The Piano Pantry Podcast

Staying active, busy, and productive as a professional musician is not easy. Pianists Elizabeth Yao and Kyunghoon Kim share some of the practical tips and mindset shifts that have helped them with time management, mental health, and making space for personal priorities. Pianist Kyunghoon Kim, D.M., NCTM, is Adjunct Lecturer in Music (Piano) at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. He is a...

Amy talks with Valerie Merrell, a piano teacher from Indiana, about how she utilizes Notion - a productivity and note-taking app - to manage her piano studio. Subscribe Join Amy’s email list Support the Podcast https://pianopantry.com/patreon Transcript Find the full transcript and show notes (including any links mentioned) here: https://pianopantry.com/podcast/episode136

Guest host Joy Morin talks with Stephanie Thompson, a piano teacher from Michigan, about how she utilizes Notion - a productivity and note-taking app - to manage her piano studio. Subscribe Join Amy’s email list Support the Podcast https://pianopantry.com/patreon Transcript Find the full transcript and show notes (including any links mentioned) here: https://pianopantry.com/podcast/episode135

Amy talks with Jill Gilbert, a piano teacher from Washington State, about how she utilizes Notion - a productivity and note-taking app - to manage her piano studio. Subscribe Join Amy’s email list Support the Podcast https://pianopantry.com/patreon Transcript Find the full transcript and show notes (including any links mentioned) here: https://pianopantry.com/podcast/episode134

In the 3rd ICYMI episode of 2024, you’ll hear about a one-stop superstore for printable assignment sheets. With more than 20 sheets, you can try a variety! Subscribe Join Amy’s email list Support the Podcast https://pianopantry.com/patreon Transcript Find the full transcript and show notes (including any links mentioned) here: https://pianopantry.com/podcast/episode133

Hear from Amy and seven other teacher friends on what their lesson assignment life has been like after the shutdown of Tonara one year ago. Subscribe Join Amy’s email list Support the Podcast https://pianopantry.com/patreon Transcript Find the full transcript and show notes (including any links mentioned) here: https://pianopantry.com/podcast/episode132

Lessons on learning after hitting a 365-day streak on Duolingo - a popular gamified language-learning app. Subscribe Join Amy’s email list Support the Podcast https://pianopantry.com/patreon Transcript Find the full transcript and show notes (including any links mentioned) here: https://pianopantry.com/podcast/episode131 Send Amy a Voice Message

Freezer meal prep with Michelle Kallod - a piano teacher from North Dakota who has run a freezer meal prep workshop for more than twenty years. Transcript Find the full transcript and show notes (including any links mentioned) here: https://pianopantry.com/podcast/episode130 Subscribe Join Amy’s email list Support the Podcast https://pianopantry.com/patreon Send Amy a Voice Message

A process that creates a streamlined approach to onboarding new students so you won’t miss a step. This simple checklist will save you time and sanity. Subscribe Join Amy’s email list . Support the Podcast https://pianopantry.com/patreon Transcript Find the full transcript and show notes (including any links mentioned) here: https://pianopantry.com/podcast/episode129 Send Amy a Voice Message

3-ring binders are a great tool for keeping student materials organized. Here are some purchase considerations and ways to use them. Subscribe Join Amy’s email list Support the Podcast https://pianopantry.com/patreon Transcript Find the full transcript and show notes (including any links mentioned) here: https://pianopantry.com/podcast/episode128 Send Amy a Voice Message

4 things for the 4th that will help elevate your holiday week and the month ahead. Two are teaching-related, one just for fun, and one will help bring attention to the reason for the season. Join Amy’s Email List https://pianopantry.com/subscribe Support the Podcast https://pianopantry.com/patreon Transcript Find the full transcript and show notes (including any links mentioned) here: https://pian...

The second ICYMI episode is here! - A Piano Safari stuffed animal shopping guide to help you build your own collection to support this method. Join Amy’s Email List https://pianopantry.com/subscribe Support the Podcast https://pianopantry.com/patreon Transcript Find the full transcript and show notes (including any links mentioned) here: https://pianopantry.com/podcast/episode126 Send Amy a Voice...

