How to Get Your First Music Lessons Students
Since forming my own music studio about 18 months ago, I have taught more than 2,000 students online and in person combined.
I’m so honored to finally get to live the dream of being a full time teaching and performing artist.
I get a lot of questions from other musicians about how to get their first students and start their own studio, so I wanted to break down what I did and help others build their own roster of students.
Practice
Why is this always the answer to any musical question?
You need to be a confident player in order to teach music lessons. This means that you need experience in lots of different things— your instrument, knowledge about your gear, and getting familiar with different books and resources available so that you can draw on your knowledge to teach your students.
When a client asks you a question about playing, you need to be able to answer it! You also need to be able to demonstrate your ability on your instrument so that your students can see and hear what you do.
This doesn’t really mean you need to be the world’s best player in order to teach, but you do need to have a strong basis of knowledge so that you have something to teach your students!
Work on your personality.
Yes, I said it! Not everyone is cut out for this job. To be a teacher, you need to inspire people to learn. So that means you’re going to have to be confident, knowledgeable and engaging. Think about teachers who have inspired you in the past and what about them made you fall in love. Spend some time journaling about what kind of teacher you want to be and working on how you will present yourself as a teacher.
Invest in professional headshots
Get a photographer to take some professional photos of you in your studio or another professional setting.
Demonstrate your ability
You either need to be out performing live or creating videos of yourself playing so that you can share this with prospective students. Everyone wants to know how you sound and what you do, so practice and get together a little video resume of your skills! Or, perform often so that you begin to become known in your area as a skilled musician.
Build a website
Create a website with your professional headshot and demonstration videos. Add contact information, but don’t include pricing, since you may have to change your pricing on a per-client basis.
Join community groups on Facebook and offer free lessons.
If you’re just getting started, you need experience. Try hosting an online workshop on Facebook live, or posting that you’re looking for a few first students on a Facebook group. Income is extremely important, but you need to be a great teacher to get well paying students. Again, think of the “practice” philosophy. You need practice teaching lessons. You can easily do a free lesson on Zoom to get experience, and it costs you nothing but your time.
Connect with family members and friends who have students who want to learn.
Offer one or two lessons to some friends or family members. Tell them you need to gain experience and you’d like to give them a lesson. Then, if they enjoy the lesson, give them your business card and ask them to recommend you to anyone else looking for classes.
Be willing to drive to peoples’ homes!
So many people are looking for in home lessons, and many highly qualified teachers no longer offer this because their schedules are too full. This is a great opportunity for you! Offer in-home music lessons to your local Moms group on Facebook and see if you get any leads.
Be brutally honest with yourself in your teaching!
Students want transformation, and they want it fast! They want fun, and to live out their fantasy of being a musician. Give them lots of opportunity for success early in their playing. If your students aren’t making progress, change it up! Create a lesson play. Utilize a new method book. Pick an exciting song. You can’t blame a lack of progress on your student. It’s partially your job to inspire them, or at least to PRACTICE inspiring them.