|
New year, new you!
Start preparing for tax season with advice from CPA Charles Harris. Not sure if you need to file a return? Read more here. Explore AI in your studio with ideas for utilizing ChatGPT. This is the year for independent teachers to thrive as a Company of One!
| | | |
Healthy studio, healthy you!
For your studio, check out the top five Business-Savvy Ways to Enrich Your Studio Offerings, and for yourself, part 2 of Comprehensive Self-Care for the Independent Music Teacher. Plus, our featured entrepreneur, oboist Jennet Ingle, shares thoughts on how to be The Happiest Musician.
Smart investment, wiser you!
Maybe this is the year you invest more in yourself. Professional development through a Fulbright grant or a state or national conference is invaluable. Click here for tips on how to afford a national conference.
I’m looking forward to my 30th consecutive MTNA national conference in Chicago (March 21-25), especially the many business sessions. The schedule includes sessions on marketing, copyright, finance, professional identity, and more! On Tuesday, the MTNA Business Network team is presenting “The Business Digest Game Show (with Questions You’ve Been Afraid to Ask).” You won’t want to miss it!
I hope to see you in Chicago for MTNA’s 150th Anniversary celebration!
—Karen Thickstun, NCTM
MTNA Business Resources Coordinator
| | |
In the Spotlight
Tax Season: Like a Recital ... but with Paperwork
By Charles Harris, CPA
Tax season can be overwhelming—much like the first time you step foot on a stage to perform at a recital. Charles Harris, CPA, offers advice on simple ways to make tax season easier and more productive.
Read more
| | | |
Meet the Entrepreneur
Jennet Ingle
This issue’s featured entrepreneur is oboist Jennet Ingle. Besides teaching oboe only online, only to adults, and only in groups, she is a performer, entrepreneur, author, podcast host, and business coach. And she’s happy doing it all!
Watch Video | Read Transcript
| | | |
Life-Work Balance
Comprehensive Self-Care for the Independent Music Teacher, Part 2
By Beth Gigante Klingenstein, NCTM
Everything to do with self-care impacts our professional lives. We may think if we establish strong studio policies, set up good marketing strategies, get our finances in order, and continue with our professional growth, we are good to go. But self-care involves far more.
Read More
| | | |
Top Five
Beyond Lessons: Top 5 Business-Savvy Ways to Enrich Your Studio Offerings
By Marie Lee
Most of us build our studios around depth—helping students reach the highest levels of musicianship possible. But in today’s fast-paced world, keeping students long-term also requires breadth.
Read More
| | | |
Technology Resources
Teaching in the Age of AI: How Music Educators Can Stay Ahead of the Curve
By Antonella Di Giulio
We're living through a pivotal moment in music education. Artificial intelligence isn't science fiction anymore—it's in our classrooms, studios, and practice rooms. Tools can generate sheet music, offer instant feedback, and create practice plans. This technology is fundamentally changing how music is taught, learned, and imagined.
Read More
| | | |
Legal Landscape
Do I Need to File a Tax Return if I Didn’t Make Much Money?
By MTNA Business Network and Charles Harris, CPA
An independent teacher who recently opened a studio asked this question: “I expect to earn less than $10,000 from my home studio this first year, which is less than the standard deduction. Do I need to file a tax return?”
Read More
| | | |
Professional Resources
Fullbright 101 for Musicians
By Melissa Terrall
Interested in researching Mexican piano repertoire in Mexico City? Or studying at the Liszt Academy in Budapest? A Fulbright application can clarify career goals, expand musical and peripheral skills, develop an entrepreneurial mindset, and enlarge one’s network.
Read More
| | | |
Looking for a Good Read?
What Small Businesses Do Best: A Review of Paul Jarvis’ Company of One
By Ashley Danyew
For many small business owners, growth feels like the ultimate goal: more students, more gigs, more programs, more revenue. But what if there was just as much success to be found in staying small?
Read More
| | | |
Bonus Read!
The Happiest Musician: How to Thrive in Your Creative Career by Jennet Ingle
By Karen Thickstun, NCTM
Author Jennet Ingle is one of the happiest musicians I know. Her enthusiasm and joy for our profession and her career radiate from the pages.
Read More
| | | |
Then & Now
Reflections on MTNA’s 150-Year Legacy
| | | |
Some things never change. The 1948 MTNA Bulletin featured multiple articles on the topic of missed lessons. A few thoughts from the authors:
“By noon it had started to storm, and by the time for the students to arrive around three o’clock, it was extremely bad … buses and street cars were late … In such cases, the student is not to blame, and the teacher should make allowance.”
“If a teacher is to have a regular income on which she can depend, the only solution is payment in advance for a month or term …This again proves an advantage to the teacher, and has an excellent moral effect on the student who is more regular in attendance.”
“With rare exceptions, the teacher presents her rules to the parent at the beginning of the term, stressing that…no lessons are made up except in case of illness, as otherwise this can be a constant worry …”
“It is the pupil you are going to teach – the parent you train.”
| | | |
Heads Up
- Key dates referenced in this issue:
-
MTNA National Conference in Chicago, March 21-25, 2026: Register by February 5 for a reduced rate. Meet some of the MTNA Business Digest authors in person! We are presenting a session titled “The Business Digest Game Show (with Questions You’ve Been Afraid to Ask)” on Tuesday at 2:15 p.m. Stop by the Business Resources table near the MTNA registration desk to “Ask Us Anything!”
| | | |
-
We invite you to share the MTNA Business Digest as a resource for the readers of your local or state newsletter, blog, website, webpage, or on social media. Explore the Digest Archives here.
-
MTNA offers its sincere thanks to all those who contributed their insights, knowledge, and experience in this issue of the MTNA Business Digest.
| | |
Music Teachers National Association
600 Vine St., Ste. 1710
Cincinnati, OH 45202
Phone: (513) 421-1420 or (888) 512-5278
mtnanet@mtna.org
www.mtna.org
| | | | |
