What It Is Like To Teach Private Students
When I went to college, I really thought I wanted to teach in the public school system. As I was going through college, I became more aware of the hardships that music teachers have to go through, and I decided not to go that route with my degree. I decided to take my talents to the business side of the industry, and I could not be any happier with my decision. I learned so many ways how to promote my talents as a musician, and those courses have helped me pave the way of my career today. One of my best qualities is my communication and my demeanor. Those two attributes have single-handedly landed me many gigs; just by the way I write my emails to prospective employers and clients and how I convey myself to my peers around me in a gig.
I started teaching private lessons in my second year in college. I took on about four students, and it was great extra money. As a year went by, I took on more students, and I realized that this was something I wanted to pursue on a more formal level. By the time I was a senior in college, I was approached by my dentist, who's husband was opening up a music store with a lesson branch of the store, to become the main guitar teacher there. It was there where I learned what worked and what did not work when teaching music. I learned the ins and outs of how to template a introductory lesson, how to teach young children, how to teach adults, and how to teach children with special needs. In addition, I was able to teach both beginners and advanced students of all kinds. At my peak, I had about 45 private students, which included my own at my place. Since then, I have moved on and started my own private studio.
I absolutely love teaching. I believe it is a great way to introduce children to music in a fun, academic way. It is also very rewarding for my adults to finally study the music they have been listening all of their lives. This has also taught me to become a better player. I have developed my own exercises and ways to teach all of my students that work for both adults and children. I take the approach of teaching as I do my playing. I practice teaching! I believe it is just as important to improve my teaching abilities as it is for students to improve their playing. I have videos of supplemental lessons on my YouTube channels to help my students while they are practicing at home. I am also developing a new series of videos, “The Lick of the Week”. I’ll be featuring this exclusively on my home page!
I take teaching very seriously, and I know my students benefit from me in doing so. If you would like to take lessons in guitar, flute, or engineering, go to my contact page and shoot me an email!
