Music Lessons and Marketing

In today's episode, I talk about why growing a music school usually means hiring, and why that's such a fragile way to grow. Every new block of students needs another teacher you have to find, train, and keep, and with the teacher shortage we're facing, that's a tough place to be. I share a different approach, one where your school can serve more families without adding more staff, and where students stay even when a teacher moves on. Key ideas from this episode: Why "more students, more hours, more teachers" puts a ceiling on your growth The difference between linear growth and leverage growth Three ways to make the value live in your school, not in one person Why band programs let one teacher serve more families and keep them longer In this episode, you'll learn: Why your growth is capped by your ability to recruit, and how to break that cap How to raise the value of every teacher hour so you can grow without adding staff The simple test that tells you whether you have a real curriculum or "a collection of freelancers" Why Kelly Bennett trains her group teachers for three months, not three days Why your best musician isn't always your best group teacher, and who to hire instead How to build a school that keeps growing even when someone on your team leaves

In today's episode, I sit down with Amie Nunez, who ran a rock school with her husband for about a decade before selling it to Ensemble. We talk about something most music school owners feel but rarely say out loud: the guilt that comes with making money. If you've ever paid everyone else first, skipped a rate increase because it felt greedy, or winced when someone said "must be nice" about your vacation, this conversation is for you. Key ideas from this episode: Why so many of us carry the "tortured artist" mindset into our music schools What happens to your family and your business when you live off the leftovers How guilt turns into stress, and stress turns into burnout Why treating your school as an artistic expression can hold it back In this episode, you'll learn: Why paying yourself first forces better decisions about rates, staffing, and spending How to find a dependable monthly number for your own pay, even when revenue is seasonal The simple math for figuring out how many students it takes to get a task off your plate Why the gear you're proud of may matter more to your teachers than to your parents What Amie would do differently if she started her school over today How getting around other owners gives you the clarity you can't get on your own davesimonsmusic.com

In today's episode, I talk about something your teachers probably do hundreds of times a week without thinking twice: they stop the music. It looks like good teaching. But after a conversation with Kelly Bennett from Valencia School of Music, I'm starting to wonder if all that stopping and correcting takes away one of the most important skills a young musician can learn, which is how to recover from a mistake and keep going. Key ideas from this episode: In a private lesson, it's start, stop, correct. In a band, time keeps moving, and that changes how kids learn. Making a mistake and recovering from one are two very different things, and we underestimate the second one. Kids naturally sync up with each other, often without a single word of instruction. Repetition through looping can do a lot of the teaching for you. Private lessons are valuable, but maybe they shouldn't be the default starting point for every child. In this episode, you'll learn: Why a kid who gets lost in a band and jumps back in may be learning more than a kid who gets corrected in a lesson What happened when I put two beginner drummers in the same band (I expected a nightmare) How "the almighty loop" gets kids locked into the groove without the teacher saying anything A simple way to gamify repetition so kids beg to play the same four bars 17 times Six things your teachers can try before they stop the music A quick listening exercise you can do outside your lesson rooms this week that might change how you see your school davesimonsmusic.com

In this episode, I break down why the group class pitch that makes perfect sense in your head falls flat the second it comes out of your mouth on a call. It's not your program. It's timing and messaging, and most schools get both wrong before they even realize it. Key ideas covered: Why every parent already has a "movie" playing in their head before they call you Why explaining your group class too early kills the sale The exact questions that get a parent to reveal what they're really buying Why arguing for group classes is the fastest way to lose the sale entirely In this episode, you'll learn: The one question to ask before you ever mention group classes on a call How to find the real emotional reason a parent is calling your school, not just the surface reason The single line that gets a parent to want your groups more than private lessons Why "does this sound like something your child would enjoy" beats "are you ready to sign up" How to remove risk from the decision without discounting your program The business math behind group classes that most owners never run davesimonsmusic.com

For years, I had one problem at my music school that drove me crazy. I could always tell which kids were most likely to quit, and it wasn't the ones who hated music. It was the ones who never got the chance to feel like a musician before they ran out of patience. In this episode, I break down why bands keep kids enrolled in a way private lessons never will, and why I built an entire program around putting total beginners in a band on day one. A few of the ideas we dig into: Why bands create identity in a way private lessons simply can't The real reason kids quit lessons before they ever make it to a band How I redesigned songs so a total beginner could contribute in their first rehearsal Why "fun and engaging lessons" might be the wrong thing to be selling In this episode, you'll learn: Why the kids who need a band program the most are usually the ones who never make it there How to design a beginner band experience that doesn't require months of lessons first A simple songwriting shift that lets kids of very different skill levels play together successfully Why giving a child a sense of ownership over a song changes how attached they are to the program How a band program can quietly solve three different problems in your school at once Why your marketing might be undercutting your own private lessons without you realizing it