If you are someone who enjoys helping others and you can play a musical instrument, you could be a good candidate for becoming a freelance or salaried music teacher. Being a good teacher is having the skills and ability to transfer knowledge and skills to others. Of course, no matter how much teaching you do, some students may or may not succeed in their musical endeavours for reasons beyond your control.
The pay can be good, from £15ph to £50ph as part of a musical school or college, online or in person at the student’s home. There is usually a salary loading for music teachers in London. Students of all ages can walk in the door and they may come alone or in groups, so a musical teacher needs to be flexible.
What are your students trying to achieve. If they want to pass grade exams, that’s fine. If they want to develop an individual style, tone and musical interest, too many formal lessons may not help them; e.g. some of the best guitarists around are self-taught and cannot read music. So perhaps there’s a balance between formal music theory and practice and the student teaching themselves. Depends of course on what the instrument is – there are no formal lessons to learn to play a traditional didgeridoo which has a beautifully evocative sound.
Music teaching involves:
- Planning lessons
- Assessing the ability of all students taught
- Helping individuals to improve their musical knowledge and ability
- Teaching students how to read music properly
- Advising students on exams and entering and preparing them for these exams
- Giving students and parents detailed and constructive feedback
- Arranging public performances
- Keeping learning material uptodate