In this episode, Amy chats with six teachers who attended the 2024 Piano Pantry Retreat. You’ll hear the best of what they took away from the retreat. Guest include Michelle Miller, a teacher from Ohio; Jeanine Skinner, a teacher from North Carolina; Trudi Norman, Mary Majerus, and Becky Barber, all from Georgia; and Krysta Hawkley, from Amy’s home state of Indiana. Subscribe: Join Amy’s email lis...

When was the last time you cleaned out your digital contacts? Have you ever cleaned it out? Whether you use Google or Apple’s iCloud Contacts, the process is the same. In this episode, you’ll get some tips on how to switch contacts managers including how to use Google Contacts on an iPhone, and steps for cleaning out your contacts. Transcript Find the full transcript and show notes (including any...

Gear up for your summertime listening and learn how to utilize more Spotify features. Here are five things that you likely didn’t know you could do with Spotify playlists. I’ve been using Spotify for as long as I can remember, and these things took a while for me to discover. Some are features I stumbled upon randomly, and some were functions I desired and realized were possible after a bit of res...

Three questions to ask yourself when going through your annual studio website update. Whether you’re just making small tweaks to keep it fresh or doing a complete overhaul, these three items are always important to consider. Subscribe Join Amy’s email list Support the Podcast https://pianopantry.com/patreon Items Mentioned and Other Related Content Read Friday Finds #275 3 Ways to Look at Your Stu...

It’s time to purge one aspect of your digital life, and that’s “idea” clutter. Idea clutter is all of those cool ideas you’ve seen or heard about on the internet that you’ve saved here and there and everywhere! Find the full transcript and show notes (including any links mentioned) here: https://pianopantry.com/podcast/episode121

In this episode, Amy chats with Gretchen Steffen, a stay-at-home-mom who teaches 15 students two nights a week. Gretchen shares her journey through her first three years of piano teaching. She has some great advice for anyone who is interested in getting started teaching but perhaps feeling inadequate in their own skills or unsure of whether it’s the right move. Find the full transcript and show n...

Seven ways you can connect with and tap into your local community to promote awareness and, in turn, grow your business. Find the full transcript and show notes (including any links mentioned) here: https://pianopantry.com/podcast/episode119

While it could be easy to just layer students into a recital program based on the order of age or repertoire difficulty, it may not result in a pleasing experience. Crafting a program that is positive for students, the audience, and yourself as a teacher (a.k.a. recital stage manager) requires a lot more thought, attention, and careful consideration. Find the full transcript and show notes (includ...

Your business is a living, breathing thing with the beautiful ability to be flexible and evolve with culture, client needs, and/or personal life. Sometimes, changes and adjustments are needed at the micro level and sometimes at the macro level. In this episode, we’ll explore what that could be like for your studio and also hear about some of the adjustments Amy’s making to her own. Find the full t...

If you’ve ever experienced emotional labor determining makeup lesson policies in your studio, today’s episode will provide a little therapy. Australian-based piano teacher Samantha Coates invites a perspective that paints a vivid picture of why a no-makeup policy is absolutely reasonable. (This episode is a replay of Episode 066 - Samantha Coates on How to NOT Give Makeup Lessons .) Samantha Coate...

Putting together formal student evaluations can be very time-consuming. If you like the idea of evaluations or progress reports but struggle with the time required to craft them, I’m here to offer an alternative solution! Find the full transcript and show notes (including any links mentioned) here: https://pianopantry.com/podcast/episode115

Welcome to the first-ever “ICYMI: In Case You Missed It” episode of The Piano Pantry Podcast! ICYMI episodes will feature anything from opportunities and resources I feel those in our profession should know about to items from the archives of the Piano Pantry blog that - if you’ve not been following me since 2016 - you might not know about! Today’s episode features three free student “awards” made...

Regularly scheduled downtime from teaching is important not only for us but also for our students and for maintaining a well-run business. Time off isn’t just about having unending hours to read, deep clean your freezer, or go for two-hour walks; it can also mean releasing ourselves from our normal routine to make room for other things. Find the full transcript and show notes (including any links...