Are you passionate about music and eager to share your knowledge with others? Becoming a private music teacher can be a fulfilling and lucrative career path. However, it's not just about having musical skills; communication and recruitment are also crucial aspects of the job.
Get your name out there. Set up a free website to have a landing page for people interested able to start somewhere, because most searches start online. Start hanging flyers up, and advertise at local coffee shops, neighborhood newsletters, and community boards online. Become the name people know and recognize.
Start thinking about how you can effectively communicate with parents. Start practicing answering common questions that are asked. You can see some of the top ones I’ve encountered here. The goal is to get them on the phone and chat with them, or in your door for a trial lesson to make sure things click between you and the family. 🎶 The trial lesson does not have to be free. That’s your choice, but remember, your time is worth something. You can always start offering free trial lessons, and change at a later time too.
Select the method books you are going to be teaching from. There are a lot of choices out there and take the time to sit down with the different method books and decide what you feel most comfortable with. For private piano lessons, I use the Faber & Faber Piano Adventures.
Create your business model and scheduling. To maximize your time spent teaching block off time in your week and schedule all lessons back to back. Have the students come to you if you can and just keep them rolling in one after another. You can teach a lot of students in very little time.
Bookkeeping is essential to track your business. From income tracking, to tuition statements, you will want to have some form of Bookkeeping. I created a mini course with all the Bookkeeping tools I use so you can become a powerhouse too, plus accompanying videos on how to customize all documents on your computer for your studio! Check it out here! Successful Private Music Studios Bookkeeping Powerhouse Mini Course.
Start working on your musicianship skills. You’re going to be teaching others, but still take the time to keep developing yours. From working on a new piece of music to joining a local community ensemble to perform with. 🎶 This creates Credentials that you are actively performing still is a great talking point for why learning music can benefit not just as a child but later in life too. Even if you are just back into picking music back up.
Create a studio policy so that all the questions regarding your music studio is answered before the student comes to the first lesson. That way you establish the rules, sets you up as someone who’s taking this seriously and leaves out any questions for what to do when. You can get my IRONCLAD ready made studio policy template that you can customize to fit your studio. I walk you through exactly how to customize it to truly make it your own. You can get it here: Successful Music Studio Policy Templates Mini Course.
Set a goal for how many students you want to have by a specific date. Then work to start a wait list so that you will always have students in demand ready to walk through your doors.
Think outside of the box when it comes to what you can offer as a teacher. Can you teach more than one instrument, a primary and a secondary? Are you an accompanist? Can you sing? List what you can offer on your website.
Create a fun atmosphere for your students from the moment they walk in the door. Believe it or not, even just having a simple candy bowl from them to take a piece of candy from at the end of lessons, will make them want to come back week after week, year after year. You can also create sticker charts, or challenges for them to work for prizes from a “treasure box”. Practice x amount of days and they get to take a prize from the box. Keeps them engaged and excited.
Becoming a private music teacher can be an exciting and rewarding career path for those who have a passion for music and teaching. Remember that communication, recruitment, forming bonds with your students, and organization are all crucial aspects of the job. With dedication and hard work, you can help aspiring musicians appreciate their artistry and create beautiful sounds through music lessons.
Happy Teaching!
