Getting students

[eyeballnick]

Im starting teaching piano buttt i dont know whats the best way to get students, how is best to advertise? yellowpages / Advertisment pages, website etc? the low cost the better.
Any suggestions.
Thanks

[m19834]

Well, it depends on what kind of students you are wanting to get, the kind of program you are wanting to run, and why.  Ultimately, the best advertisement is with your students and what they have accomplished/are accomplishing.  Hanging a hand-written, lined paper with phone number tear-offs on the bottom of it onto a bulletin board, for example, is not going to pull in the kind of families looking for the right teacher to take their little mozart to the finals in the local competitions.  On the other hand, maybe you are not necessarily looking for students who are wanting to compete and the like, and you are rather just trying to merely survive and make a living.  In that case, you may feel like you need to just get anybody who walks through the door.  If the latter is the case, you want your advertisement to appeal to the average interest, which is that of the dabbler.  You see what I mean ?

[enderw20]

A good way is to apply at a local music store for employment to give lessons, they charge a fee but its a great way to build up a client base, then when you feel comforatable you can leave, and if you are a good teacher your students will most likely follow. Also you can check current studios that offer lessons in a variety of things but piano and ask if they are interested in employing a piano teacher.

[eyeballnick]

Well, it depends on what kind of students you are wanting to get, the kind of program you are wanting to run, and why.  Ultimately, the best advertisement is with your students and what they have accomplished/are accomplishing.  Hanging a hand-written, lined paper with phone number tear-offs on the bottom of it onto a bulletin board, for example, is not going to pull in the kind of families looking for the right teacher to take their little mozart to the finals in the local competitions.  On the other hand, maybe you are not necessarily looking for students who are wanting to compete and the like, and you are rather just trying to merely survive and make a living.  In that case, you may feel like you need to just get anybody who walks through the door.  If the latter is the case, you want your advertisement to appeal to the average interest, which is that of the dabbler.  You see what I mean ?

Yeah i do thanks, i think to start with anyone will do, build up experiance and confidence etc.
Thanks

[eyeballnick]

A good way is to apply at a local music store for employment to give lessons, they charge a fee but its a great way to build up a client base, then when you feel comforatable you can leave, and if you are a good teacher your students will most likely follow. Also you can check current studios that offer lessons in a variety of things but piano and ask if they are interested in employing a piano teacher.

Good idea, would have never thought of that, Thanks

[ada]

Im starting teaching piano buttt i dont know whats the best way to get students, how is best to advertise? yellowpages / Advertisment pages, website etc? the low cost the better.
Any suggestions.
Thanks

With all due respect, didn't you say in an earlier thread that you are self taught?  And that you have only been playing three years?

If so, taking several years to qualifiy yourself as a) a pianist and b) a teacher might be a good starting point.

With so many highly qualified teachers around I doubt that anyone in their right mind would pay to be taught by an untrained player of three years experience.

You are being both unprofessional and unrealistic.

[eyeballnick]

With all due respect, didn't you say in an earlier thread that you are self taught?  And that you have only been playing three years?

If so, taking several years to qualifiy yourself as a) a pianist and b) a teacher might be a good starting point.

With so many highly qualified teachers around I doubt that anyone in their right mind would pay to be taught by an untrained player of three years experience.

You are being both unprofessional and unrealistic.

With all due repsect, you dont know me, my abilitys or intentions. I merly intend to teach children, young, i know enough to teach early years. I recall somewhere a 15 year old asking for advice on teaching and no one picked up that a 15 year old would be able to do what "Highly qualified teacher" can do. And untrained by a teacher yes, but i have strict training by myself. I have passed a grade 7 ABRSM with merit, self taught. Not many people could say that. I also would not charge what a "Highly qualified" teacher charges. So really you should consider other things before accusing people of being unprofessional and unrealisitc

[ada]

I have passed a grade 7 ABRSM with merit, self taught. Not many people could say that.

You are certainly right there, especially if you achieved that in three years!

I am sorry if I have got you wrong but to put it bluntly I think you are making things up.

That doesn't matter to anyone but you but the important point is that learners, no matter how young, need to be taught properly right from the very start.

If they are taught by someone who has no idea what they are doing they can suffer very serious damage that will affect their playing ability throughout their life. They will end up with huge holes in their understanding, insufficient grounding and they will develop bad technical habits that will become extremely difficult to correct later on. In short, you could stuff things up for them for good.

[eyeballnick]

You are certainly right there, especially if you achieved that in three years!

I am sorry if I have got you wrong but to put it bluntly I think you are making things up.

That doesn't matter to anyone but you but the important point is that learners, no matter how young, need to be taught properly right from the very start.

If they are taught by someone who has no idea what they are doing they can suffer very serious damage that will affect their playing ability throughout their life. They will end up with huge holes in their understanding, insufficient grounding and they will develop bad technical habits that will become extremely difficult to correct later on. In short, you could stuff things up for them for good.

you have got me wrong yes. Very wrong and i think your being very dramatic. I do not make things up and i would appreaciate it if you kept your slander to yourself.
And i know sufficiant material to teach early learners, weather the allmighty ada thinks so or not.

