The podcast
The 440 Podcast
Conversations with musicians, educators, and entrepreneurs about the work behind a creative life. Each episode explores how guests teach, build, and sustain careers in music, and what they've learned along the way.
Featured episodes
Season 3 · Episode 39Eric BrannerSolo episode: Better Today Than YesterdayEight questions to help your studio improve it a little each day.Listen (opens in a new tab)
Season 3 · Episode 34Connor CheePianist and Navajo composerHow a Carnegie Hall prodigy found his voice arranging Navajo chants for piano.Listen (opens in a new tab)
Season 2 · Episode 26Anne Katherine DavisPianist and piano educatorAn introduction to understanding audiation.Listen (opens in a new tab)
Latest episodes
Things I Know Work with Kelly RiordanKelly Riordan of Outside the Bachs returns to The 440 to talk ideal students, frictionless service, and the list on her phone called Things I Know Work. A warm, funny conversation about building a studio that feels like you, and why human-made marketing still wins.Listen (opens in a new tab)
Better Today Than Yesterday: 8 Questions for Your StudioSome studios are booked solid. Some are rebuilding. Eric walks through eight questions to find your gap: landscape, network, who you serve, offerings, sales, marketing, retention, and you. Rate yourself, pick 1-2 areas to work on, and be a little better today than yesterday.Listen (opens in a new tab)
Building a Compounding Studio with Brian WitkowskiBrian Witkowski (The Lucrative Voice) joins Eric to talk about why great teachers leave studios, how to price with confidence, and a new federal rule that could reshape music education. Structural thinking for studio owners who want to build something that lasts.Listen (opens in a new tab)
What Now? An Interview with Shirley XiaoLing WangShirley 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.Listen (opens in a new tab)
Why I Don't Care If You Become a Good Guitarist"What's your philosophy on teaching?"Listen (opens in a new tab)
A Song in Any Key with Connor CheeConnor 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.Listen (opens in a new tab)
Care Is the StrategyIf 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.Listen (opens in a new tab)
Making Lessons a Team Sport: How John Kozicki Built a Rock SchoolJohn 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.Listen (opens in a new tab)- Net Positive: The Rebrand, Your People, and Upholding AgreementsIn this solo episode, Eric shares three things that have been on his mind.Listen (opens in a new tab)