If you’re exhausted on Sunday because you’ve taught another 60+ hour week and tried to keep up with everything you’ve had to do, you’re going to burn out. That’s the worst thing for you… and your students.
As music teachers, we’ve also got to organise a complex schedule, manage cancellations, invoice parents, make sure we get paid and somehow find the time for marketing to new students. Most of us spent years honing our musical skills, but received very little business or teaching training. We “fell into” teaching when we were young and never really set ourselves up as a business.
Imagine: You teach the hours you want, enjoy family dinner, AND smile when you see your bottom line.
Since 2016, TopMusicPro has helped hundreds of music teachers re-connect with today’s busy, overscheduled music students. We provide the resources, guidance and expertise to create more meaningful music lessons.
Whether you are a new teacher wanting to start a private teaching studio, or a teaching veteran looking to refresh your approach, TopMusicPro membership is the key to unlock all the creative teaching tools, business advice and support you need to become a more confident teacher and savvy business owner.
Alicen
The TopMusicPro is fantastic. I used the Online Studio Launchpad Course to create my own website a couple of months ago and doubled my student numbers. Thanks so much for all your great courses – they are having a HUGE impact in my studio.
Lori
I cannot tell you how much this site means to me. I am learning so much, and I’m evolving as a teacher. I have always been creative, but I didn’t have the basic knowledge of chords and the circle of 5ths and improv; I was strictly classically trained from a teacher who felt that chords belonged in bars! I have tried through the years to educate myself through different sites on my questions about chords, playing by ear, and I just didn’t find anything good. I am so so grateful that I found you!! So are my students! It’s exciting to grow and learn…I’ve been teaching piano for 30 years…I think I’m finally getting the hang of it!
Janelle
I’ve been teaching chording to all of my students this term – it’s totally amazing what they’re doing with it. I love teaching, and I have SOOO much to learn, and I LOVE the direction I’m heading. Due to TopMusicPro, I’m becoming the teacher I would have loved to have had!! Makes me excited to get up in the morning. I’m grateful for all you offer – it’s totally changed my professional life.
Di
I have used many ideas from the business and the creative areas, including your No Book Beginners and 4 Chord Composing Courses. All have helped me feel more up to date and helped me feel motivated to keep involved in the industry. Apart from my home students I teach music at a private school too so I feel like I have to please a wide customer base. Giving teachers like me the ability to adapt to different circumstances and student needs is what this community is all about.
Eric
I am beyond grateful for the success that I have had in the past week. Going into the winter break and Christmas, I was pretty worried about my finances and managing my students. In the span of a week, I’ve gone from 12 to 18 students. I was on the brink of giving up and looking into other professions but now I can’t think of anything else I’d rather be doing. Thanks to all the support and guidance from TopMusicPro, my business is now off and running.
Your TopMusicPro membership gives you access to our growing library of over 50 comprehensive step-by-step video training courses.
Topics span everything from teaching technique to composing and how to teach pop music. Our business courses will get you started on marketing, building an amazing website all the way to teaching group lessons, building a music academy and beyond!
Discover techniques and strategies for teaching piano to preschoolers.
Strategies for group learning with the Upbeat Piano teachers
Learn everything you need to successfully run a group guitar lesson program at your studio.
An online course with practical strategies for teaching Grade 1 successfully
How to get it all done, with Tara Wright
Next-level composing with an industry expert.
Guide to Hiring Teachers & Admin Assistants Michael Gumley, here. We often get asked for advice regarding hiring teachers and other employees when you’re ready……
Welcome to Rockin’ Riffs – Creative Teaching Using Guitar Riffs Michael Gumley, here. In this course, we’ll cover: A 5-step bulletproof process for teaching riffs……
The psychology behind practice strategies and how to more effectively teach practice skills.
How to engage your guitar students with scales in new ways
Help brand new guitar students get started within the first 10 lessons
Welcome to Teaching Blues Guitar in 5 Levels! Michael Gumley, here. Blues music is one of the most important genres for any aspiring guitar……
Welcome to Essential Teaching Concepts for Modern Guitar Teachers! Michael Gumley, here. Music teaching is one of the oldest professions in the world but hasn’t……
Welcome to 30 Guitar Teacher Mistakes and How to Avoid Them! Michael Gumley, here. It is often said that the definition of madness is……
Teach any student, no matter their level, how to play along to any song
Take your studio from run-of-the-mill to stand-out success!
Creating a successful guitar studio from start to finish
Creating a successful guitar studio from start to finish
Creating a successful guitar studio from start to finish
Creating a successful guitar studio from start to finish
Creating a successful guitar studio from start to finish
Travel to studios throughout the world and learn top tips for preparing and planning lessons
With jazz expert Bradley Sowash, learn how to interpret and voice chord symbols, accompany improvisers, work within a rhythm section, and understand stock jazz band styles
Learn about different learning needs and how to approach them in music lessons with Selena Pistoresi, the creator of the Milestone Method
All TopMusicPro Studio and Evolution members receive 20% off all Musicnotes sheet music
Our favourite Studio management software – now with a 90-day trial for new sign ups
Get your students to practise more.. for less! Receive a whopping 25% discount on your Tonara subscription
75% off Preferred products at US stores and online
Learn from world-class musicians and pedagogues with 30% savings
Say goodbye to makeup lessons forever!
