Advice needed on career choice.....

[PaulKey]

I have just recently been made redundant from my current job (boring admin stuff). I've been playing keyboards for about 25 years now. I get by. Now I'm seriously looking at teaching keyboards/piano. The problem is I haven't looked at Grades etc. for almost 20 years and that was when I took my Grade 4.

 

I know this is a very vague question to ask but I'm looking at trying to pass my Grade 8 (I've looked at what's required and it seems a long way from what I know.. But I will have a lot of time on my hands over the next 2 months to push myself)

Do you guys think this is achievable?

Any advice would be greatly apreciated.

[BlackandWhite]

If I were considering teaching piano (or any new self-employment opportunity), I'd focus as much or more on the financial viability of the venture as on skills/qualifications. Can you support yourself and any dependents? Will you enjoy it and the kb playing when it becomes "work"? You may want to start teaching part-time, to pick up some income, get introduced to the market, etc.

 

I'm not familiar with the Grades you refer to, so can't/won't speak to that.

[stepay]

I have just recently been made redundant from my current job (boring admin stuff). I've been playing keyboards for about 25 years now. I get by. Now I'm seriously looking at teaching keyboards/piano. The problem is I haven't looked at Grades etc. for almost 20 years and that was when I took my Grade 4.

 

I know this is a very vague question to ask but I'm looking at trying to pass my Grade 8 (I've looked at what's required and it seems a long way from what I know.. But I will have a lot of time on my hands over the next 2 months to push myself)

Do you guys think this is achievable?

Any advice would be greatly apreciated.

 

I agree with the thought that you should start part-time...may take a while to build up enough students anyway to make a go of it. One area that I think is really untapped is to teach rock/pop/blues keyboard to those who are both classically trained and those who are not. LOTS of people out there who would like to add keyboards to their guitar playing but don't want to take traditional classical lessons. I'm certain I could put a shingle out and advertise that I'll teach pop and rock keyboards and that I'd get some students pretty quickly.

[Bobadohshe]

Sorry about your situation Paul!

[drawback]

Grade levels aside, there are numerous tax advantages to teaching from your home studio and you should speak to an accountant.

 

 

 

 

 

[PaulKey]

Thanks guys.

I have a local Music School interested in taking me on. Which scares me in some ways as I've never taught before. Especially when he said that during the interview process they usually play 2 performance pieces... followed by the statement "a lot of them play Grade 8 pieces". That worried me!!!

Part time teaching is great advice. Even the school I mentioned said I should get some practice in. The Rock/Pop/Blues teaching is a great idea.... that's what I know best, as apose to classical stuff.

I know a lot of local musicians that may be interested in learning just the basics (guitarists, bass players, drummers etc.) So I think I'll start spreading the word.

Thanks guys I really apreciate this.

[timwat]

I'm betting there is decent market of folks (especially adults) who would like to get some basic footing on keys without going down the long path of classical rudiments, as you mention, Paul. Whether that's enough of a market to sustain a career (full or part-time) may be more a factor of marketing and advertising yourself than anything else. In my experience, it's the essential business factors (e.g., accounting, marketing and operations) that cause self-employment to either sink or swim...rarely the core competency.

[frogmonkey]

A music school isn't a bad place to start, to get your bearings. You can likely get some guidance there, even if you are underpaid (as teachers at schools tend to be). Meanwhile, try to build your own teaching practice at home- it takes quite a while.

 

Teaching in your own studio/home is much better IMO. You make the rules, set the rates, and there's no commute. Finding the students can be a slow process. But if you are good with kids, and you develop a method which isn't based on classical music, then you will probably find a niche that will be popular. At least, that's the experience I'm having in liberal Burlington.

 

I think you have to be pretty clever and busy to make a long-term career out of private teaching. The kids are in school until 3:00. So you have from 3-8pm to teach kids. Some people teach weekends too. I have less time than that because of gigs and rehearsals-- and because of gigs, I take Monday off or otherwise I'd go crazy. Fill in the daytimes with adult students-- I only have a few of those.

 

I really like it. At some point, something is going to have to change, though. Either I have to stop rehearsing evenings, raise my gig fee, lose my day off, or do something to make more time to teach (or make more money gigging). Because word-of-mouth has found its momentum, and the parents are telling their friends about this piano teacher who isn't stuffy, who the kids like, and who is an actual real gigging rockstar. I didn't intend to create a "waiting list", but people are actually asking to be put on one!

 

I don't care about grades at all. I give my students a steady diet of reading, and I have many of them playing easy classical pieces (not arranged for EZ piano, but pieces that are actually easy to begin with). But the main attraction is the jazz, blues, rock, etc, and all the creative stuff. Frankly I'm not qualified to teach advanced classical music.

 

 

[Sven Golly]

Grade levels aside, there are numerous tax advantages to teaching from your home studio and you should speak to an accountant.

 

As well, you'll have to update your homeowner's insurance for liability concerns if you're teaching out of your home.

