[Vernish]

I did my Grade VIII (flute) last year, am working towards the DipABRSM at the minute, and have been wondering about starting teaching a few beginner lessons to earn a bit of money - was wondering if anyone here has done this?

How do you/did you find it? Is Grade 8 enough for teaching complete beginners? How did you start finding a student/students?

Thanking you!

[jorose10]

Hey I'm 16 and am also grade 8 piano but I have other instruments too.... I have taught a number of complete beginners since I was about 13 (I taught my friend first) and then when I was 14 I started teaching a five year old piano who spoke minimal English! so Yeahh... I would definitely go for it!!


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[Vernish]

(Original post by jorose10)
Hey I'm 16 and am also grade 8 piano but I have other instruments too.... I have taught a number of complete beginners since I was about 13 (I taught my friend first) and then when I was 14 I started teaching a five year old piano who spoke minimal English! so Yeahh... I would definitely go for it!!


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Hi - thanks for replying. Did you have any "teaching on teaching" if you like, before you started? Or is it just a case of learning as you go?? And the five year old - did you know him/her before aswell? Or did you advertise in a local paper or something??

Sorry - rather an excessive amount of questions there!

[jorose10]

(Original post by Vernish)
Hi - thanks for replying. Did you have any "teaching on teaching" if you like, before you started? Or is it just a case of learning as you go?? And the five year old - did you know him/her before aswell? Or did you advertise in a local paper or something??

Sorry - rather an excessive amount of questions there!

Hey its ok

Nope, I didn't, I just tried to Be myself as much as possible, whilst still have a disciplined and calm lesson! :P yeah, I mean it basically just the Same as if you are revising with someone else, you tell them something and then they have to copy it, then it just happens I guess... It's all quite natural once you get started. Also, try and remember the techniques your teacher used when you first started.. Like for me, hand position... Get a tennis ball, get the student to hold it and then remove the tennis ball but ensure they keep their hand in the same position... That's exactly what my teacher did to me.

For the five year old, the parents enquired at my school, but didnt have much money, so my school basically asked me if I would do it for free and I said yes! So no, I didn't know the girl but I knew her teachers and the person who asked me was our headmistress who is more like a family friend

Advertising is good, but it's best to start off with family friends or their family friends with children, as advertising without being able to say you have a diploma in music teaching can sometimes be a bit of a problemo! :P

Hope I've helped!



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[AntisthenesDogger]

For pure beginners you will be fine, but anyone looking for moderate to expert level will be looking for teaching certificates, or certificates of musical theory etc etc

[RibenaRockstar]

Maybe see if anyone you know of a similar age is wanting to start/re-start.

I'm paying a Grade VIII friend £10 a half hour to teach me violin - I did up to Grade II years ago, and didn't continue it at high school.

[Nooshkabob]

I've done my grade 8 piano and flute, working on piano DipABRSM, and taking on a few pupils in september to pay for music lessons...
I've been testing out my teaching on some willing friends though first to build up confidence! You'll be surprised by how much you know.
Tell your instrumental teacher and I'm sure they'd be willing to give you some tips, or sit in on a lesson you give (or you could sit in on some of theirs and get some experience?) My mum's a piano teacher so she said for the first few lessons she'd come along and sit in the corner and make sure I didn't mess up til I get on my feet properly.
You could always start looking into doing a CT ABRSM but tbh most people will just be wanting to learn for fun and i'm sure will be suitably impressed with grade 8/diploma.
AS for finding students... Asking around at school, and putting up a sign in the nearby village get business cards to look all pro, or advertise in a music/school magazine/church?
Chat to teachers and stuff to get tips but ultimately i think it's about getting the experience, you might not think you're doing a good job with your first pupil, but you'll quickly improve!

[baybee_heaven]

Hey, i would say go for it!

I teach 6 pupils from begginer to grade 4 and absolotely love it!

I am privalidged to come from an area which provides a fantastic FREE music service for children and all year 3s in our area learn an instrument and then choose whether to carry it on. (This is how i began!) Therefore there are so many who want lessons! If your tutor is also a peripetuic flute teacher too then you could ask him/her if they have any young players who would benifit from extra lessons with you.

Otherwise invest in some business cards from Vistaprint (they're free) and hand them out to friends, family, church, local schools and anyone else you can think of! Also gumtree is fab and worth a shot anyway!

My best advice if you do decide to teach would be to invest in some fantastic begginer books and even revist the one you used... after all that is what taught you the basics and you turned out ok Build a good parent/teacher/pupil relationship and just be yourself! It such a fun and easy way to earn money and when charging anywhere up to about £20 an hour its also much better than standing on your feet for hours on end as a waitress/barmaid! I would also suggest charging less until you have your flute diploma. I charged £12 when i started teaching with grde 8 and put it up to £20 once i got my diploma.

I hope this helps and good luck!
MEssage me if you have any questions
xxx

[Vernish]

Thanks very much for all replies. (: I am certainly going to look into this, but as I live in a (very) rural area, I think I'll be better learning to drive first, and then offering home visits. Many thanks for replies again.

[Fingersmith]

I've been teaching for many years now but like you I started without any teaching qualifications - you have the knowledge and expertise, the rest is analysis, communication and confidence. Can you see/hear what the pupil is doing wrong and how to fix it. Think about all the teaching tricks and exercises your teacher used. Which were the ones that stuck in your mind?
Bare in mind that if you're travelling to teach, you need to figure that into your fee. it is quite useful to give your name to any music shops in the area; people often ask there when they're looking for a teacher. Also introduce yourself to all the local schools' directors of music.

Good luck with it.

[Vernish]

Just an update - I gave my first lesson last Saturday! Found it quite tricky, but was expecting that, and enjoying the challenge!!