Games and Online Community Expert
Games and Online Community Expert
Nicola Cantan is a piano teacher, author, blogger and creator of imaginative and engaging teaching resources. Nicola’s Vibrant Music Teaching Library is helping teachers all over the world to include more games and off-bench activities in their lessons, so that their students giggle their way through music theory and make faster progress. Nicola also runs a popular blog, Colourful Keys, where she shares creative ideas and teaching strategies, and hosts regular training events for piano teachers.
Group Teaching Expert
Group Teaching Expert
Educational consultant and founder of the KeyNotes group teaching program.
Technology Specialist
Technology Specialist
Leila Viss is an internationally-renowned blogger, author, speaker and teacher, well-known for her creative and tech-focussed teaching. She’s the author of the iPad Piano Studio and runs regular teacher training webinars with another TMP Expert, Bradley Sowash.
Composer and Jazz pianist
Composer and Jazz pianist
Bradley Sowash has been a driving force behind creativity in piano teaching for many years, having introduced the world to the eye-ear revolution. “I want others to experience all the fun I have improvising at the piano. That is why I enjoy helping fellow pianists rediscover their latent creativity.” Bradley constantly teaches piano improvisation through his his books, blogs, workshops, webinars, and online group pop/jazz piano lessons through his site bradleysowash.com
Improvisation Specialist
Improvisation Specialist
Lyndel Kennedy has spent over 30 years teaching students to discover, own and love their unique, musical personality. Through her program, Play a Story, she empowers students of all ages and proficiencies to enjoy creating their own music while laying key theoretical foundations to build on for a musical lifetime. She conducts workshops all over the world, inspiring and nurturing teachers to help students explore their Inner Musician from the very first lesson.
Music Theory Expert
Music Theory Expert
Glory is the founder, CEO and author of the Ultimate Music Theory Series. She brings over 35 years of remarkably successful teaching experience to the development of the UMT Series and her role as an TMP Expert. She is a Registered Music Teacher, sought-after clinician and a Neuro-Linguistic Practitioner (NLP) and can’t wait to help members with their teaching and theory questions.
Summer camp and event specialist
Summer camp and event specialist
Jennifer Foxx is passionate about inspiring and motivating students to succeed in music through play and creativity. A piano teacher, blogger (Music Educator Resources), presenter and music educational resource & curriculum developer, Jennifer Foxx loves to share music resources, teach and connect with music educators from all around the world.
Educator and Coach
Educator and Coach
Sara is a piano and voice entrepreneur who loves to educate (and entertain!) fellow teachers by sharing creative teaching ideas and business practices. She’s an active blogger at SarasMusicStudio.com, FB Live Personality and co-host at Upbeat Piano Teachers, and Resident Piano Pro at Musical U. Outside of the piano world, Sara also works a group of independent voice teachers at The Speakeasy Cooperative. Her passions include yoga, cats, wine, and working as a business coach for fabulous teachers all around the world.
Jazz, Adults and Marketing Specialist
Jazz, Adults and Marketing Specialist
JAZZ, ADULTS AND MARKETING SPECIALIST AT LONDON CONTEMPORARY SCHOOL OF PIANO
A passionate advocate for the use of chords and improvisation in all music learning, Tom is a champion of the struggling adult amateur and delights in connecting them with their inner genius. Born in the remote Australian town of Coonabarabran, since age 16, Tom has led numerous touring bands, and produced a variety of albums in collaboration with American jazz vocalists and film directors. Tom is a passionate music educator and is the author of the “Harmony Method”. This is a revolutionary approach to teaching classical, jazz and popular harmony on piano. In 2011, he established the London Contemporary School of Piano, with the backing of many early adopters of his piano teaching methods. The school has now taught over 500 students from over 20 different countries and continues to thrive in partnership with Blüthner pianos.
Online Teaching Specialist
Online Teaching Specialist
ONLINE TEACHING SPECIALIST AT CREATIVE KEYS PIANO TUITION
Christina Kay is the director of Creative Keys Piano Tuition situated on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. Christina dynamically integrates music technology with traditional methodologies, and has a an established 10-year evolution of online lessons, which augments a 30-year history of student music excellence and success. Her qualifications, which include a Bachelor of Music majoring in piano performance; an Advanced Diploma of Arts (music) and; Certificates 3 and 4 in Children’s Services, all enrich her student’s pedagogical experience.
