rates, and actually get paid in a way that supports a sustainable studio? Eric brings such a helpful mix of real teaching experience and business perspective. He breaks down actual tuition models music teachers are using, why some pricing structures work better than others, and how teachers can think through raising rates without spiraling, apologizing, or guessing. We also talk about what it means to build a music teaching business that is professional, sustainable, personally fulfilling, and rooted in community. Basically, this episode is packed. It is a little longer than normal, but it is full of the kind of real talk independent teachers need when they are making big decisions about their studios. If you are planning for the next school year, reviewing your lesson rates, rethinking your studio policies, or wondering if your current tuition model still makes sense, this conversation is going to give you a lot to think about. ● Different tuition models for independent music teachers● Why “charging by the lesson” can create problems over time● How to think about raising your rates● Why teachers need to understand the value of their time● Building a studio model that supports your real life● The business side of teaching music● Why policies, pricing, and sustainability all connect● What teachers often misunderstand about getting paid● How music teachers can build stronger, more professional studios ● Listen to my episode with Eric Branner on The 440 Podcast:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/jaclyn-mrozek-of-the-scrappy-piano-teacher/id1836525682?i=1000766496600 ● Check out Eric’s book, Lessons: A Modern Guide to the Business of Teaching Music:https://amzn.to/4uKR2IR ● Visit The Scrappy Piano Teacher website and join the email list for workshop updates:https://www.scrappypianoteacherpodcast.com I also shared a few summer opportunities coming up for teachers who are ready to start putting some of these ideas into action. Asynchronous Lesson WorkshopMay 29 at noon EasternA practical workshop for teachers who want simple, useful asynchronous lesson options for weather days, illness, travel weeks, summer flexibility, or those “now what?” moments when a regular live lesson does not make the most sense. Policy Triangle and Calendar WorkshopJune 19 at noon EasternThis workshop will help you connect your teaching philosophy, time and capacity, and financial needs so your studio policies actually support the studio you are trying to build. We will also look at your calendar, because policies only work when your calendar backs them up. Studio Reset CohortJuly 17, July 24, and July 31This summer cohort will be a focused three week version of the Studio Reset process. We will look at the bigger pieces of your studio, including philosophy, time, money, policies, calendar decisions, and systems, so you can move into the next school year with more clarity. Registration details will be sent to my email list and posted on the website. If the links are not live yet when this episode airs, head to the website and join the list so you do not miss them.

See All (92)

Trailer

5
out of 5
19 Ratings

About

The Scrappy Piano Teacher Podcast, formerly The Music Teacher Mastermind Podcast, is a piano teacher podcast for independent piano teachers who love teaching but struggle with running a studio or need some encouragement. I’m Jaclyn Mrozek, a piano teacher and studio owner with 28 plus years of experience, all while homeschooling and raising three kids, so yes, I get it. This podcast covers piano teaching, piano studio business systems, private and group lessons, burnout, and sustainable strategies to help piano teachers build joyful studios with clarity and confidence.

Information

You Might Also Like