How Do I Become A Piano Teacher?
With no or little competition and not much hurdle to entry, the career of a piano teacher is worth considering. As time passes, more people are inclined to learn or want their children to learn piano. Hence, a piano teacher can be called the demand of the present. So, piano teaching is an extensively rewarding career.
We encourage you to take piano teaching as your profession if you are a deft pianist and like to help others to learn. The great advantage is that you do not have to go outside and can run piano classes from home. So do not hesitate to convert your dedication to piano into an occupation.
How Do I Become A Piano Teacher?
Do not be frustrated if you face any difficulty finding students initially. Publicize your piano lessons in your locality. If there are any online music forums in your locality such as “personal piano teacher near me", you should join them.
Try to understand the learning goals of your students and help them to achieve those. You will need to guide them to overcome their difficulties. Always be patient with your students and motivate them.
Required Qualifications
Contrary to the belief of most people, no essential qualifications are needed to become a piano teacher. In order to be a piano teacher, you need to possess the required skill of playing the piano. Along with the competency, you need to have the correct attitude and be able to read music.
When we say that it is not mandatory for you to possess any music qualifications and certificates, having these will surely help improve your reputation. Moreover, if you want to become a teacher in a music institute, you will need a degree in music. In order to be a teacher in an influential music institute, along with a degree in music, you need a degree in teaching.
The Musician's Union has done a survey on 2000 music teachers and published that 60% of those teachers possessed a degree in music while the rest 40% did not. Most of the teachers had formal music training or experience in playing musical instruments.
Equipment And Resources
As we have mentioned that many music teachers do not have any degree in music, they prefer to teach from their home. If you also want to teach from your home, we suggest that you need to prepare a room only for this purpose. Do keep any extra furniture in this room and do not decorate it extravagantly. Keep it simple and soothing.
When you are done preparing your room, get a good quality piano. Many people have the misconception that in order to teach piano in their own home, they need to buy many pianos. Contrary to this, you only need one piano to conduct piano classes. However, you need to make sure that your piano is well-tuned so that students always feel inspired to learn after hearing the best-sounding music.
You should have a collection of different resources that you think might come in handy while giving lessons to your students. The collection should include a selection of relevant music books, sheet music, and other materials. You can use these resources as a reference and explain various aspects of music.
Background Checks
Many people do not bother to get a DBS certificate, but this is a necessary step in your way to becoming a successful piano teacher. This certificate gives relief to the parents of children and other students under 18 years old. You should get certificates of both good conduct and lack of criminal record.
These certificates are not a legal requirement to be a piano teacher, but parents feel more comfortable sending their children to those teachers who have these documents.
Marketing Yourself
After establishing yourself as a piano teacher, probably the hardest thing you will face is finding students. No matter how skillful you are at playing the piano, students will not come to you if they do not know about you. You need to spread your reputation in your area as well as have a strong presence online.
First, go for the word-of-mouth marketing method. In this method, spread the information about your piano lessons. Tell people about some of your unique teaching techniques and strategies that can help people learn piano playing. Make your business card and share it with people who seem interested. Place advertisements in busy places such as schools, malls, local shops, cafes, and music stores.
You might also like to utilize the internet to increase your reach. You can create a website, make active profiles on different social media platforms, and publish blogs. There are many music directory websites that can help you boost your online presence.
The more there is an online presence, the more parents will contact you for piano lessons. Follow the suggestions below:
Ask your existing students to give you positive reviews and let them know the empty seats for new students. If they have any friends or siblings or acquaintances who are interested, they will let you know.
Create a bond with other music teachers in your and the surrounding locality. They can recommend you to other people who are looking for a piano teacher.
Take the help of an SEO expert so that your website ranks on popular sites.
Join an online forum of music teachers so that students and their parents can find you easily.
Apply For A Teaching Position
When you feel that you have gathered some good teaching experience, it is time for you to get out of your room and get a piano teaching job. Having a piano teaching job improves your reputation as a piano teacher and gets you more students.
You can look for a job at music stores and piano studios around your nearby area. Make a resume and enlist all of your credentials, accomplishments, teaching experience. To increase your chances to get a job, have a clear vision at the interview and mention some of your methods to help students achieve their goals.
Final Thought
Although we have said that you do not need any qualifications to be a piano teacher, we recommend you get a formal education in a music institute or at least have a diploma in piano. Having a degree in music convinces people more that you are a good choice for teaching piano.
Well, if you do not have any degree, then do not be disheartened. You can still become a successful piano teacher. You just need to follow the suggestions given in this guide.