Composer, Author, Arranger
Composer, Author, Arranger
COMPOSER, AUTHOR, ARRANGER AT INTERACTIVE PIANO METHOD
Carol Matz has composed, authored, and arranged over 300 published titles for piano students. An experienced piano teacher herself, Carol has presented numerous piano-teaching workshops throughout the United States, Canada, England, New Zealand, and Australia. She is well known for her Famous & Fun series (published by Alfred Music). Carol studied composition, arranging, and orchestration at the University of Miami, and has written for a variety of ensembles including orchestra, jazz big band, brass quintet, and string quartet. Her work also includes studio arrangements for a number of artists in Miami-area recording studios.
Expert Business and Marketing Coach
Expert Business and Marketing Coach
EVOLUTION EXPERT BUSINESS AND MARKETING COACH, PODCASTER, PROFESSIONAL DRUMMER AT MUSIC LESSON BUSINESS ACADEMY
Danny Thompson is the host of The Music Lesson Business Academy podcast and owner of the Music Factory School of music in Costa Mesa California. A constant student of business, Danny enjoys sharing business ideas, tips, and trends with members of his coaching program. After 20 years in upper management at The Guitar Center corporation, Danny went back into music full time and has since toured the world extensively and recorded multiple albums with his band Face to Face. He has appeared on Radio Shows such as ” Love Line” with Dr. Drew and has made various TV and radio appearances. When not playing music or talking business, Danny enjoys motorcycles, bicycles, Flying, and hanging out with pitbull, Triumph.
If you're one of my blog readers, video watchers or podcast listeners, then you're probably a perfect fit for TopMusicPro. However, just in case, scroll back to the section above called "Is TopMusicPro right for you?" to check.
It’s important to view your TopMusicPro membership as a business investment, rather than a personal expense.
If you’d like to grow your student numbers and create a sustainable business, then investing in TopMusicPro will help you achieve that goal much faster than working on your own.
In addition, because this is a business investment, you should aim to cover your membership from your studio admin fees and deduct it from your business account.
For example, let's say you teach 30 students. If you charge an admin fee of just $15 per student for the year, you've easily covered the cost of your membership. This is how many members invest in their business without it coming out of their own ‘back pocket’.
Try and consider your subscription as part of a bigger picture growth strategy for you and your studio. Oh and remember, it's likely to be a tax deductible business expense (depending on your jurisdiction).
We find there are three big problems with Facebook groups: it’s too easy to get distracted, there’s too much complaining and it’s really difficult to search.
TopMusicPro's exclusive forums are designed around your needs and development. Without the noise of Facebook and its cat videos and whingers, you can get straight to work, asking the questions you need and getting responses from around the world.
You can easily search anything on the site (including all discussions) using a dedicated search bar at the top of every page.
Only members and our invited TMP Expert Teachers are allowed to use the forums, so you get the best possible answers from the most experienced teachers, without all the distractions and complications. And you can access it all from your very own dedicated app.
Yes. When you become a member, you get access to everything that's relevant to the tier you signed up for. The only thing that isn't there is the stuff we're still creating :)
By sharing your own ideas and helping other teachers, you'll develop and grow as a teacher. Regardless of how experienced we are, there are always new things to learn and try and being inside TopMusicPro is the BEST way to keep on top of new developments in our industry.
Lots of our members have big studios, contracted teachers and even multiple locations and they choose to continue their membership to pass on their knowledge to other teachers.
New content is added regularly as we continue to develop new courses, lesson plans and downloads. In addition, all the items uploaded by members and our TopMusicPro Experts are freely available to use in your own teaching. That's why the forums are such a great place for sharing ideas.
We’ll email you a weekly update of new releases, features, upgrades, top discussions and courses so you can get an overview of what’s been happening, even if you’ve been busy. We also do a monthly member update sharing some of the bigger feature releases and upcoming dates for your calendar.
Members see the best returns by committing a small amount of time each week to pop into the forums, share their thoughts, ask questions and generally get involved.
And remember that if you charge around $US40-60 per lesson, then the cost of TopMusicPro Membership is less than the income from just one of your lessons each month. Can you afford not to be involved?
TopMusicPro is 100% online. There is no mailed information, however from time to time we do like to surprise our members, so you never know!
If you decide that membership isn't right for you, you have 30 days in which to cancel according to my 100% money-back guarantee.
If you do decide to cancel, while we'll be very sad to see you go, you'll be able to do this yourself with a few mouse clicks through your "My Account" page.
Our first tier, the Lite tier, is great for teachers who are looking specifically for quality sheet music, a fun magazine to read and access to our previous webinars. It does NOT include any of our courses, lesson plans, or other academy downloads, however.
Most teachers will get the best value from a Studio membership. This will give you access to pretty much everything that TopMusicPro has to offer - it includes everything from the Lite offer, PLUS our courses, repertoire detective, our entire academy stuffed full of workshops, lesson plans, live teaching, webinars, downloads, cheat sheets, quick wins and so on. You will also get access to our very cool discounts on Musicnotes and Tonebase.
If you are a 'next-level' teacher, looking to expand your business by opening a music academy or by branching out into other areas of business, our evolution membership will be the perfect match for you. It includes the popular Music Teacher Startup Course, coaching options and higher-level marketing courses that will accelerate your new business ventures.