[ada]

you have got me wrong yes. Very wrong and i think your being very dramatic. I do not make things up and i would appreaciate it if you kept your slander to yourself.
And i know sufficiant material to teach early learners, weather the allmighty ada thinks so or not.

Whatever. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and wish you all the best.

I've been around here long enough to know that  this forum is full of talented and hardworking piantists and at least one genuine child prodigy.

I also know it's a magnet for big-noters, spinners, wannabes and w*ankers.

So forgive my cynicism 

[general disarray]

ada, you're a class act . . . 

[dora96]

I am always wondering myself how to get more students. I hold TCL piano diploma. I don't have any other qualification like music degree, university degree or any performance title. In my areas, there are many well qualified teachers, holding different titles, performance achievement, profession of somebody etc..The competition is fierce and there are so many teachers to pick.

I have other job, but I still love teaching and earning money, however, why do they want me I am wondering ? The fee charges basically from $25 to $35 per half hour. Honestly below the price is not worth doing it. Sometimes, I have student will be with me for 3 months and then they try somebody else, and some will stick with for 2 to 5 years. I mean students come and go. At the moment, I feel teaching just like business exchange. Most my students are beginner to grade 6.

It is hard to get students. I feel that teaching is only working when students and parents are committed and understand what the involvement is ?. I feel depressed sometimes, when the parents want me to do magic " make their kids are a star" but they don't practice, make notes for them please study it and follow the practice routine. It is very hard to see them once a week for 30 minutes and each week goes over and over the same thing. Eventually they just give up

[kitty on the keys]

Ada, I am in total agreement with you. As a teacher of young students for many years, It is the teachers of this leval that set the basics for the student.  I am really not impressed with some teacher who is self-taught and achieved a certain leval of playing. That does not measure your worth as a teacher. A true teacher will have studied pedagogy and other areas of teaching and how to find students. There is a difference between a good player and a teacher. I find that a teachers who tries to keep their playing skills up and keeping current with teaching trends will be the successful teacher.

Kitty on the keys

[eyeballnick]

Ada, I am in total agreement with you. As a teacher of young students for many years, It is the teachers of this leval that set the basics for the student.  I am really not impressed with some teacher who is self-taught and achieved a certain leval of playing. That does not measure your worth as a teacher. A true teacher will have studied pedagogy and other areas of teaching and how to find students. There is a difference between a good player and a teacher. I find that a teachers who tries to keep their playing skills up and keeping current with teaching trends will be the successful teacher.

Kitty on the keys

Fair enough guys, i do value your opinions, It was only a passing idea. By someone with no idea about teaching but oh well. I will leave it for a couple of years

But ada - I DO NOT LIE

[dora96]

I do agree. Even though I have a diploma, I still feel very inadequate sometimes. I have been studying music with a concert pianist since last 2 years because if I want to teach I not only need to be qualified but also experience with different repertoires. There are such as a vast amount of repertoires during my life time I still will not be able to know them well.

I must admit even grade 3 repertoires (especially in the exam syllabus) are also tricky and interpretation is demanding and how to use rubato in certain period of music which is also hard to know it completely. The children Bach, Schumann, Mozart, Beethoven, Haydn, Burgmuller, Turk,   other contemporary music etc.... They look easy but if to play it well, do need time to study tone color, tempo, dynamic ..... 

[eyeballnick]

I do agree. Even though I have a diploma, I still feel very inadequate sometimes. I have been studying music with a concert pianist since last 2 years because if I want to teach I not only need to be qualified but also experience with different repertoires. There are such as a vast amount of repertoires during my life time I still will not be able to know them well.

I must admit even grade 3 repertoires (especially in the exam syllabus) are also tricky and interpretation is demanding and how to use rubato in certain period of music which is also hard to know it completely. The children Bach, Schumann, Mozart, Beethoven, Haydn, Burgmuller, Turk,   other contemporary music etc.... They look easy but if to play it well, do need time to study tone color, tempo, dynamic ..... 

yes, thanks - Good luck with your teaching !!

[jxb10]

Hello,

If you are looking to advertise to students, you might want to try a website like www.LessonsCentral.com. It's free to post a profile for students to search for you and offers a scheduling and payment system for your students. I'm not ready to teach piano as I am still learning, but I do coach softball and I use if for that. Hope that helps. Good luck!

On a side note...My piano teacher growing up was self taught and she was a piano genius! In a way it was great because she had to figure out on her own how to get through what she struggled with and was able to help me in the same way. So if you are comfortable to teach and you know what you are talking about. Go for it!

[a-sharp]

As a piano teacher, you are a self-employed person running a business. Any successful business requires a marketing plan. If you don't understand what it takes to market a business, it makes sense to read up on it - take a small business course, a community course, or go to the library. There is also a very good book entitled "Making Money Teaching Music" ... or something very similar to that. Good luck!

Sadly, or not - you don't actually have to be especially good at whatever it is you are doing in your business, in order to be successful. To cite the ever-classic example - Madonna. She is OK as a singer (whatever her musical skills are are debatable), but she is a marketing genius.

Go check out that book - it is full of great ideas.

[tompickle]

Try printing up flyers and taking them to your local Elementary schools and middle schools.  This way when parents come to the school for one reason or another they see the flyer there on the bulletin board. 

Tom