[Sven Golly]

Also, a good reference to pick up (for anyone considering teaching piano/keys):

 

Teach Piano Successfully by James W. Bastien

[stillplaying]

Sorry to hear about your old job. Good luck with the teaching if you go for it. You'll always be wondering "what if" - if you don't.

 

 

[Eric VB]

word-of-mouth has found its momentum, and the parents are telling their friends about this piano teacher who isn't stuffy, who the kids like, and who is an actual real gigging rockstar.

Other than the additional income from gigging (be that as it may), I think this point hits the nail on the head: you'll have more street cred teaching popular music if you're gigging.

 

Around here there are more venues wanting solo singer/piano acts than there are available. If you don't already do this you should consider it.

 

A lot of full-timers I've met gig with full bands on weekends, play solo shows on nights during the week and teach during the day.

 

And remember, it's the music business; your business skills will play a large part in sinking or swimming. You will be a small company.

[allan_evett]

Sorry to read of your job loss, Paul. I think, though, that there is opportunity in teaching piano/keyboards; I've been teaching piano/keys for several years now. A lot of good advice has been offered here, so far; so I'll try not to duplicate that. Starting out part time is pretty much how it is with giving private lessons; even with the opportunity to teach out of a studio, one normally still has to build a roster of students.

It would seem that pushing yourself to read/play at the Grade 8 level would be worth the effort in this case. It sounds like you bring a lot of experience in keyboards to the table (and from my experience many are looking for lessons in chord reading, improv, keyboard playing, etc.). That, coupled with an enhanced capability to teach traditional lessons, would make you a more in-demand instructor.

 

I hope you keep us posted on how things progress with this potential new career. If you have further, specific teaching questions please feel free to send a Private Message to me.

[MoodyBluesKeys]

Paul,

 

One of the best things that happened to me as an adult was losing my "job" when I was in my mid-30's. At the time, my mobile home, land, and car were all paid for; so I had a bit of time to build a full-time business servicing electronic musical instruments. I did not make a fortune (and returned to working for others for a several year period when electronic organ service went down the tubes in the early 90's), but the freedom and enjoyment were great, and I always made enough to pay my bills.

It did take applying myself, getting over shyness about seeking work - but you can do it. When I was looking to start instruction on piano, I wanted someone that wasn't only traditional and classical as an instructor. Out of a dozen teachers here, I found one. Be sure to get connected with local schools, music stores (especially piano stores), and don't be bashful about getting your name out. After all these years, the word "job" now is an acronym for "just over broke" to me.

 

[Dave E]

Those of you teaching the pop/practical side of keyboards... What methods/teaching materials are out there right now?

[Joe Muscara]

Dave,

 

That's what my teacher is teaching me, along with jazz. He seems to be doing it all from the top of his head.

[Mr. B.]

All have given very good advice. I have taught at the Moore's School of Music at the U of H, in Houston, I taught performance piano and keyboards, playing multipull, sorry about the spelling, boards. The kids wanted to learn more rock and country. I did this part time evenings at first and just had students play the songs they wanted, I showed them how to perform. I got a mic and started singing all the songs. I am a tenor and sing in key and very well all the time. The kids wanted me to instruct them how to sing better for the performance. I did. The dean heard of this, wanted a demo, I did, I was well compensated and just asked to come back for the spring semester full time if possible. The class has grown tremendously to three classes. I miss performing so much. All the kids have seen me laying flat on my back as it is so severly messed up but I am still able to sing fine, but I am not able to play a piano this way. The dean suggested I draw up plans for a cage to hold a keyboard over me to be able to play while on my back. Extremely accomadating I say.

 

Sir, I strongly suggest you go for it, real good teachers classical, rock, country, etc are hard to come by, make it work as my C. O. used to say in the Navy!

Heres to you.

[JpScoey]

I'm seriously looking at teaching keyboards/piano.

The problem is I haven't looked at Grades etc. for almost 20 years and that was when I took my Grade 4 .. I'm looking at trying to pass my Grade 8...

I will have a lot of time on my hands over the next 2 months to push myself

Do you guys think this is achievable?

Any advice would be greatly apreciated.

 

Firstly Paul, I'm sorry to hear you've lost your job -

 

but you're right to look at it as an opportunity to do something you feel as though you want to do.

 

You don't state what country you're from, so the 'grades' you're referring to could be interpreted differently - depending!

 

Things might have changed these days, but when I was going through the grade system,

 

you had to do it progressively - ie: you couldn't 'skip' from passing (eg) grade 4 straight up to grade 8 -

 

you would have to pass grades 5, 6 & 7 to qualify for that - that's impossible in 2 months.

 

*However* - there's nothing to say that you couldn't teach youngsters (or adults, for that matter)

 

with what you already know - I personally shied away from 'classical' tutoring/ taking grades after a while...

 

it was repetitive & boring for me.

