Can I be a piano "tutor"?

March 5, 2018 7:59 PM

I have some questions about teaching piano lessons.

I'm a college student taking this semester off from school. I've been looking for some part-time work, including tutoring jobs. Since I'm a skilled classical pianist, I've wondered about the possibility of teaching piano lessons--at a tutor interview I had recently, the manager mentioned that I might be able to find students by advertising on local FB groups. However, I have some doubts and questions about the process.

In terms of ability, I think I'm fairly qualified...I've played for 14 years, participated in various festivals/competitions in high school, and attended a precollege program. I don't go to a conservatory, but I'm a music major and I've been taking lessons and generally keeping up my piano skills. I also taught other students at college for about a year, mostly at the beginner/intermediate level. I have a good knowledge of practicing skills, correct posture, emotional nuance, etc.

However, I have doubts about advertising piano lessons for a few reasons. One is that at minimum I'll be home for a few more months, at maximum until August. In addition, I don't have a ton of experience with kids. Even though I never got frustrated with my students at school when they didn't understand something, and I liked finding ways of showing/explaining things in a different way, dealing with such problems wasn't extremely hard because my students were all adults and could explain what they were having trouble with--which I imagine kids might have more trouble doing. I also feel that kids who are just starting piano deserve a teacher with a lot of experience, who can give them a solid foundation and stick with them for at least a few years (which I wouldn't be able to do since I'm going back to school in the fall).

As such, I would feel more comfortable teaching adults who already have some experience and want to pick up piano again, or "tutoring" students who are taking lessons but need some help with practicing skills. Is there any demand for this sort of thing? I'm wondering how I might phrase an ad for this without making it too complicated.

posted by Lurch to Education (7 answers total)

For what it's worth, I taught piano lessons to kids when I was in high school. The parents didn't seem to care that I was only 15 (and inexperienced.) They wanted their kid to try something new and I was relatively cheap. I'm not really a kid person, per se, but I didn't find it too frustrating. They're used to following lessons, so we just went through the books together.

As for it being short term, that's a plus in my books! "Try 6 weeks of piano for $." Short term commitment is much less intimidating to sign up for, in my opinion.
posted by unlapsing at 8:28 PM on March 5, 2018 [3 favorites]

This is a tough market to find -- you'd be looking for adults who have time and money to spare, who have access to a piano, as well as a history of piano lessons and a desire to be better and to practice consistently, instead of just muddling around at whatever maintenance level they're at.

Depending on where you are, you may have a chance by tapping your collegiate networks and finding people to post for large companies that recruit heavily from selective universities, or, going by the theory that people who play one instrument often also play the piano, advertising in community orchestras and to their supporters.

Kids are probably a more reliable bet.
posted by batter_my_heart at 8:42 PM on March 5, 2018

Huh, I'd think there's something of a market and the real problem would be the time frame. I say this because I've been that market, but that doesn't mean there are tons of me. I will say, though, while it's jazz and not classical, where I live there's a whole school for adults that teaches 8-week classes, so it's not like there are no adults who want to play piano better.

As to the tutoring thing, that sounds like a long shot. I think not many people are going to want to pay for something ancillary to their lessons.
posted by Smearcase at 10:15 PM on March 5, 2018

As a teacher, I would say that tutoring in general is divided into people with teaching expertise and a very firm grounding in the study of the material and the best pedagogies (expensive) and people with varying degrees of subject knowledge (cheap). I imagine this applies to the world of piano tutoring too. It's no big deal as long as you don't expect to make as much as a person with more skills.
posted by jojobobo at 10:46 PM on March 5, 2018

A lot of piano majors I knew used to pick up extra money as accompanists (for singers, voice teachers, dance classes, other non-piano musicians, etc.) Any market for that where you are?
posted by Violet Hour at 12:11 AM on March 6, 2018 [3 favorites]

I doubt that there'd be much demand for piano "tutoring" in terms of needing help with practicing skills because most halfway decent piano teachers will help you figure out how to practice. I'm also a bit doubtful about adults who want to pick up piano again because by the time they're considering this, they probably already have a piano at home/finances to do at least once a month lessons with someone more experienced (read expensive).

Maybe advertise for kids through the summer. Parents are always looking for things for kids to do when they're out of school, so you'd be able to tap into that market. Just be up front about this being short term. I've done this with tutoring other subjects, and no one ever raised a fuss about short term-ness, especially in the summer months.

In addition, I'm going to second Violet Hour's suggestion of being an accompanist!
posted by astapasta24 at 6:38 AM on March 6, 2018

Yeah, I guess I'd advertise your services as something that people might look for IN ADDITION to their regular classes. Here are people you might advertise to: kids who are on break (piano teachers sometimes take off time in the summer), adults or experienced players who haven't played for awhile but would like to play something in public for a special event (wedding, party, etc), kids of all ages getting ready for a competition or an audition. In the case of the last set of folks, maybe you advertise your services as expert coaching in the final stages, a set of new, expert ears that can help polish a piece. This seems like a pretty limited field of people, and you probably would have the best results if you partnered with teachers, who could refer students to you for very short-term fine-tuning sessions.
posted by LKWorking at 7:29 AM on March 6, 2018