Teaching as a profession?

[Axe-aholic]

Just throwing out a coupla question for you teachers out there (Jorge?)

I'm getting on in years, I'm 17 now...so I guess I should begin thinking about how I'll make dough in the not too distant future.
I really want to end up working with music in some way..music is my passion and I want to have it around as often as possible. I hate performing though, absolutely despise the beastly concept, but I love to teach. I have two 'students' right now (only one pays, and very little at that) but I really enjoy imparting whatever knowledge I may have to someone else, it looks like something I could really get into.
So i was wondering, can one have a private teaching practice and still be able to eat 3 meals a day? If so, what do I need to start doing to ensure that I'll be a good teacher? Should I go to a school or is something like Berklee Online courses sufficient? What should I do to start expanding my list of students past two?
If anyone can think of anything (ir)relevent..please post!

[Bizarro]

Most good teachers that I know have a solid background in music theory which they got via a bachelor's degree. They also know many styles, from blues to country to jazz to classical to bluegrass to rock to.... You get the idea :)

Try teach at a local music store or put an ad in the paper to get more students.

You'll always be "poor" if you teach guitar. 30 students at $25/lesson is $750/wk and roughly $3000/mo. Then there is overhead (materials, studio, taxes, electricity, insurance, etc). That's just not very much money to live on in the US. Guitar students are notoriously flaky and they always miss appointments or skip months, etc.

It is not for the feint of heart!

At the very least I suggest getting a college degree. Education is extremely important. Teachers are supposed to be well educated, otherwise what's the point...:eek:

[Malcolm]

To teach you need two degrees over the person being taught, i.e. to teach High School you need to be a High School graduate and have a College Degree in teaching.

To teach on the Jr. College level you need a Master's degree, College level you need at least the Master's and a PHD is preferred.

So, get your degree.

Teaching -- whatever subject – is done for the enjoyment and reward you receive while teaching others what you love. Sounds like you are a candidate.

[Axe-aholic]

Thanks for the info.

So should I try to go to a 'music school' like Berklee or GIT or would a degree in music from a local university be good enough?

[Bizarro]

Most guys I know have a degree from a local, but very reputable, music program. You can ask around and see which local in-state school has the best music program.

I don't want to come off as saying this isn't a great thing to do, but I do feel you need to understand the tradeoffs before you jump in and do it.

That's the exact reasoning I used when I decided that both law and medical school were not for me, even though those professions could be financially very rewarding. I like lots of free time (for music, family, etc) and I wanted a job where I could be middle class without sacrificing too much "my time". :) It's working out well but I often wish I had more money!! :eek:

An old buddy of mine is an instructor and his wife is a lawyer... Best of both worlds and they're a great team and compliment one another very well. He has his master's degree in music. And he is so amazingly good that it's scary. He can play Cliff's of Dover or Scarified in his sleep! :)

[Axe-aholic]

Well, I don't mind being on the lower end of the spectrum finacially. I don't require much. Plus, I already have a few things going for me right now to help supplement income from teaching. I just wanted to know whether or not I would be able to eat moderately off of what I'd get from it. My heart ain't feint :cool:

BTW, what about teaching at a private music school (I don't what the correct term for this is..but you know..like the corner jazz school in a strip mall)? There's a few places like that around here..are they much harder to get into? And do they pay any better?

[oRg]

Teaching guitar is an honest living but it doesn't pay well and the job security is really high-risk. What I'm basically saying is that get a career that somewhat relates to music like sound/studio engineer and teach guitar with your free-time that way you can survive on what you make engineering and further expand your own personal studio and still get the personal satisfaction of teaching guitar.

[Malcolm]

You asked about Berklee or State U.

Get your degree from the best school you can:
1) Get into.
2) Afford.

Once in you can decide what music path you really want to take. The "better" your degree the more doors will open.

[SkinnyDevil]

Since my primary source of income is from teaching guitar, I thought I'd chime in on this topic.

1) Berklee, GIT, etc. are excellent places to get a guitar-specific music education. If you choose to attend one of these schools, my suggestion is to do so not to be a better teacher, but to be a better musician & guitarist.

2) Yes, you can certainly make a living from it. Whether Bizarro's figures above constitute "poor" or not is, of course, a matter of opinion. My suggestion is to decide what income brackette you'd be comfortable with and then see if it's feasible as a teacher.

Query: How much do you want to make per week (or per month or per year)?

3) It's important to remember that to be successful, you also have to "budget in" promotional efforts.especially TIME. My general rule of thumb is 1 hour promo for every 2 hours of teaching. The time may well decrease once you are established, but getting things rolling takes extra effort.

4) Since I've been a full-time guitar teacher, recording engineer, performing musician, studio musician, and the like, I often get asked about how to make a career in music. Caveat: I'm not rich or even remotely "well-off", so my advice needs to be considered with that in mind. That said, I've actually begun compiling my methods (teaching methods, biz building methods, etc.) into a couple of booklettes and will be releasing that info soon. In a nutshell, though, there are more ways to teach than simply private, one-on-one traditional lessons. I teach privately, plus I teach group classes, workshops, and even on-line. Add to that various small revenue streams from performance, merchandising, and the like, and you can certainly build a career.