 

In my job (piano tuner) I often, when I've finished a tuning, play something I've just heard on the car radio,

 

& get asked "my son /daughter wants to to play just like you - do you give lessons?"

 

Being able to play, & being a teacher (especially of beginners - often with NO natural talent) are two different entities!

 

If you feel confident that you can pass on your experience & knowledge to aspiring musicians - go for it!

 

I love nothing better than seeing enthusiastic kids giving it their all to try & accomplish something...

 

on the other hand, kids who are reluctantly being forced to learn by their parents,

 

& have no natural aptitude will be a complete headf**k.

 

 

I would also say that the other points raised above are very valid -

 

such as things like insurance / self-employment issues - tax returns / accounts etc.

 

 

A final (so far!) valid point is that when you spend all day in front of / playing / listening to a piano being badly played,

 

it can have a negative effect on your own enthusiasm.....when you have the evening to yourself,

 

and your head has been bombarded with 'music' all day, sometimes you feel like having something different to do!

 

[spacedout]

I think that nowadays, you have to pass Grade 5 before you can do Grade 8, but you can skip 6 and 7 (with the ABRSM anyway).

 

Here's their syllabus.

 

Best of luck!

[MikeT156]

by stepay:

 

I agree with the thought that you should start part-time...may take a while to build up enough students anyway to make a go of it. One area that I think is really untapped is to teach rock/pop/blues keyboard to those who are both classically trained and those who are not. LOTS of people out there who would like to add keyboards to their guitar playing but don't want to take traditional classical lessons. I'm certain I could put a shingle out and advertise that I'll teach pop and rock keyboards and that I'd get some students pretty quickly

 

I agree. My nephew is an excellent Classic Pianist, and I do mean Pianist. For years we have listened to each other play music, and what we did were opposites. He read everything from sheet music in order to play, I picked songs off the record and tried to learn how to play all the parts by listening to the recordings.

 

Technically, my nephew can play rings around me. Well, a lot of people can play rings around me. :idk But he can't do what I do. I was never all that interested in learning to play classical music like he does, to the extent that he can. Chopin, great stuff, but he had to practice countless hours on mechanics in order to have the chops to play songs up to tempo accurately. BORING.

 

Me, I like rock 'n roll. Anyway, I'm a lot lazier than my nephew.

 

He doesn't get how I do what I do. I sat down with him a few times and gave him an idea of the method to my madness, but I lost him. I'd say there's a market for what Steve is suggesting.

 

 

Cheers,

 

 

 

Mike T.

 

[stepay]

by stepay:

 

I agree with the thought that you should start part-time...may take a while to build up enough students anyway to make a go of it. One area that I think is really untapped is to teach rock/pop/blues keyboard to those who are both classically trained and those who are not. LOTS of people out there who would like to add keyboards to their guitar playing but don't want to take traditional classical lessons. I'm certain I could put a shingle out and advertise that I'll teach pop and rock keyboards and that I'd get some students pretty quickly

 

I agree. My nephew is an excellent Classic Pianist, and I do mean Pianist. For years we have listened to each other play music, and what we did were opposites. He read everything from sheet music in order to play, I picked songs off the record and tried to learn how to play all the parts by listening to the recordings.

 

Technically, my nephew can play rings around me. Well, a lot of people can play rings around me. :idk But he can't do what I do. I was never all that interested in learning to play classical music like he does, to the extent that he can. Chopin, great stuff, but he had to practice countless hours on mechanics in order to have the chops to play songs up to tempo accurately. BORING.

 

Me, I like rock 'n roll. Anyway, I'm a lot lazier than my nephew.

 

He doesn't get how I do what I do. I sat down with him a few times and gave him an idea of the method to my madness, but I lost him. I'd say there's a market for what Steve is suggesting.

 

 

Cheers,

 

 

 

Mike T.

 

Mike, I agree with all of what you said except the lazy part. You just have a different INTEREST than he does; doesn't mean you're lazy (you COULD be lazy, but that is no evidence of it). It's also possible that he just went down the traditional piano lesson path and didn't realize there was another way to think about music and playing the piano...that's what happened to me. Consequently, I was classically trained and pretty much walked away from piano until after college because I didn't like playing classical music and having to buy a ton of sheet music. I didn't learn to play by ear until I was 23 (taught by a GUITAR player!)...so no college bands for me. Would have been fun to have that knowledge back then so that I could have played in a college band or even a high school rock band...oh well.

[MikeT156]

Yep, my musical interests are different than my nephew's. I did have some "classical training" when I was younger, but I got bored with it. I got into rock bands early (14 years old) and had to learn songs from listening to the records because in the old days, songs got about 2 months radio play and were dead. By the time music came out it was about worthless. I also found that often times the music was different than what was on the record. So I had to work on improving my relative pitch and as time went on I got better with learning songs from records and hearing what key songs were in and recognizing chord changes. I'm no expert at it, but better than when I started years ago.

 

 

 

Cheers,

 

 

 

Mike T.