Business Spotlight: On a Personal Note

After moving away briefly to start a music studio, a former Nixa music teacher decided there was no place like home when he moved back to Springfield to grow his clientele.

Cutt Above Music Studio cultivates a one-on-one environment tailored to each students’ needs. The studio, owned by former high school music teacher and chorale director Jason Huneycutt, was started in Phoenix, Arizona, in 2018. After building a small clientele out of rented studio space, Huneycutt relocated to Springfield, his hometown. Cutt Above Music Studio runs out of Huneycutt’s home, where he’s the only instructor and gives personalized lessons from his living room. 

He offers as many lessons per month as the student would like, primarily in voice, as well as piano, saxophone and clarinet.

He says he began experimenting with offering private lessons before and during his 15 years as chorale director at Nixa High School. He began giving casual lessons in his free time starting in 1997 and continued throughout his career as choral director from 2003 to 2018. He continued doing so until he left his position in 2018 to pursue what had become his passion in Pheonix, Arizona.

“I just really enjoyed the part of my job where I got to work one on one with students,” Huneycutt says of the decision to make individual lessons his full-time job. “Because there’s a lot of personal growth that you get to specifically pinpoint.”

After about a year in Phoenix, Huneycutt moved back to Springfield to return to the connections he had made during his 15 years in the local music scene. Shortly after returning, he taught in Bolivar schools from 2019 to 2023 and continued Cutt Above Music Studio. By 2023, he stopped teaching and Cutt Above had become his full-time job as he continued to grow his student base.

Personalized studies
One of Huneycutt’s biggest aspirations as a music instructor is to show students that anyone can learn music, no matter their experience or method of learning. He says he works with anyone and everyone, regardless of age or experience. Currently his youngest student is 7 years old, and his oldest is 46.

Something he lives by as an instructor is catering each lesson to the individual student.

“I make it work for them, wherever they’re at,” says Huneycutt.

He notes that private lessons offer an environment where the student can focus on themselves and their goals, rather than trying to keep up in a group setting.

“It’s a very fine-tuned approach,” Huneycutt says.

 He emphasizes that no barriers exist for a student who truly wants to learn music, and anyone that wants to can do it.

Addie Meadows, one of his current students who takes voice lessons, notes that Cutt Above Music Studio was where she first learned foundational music skills, and Huneycutt has prepared her well for her future musical endeavors.

“I consider the majority of my musical growth to have happened within the environment of his studio,” Meadows says. “His kind demeanor and get it done attitude both play an equal part in what makes his studio so effective.”

Meadows adds that the guidance and knowledge that Huneycutt has been able to give through his one-on-one lessons has taken her music to the next level. Through her six years with Huneycutt, Meadows has been a part of several award-winning endeavors, such as the South-Central Missouri All District Honor Choir, Missouri All State Choir, Missouri State High School Activities Association District Exemplary Solo and Ensemble and the MSHSAA State Gold Solo and Ensemble.

Longtime passion
Tuition is calculated per month, with less than four individual lessons a month costing $35 per half hour lesson, and more than four a month costing $30 per lesson.

Huneycutt will also accompany students at performances for additional fees, such as solos and recitals.

Huneycutt says that he grew up in a musical household. His parents were active in their church choir, which sparked his desire to sing at church; a solo during the offertory at the age of 3.

“This instilled a love for singing and playing instruments that lasts to this day,” he says.

He continued to pursue music throughout his years in school and adds that a lot of his style came from observing his mentors in their element.

Huneycutt acknowledges the time and energy it has taken to pursue his passion, and he says that a phrase that best describes his journey as a music educator is “buckle down and do the work.” Now, with more than double the number of students he started with, he says it’s been gratifying to see it all come together.

“I’m just so passionate about music education and helping students develop their skills,” Huneycutt says.