5) Regarding music degrees: Again, get it for the sake of the knowledge. It will make little (if any) difference as a private music instructor.

6) One last comment: The way around the "flakiness" of guitar students is to charge by the month rather than by the lesson. I do not cut a break for holidays, I don't offer individual make-ups for missed lessons (although I offer group make-ups for holidays), but I don't charge extra for 5 week months. It all comes out in the wash.

All that said, yes, ORG is correct in that music is a high-risk profession (financially speaking). But it beats working for a living (hahaha!!!).

[Axe-aholic]

Thanks for all the advice. :D


So do you think I should start promoting myself now or wait till I get a degree? I already knew pretty much everything that was taught in my music 1 highshool elective when I took it, and I'm knowledgeable in correct technique and how to go about practicing songs and exercises, I'm sorta well-versed in modal theory, improvisation, etc...But I mean, I'm at best an intermediate guitar player. Do I have the knowledge needed to teach?

3) It's important to remember that to be successful, you also have to "budget in" promotional efforts.especially TIME. My general rule of thumb is 1 hour promo for every 2 hours of teaching. The time may well decrease once you are established, but getting things rolling takes extra effort.
Out of curiosity, what would be done in that 1 hour of promo time?


But it beats working for a living (hahaha!!!).
I would hate to have to work :D

[SkinnyDevil]

I always suggest to my more advanced students that they teach at least on person (whether they charge them or not). In the same vein, if you are considering teaching for a living, start now. Doesn't have to be a career move yet - just take on 4 or 5 students (charge a reasonable monthly rate) and get to it. You'll be amazed what you learn!!!

As far as promo - everything from flyers to performances. I'll be offering a HUGE selection of options in my new booklettes for teaching, PR, etc. - everything you need to build a biz.

One thing that might be an interesting side topic to this is: advantages & disadvantages to self-employment status (and alternatives such as officially starting your own biz). Anyone have any input on that? Actually, I'll start another thread after I give it a bit of thought.

[Axe-aholic]

So these booklets you talk about...when will they be done? Will you have them on your site or something?

[SkinnyDevil]

Yes.

I've found myself answering many of the same questions over time, which has enabled me to put together sort of an extended FAQ. One booklette will be specifically a "how to teach" booklette (a pragmatic approach for the average student - not a intensive musical approach for would-be professionals) and the other a "how to build a career as a teacher" booklette.

While I've also made money as a recording engineer, producer, studio musician, live gun, writer, small label director, manager, etc., I'm most successul financially as a teacher. I figure I'm simply not qualified to counsel much on the other topics, except perhaps as auxillary issues to the prime point of making money as a working musician who teaches full-time.

I hope to have them both out in the fall, as well as a lesson book for novice/beginners (which is also a nice teachers guide).

There will also be some supplementary stuff available (certifications, teacher network, gig opportunities, etc.) that I hope musicians will find useful.

[forgottenking2]

Alright... sorry my post comes so late but here there are my twenty cents (hey, the economy is down, inflation you know... ).

I agree somewhat with Bizarro about if you're a music teacher chances are you'll be poor, and I remember when I was 17 (it hasn't been THAT long) I used to think, yeah I don't care as long as I can buy strings and food and afford a place to live... now, married and all I tell you, things change, you WILL mind later on, but then again it doesn't mean that you won't be able to do it, first thing of all, GET A DEGREE, I already have studied music formally for four years and I've done a TON of research on my own but I'm thinking about going back to school, it's gonna be hard but another degree in music will look good on my resume, I'm into it big time and I don't mind not having a boat or a 2004 Jaguar or a 7000 sq ft. But I MADE that decision long ago, I told myself I was going to do one of two things (those where the two things that I knew i wasn't going to get sick of or be miserable if I had to spend 16 hour a day doing them <no, giggolo was not the option I thought of>) I was either going to be a Doctor, or a teacher. Since musicians in South America starve (you can count a few that can make a decent living but that's the equivalent to the ones who become world famous in the US) I went for the medical profession, the economy crashed and all of a sudden I was too broke to finish school, so I saved up and came to the States pursuing my second goal,and I don't regret it. Yeah I could be headed to a much more economically rewarding career but at the personal, moral, etc level I feel that what I do is just as rewarding as if it I was doing my internship at the ER in a very poor neighboorhood. So think about what do you REALLY want to do and then go for it, and don't whine afterwards, you can always go back and start from scratch, it's harder everytime you restart (this is no videogame, it's life my friend) but if you're motivated and focused enough you'll do whatever it takes, I know I will.

At this point I am teaching but since I need to save up for school (for myself and I'm sending my wife to Vet School) I am also working as a IT tech-suport guy in an small company.

If you want a confortable life with an 8-5 job, no headaches and finacial security then it's not likely that you'll want to do music for a living. In that case you can always keep music as a hobby, do your job and go home and practice your guitar, and like Bizarro said, if you care about music enough you'll find time to practice. Now if you want to make music your way to make a living, then you'll have to compromise a bit of the confort and security of other professions but you'll have ythe reward of being around music and/or musicians pretty much 24/7. So it's your call. What do you want?

I hope this helps (everyone else has given you a whole lot of very useful, down to earth ideas on the practical side so I'll leave those out).

Regards and best of luck