There are so many great reasons to become a piano teacher. But it may not be a good fit for everybody. After teaching piano for nearly two decades, here are some qualities I think make a person a less-than-ideal candidate.
Do Not Become a Piano Teacher If You’re a Morning Person or Love Your Weekends Off
Although independent piano teachers get to craft their own schedules, you will be mostly bound to a few particular peak hours if you want to maintain a robust schedule of regular paying customers.
Evenings
The truth is, for most of the year, the average piano student will only have a small window of time that they are available for piano lessons. Most schools let out between 2:30-3:30pm and most school-aged children start their bedtime routine between 6:30-8:00pm.
As a piano teacher, your most popular lesson times on weekdays will be between the hours of 4:30-7:00pm.
If you are an early-riser and find that you run out of energy by mid-afternoon, working with 5-8 students in the evening may not be your ideal life.
Weekends
For some families, weeknights are just out of the question altogether. Saturday or sometimes Sunday lesson times are often in high demand.
And with limited windows of lesson times during the week, you may find the need to add weekend availability to keep a full weekly schedule of paying students.
There will likely be recitals and festivals happening occasionally on the weekends as well.
If you’re not into giving up your weekends, this may not be the life for you.
Solutions
There are exceptions to this rule, of course! Some piano teachers have found positions in schools allowing them to teach lessons during the school day. Homeschoolers are another potential customer group. And with growing alternate school options, there may be more daytime opportunities in the future.
If you still have your heart set on teaching those busy kiddos, here are some suggestions to make the evening schedule more manageable:
- Work in an early afternoon power nap, relaxing activity, walk, meditation, yoga, or whatever resets your energy to prepare for the evening’s lessons.
- If it fits your lifestyle, a late teaching schedule is a great excuse for a later-than-usual afternoon iced coffee
- Don’t try to do all.the.things. in the morning plus your added teaching schedule. Make your morning chill and you’ll reserve some energy for the afternoon and evening
- Remember, in the end, you set your schedule. Set boundaries in the beginning that serve you best. If you don’t have the energy to teach after 8:00pm, don’t give in to that student that begs for an 8:30pm lesson knowing you won’t be at your best!
Do Not Become a Piano Teacher If You Don’t Like Working With Kids
If kids just really aren’t your thing, that’s ok! Admit that to yourself, accept it, and find your own path to your perfect musician career.
What About Adult Students?
Yes, they exist! Maybe there are some teachers out there that have built a business around teaching adults the piano. Maybe that could be you!
However, in my experience over the years, it seems unlikely to build a profitable business around adult students. The majority of the demand for piano lessons is from families with children (mostly age 7-15). There are the steady, long term customers that will show up consistently, tells other families about you, pay on time, practice, participate and contribute to your ability to make a living doing this!
Adult students (not ALL of them) tend to be fewer, and have a much harder time staying consistent with attendance, practice and sometimes payments as well. Adult students have a much higher turnover rate and give up on piano much easier than children.
Again, this is just from my personal experience and I know there are definitely exceptions to these generalizations.
Working with Kids One-on-one
Out of college, my first job was as a choral accompanist in a large public high school. I hated it. I swore I would never work with kids again.
But, my mind was completely changed by teaching piano lessons. First of all, high schoolers…that was a rough place to start. Elementary students (the majority of beginning piano students) are super fun, positive, silly, loving, accepting, people-pleasing, lovely humans for the most part!
And, secondly, working one-on-one with kids is a whole different ball game than classroom teaching. Classroom management was overwhelming. But getting to know an individual kid by spending 30 minutes a week with just them–magical. Not to mention, sometimes you literally get to watch them grow up from age 6 through 18. I’m not crying, you’re crying!
Highly recommend.
Do Not Become a Piano Teacher If Your Skills Aren’t Up to Snuff
I do not believe you need a degree in piano, pedagogy or even music to be a stellar piano teacher. There are so many aspects to growing a highly successful piano lesson studio that are not covered in college anyways. And so many things are ever-changing. Education opportunities are abundant. Business can be learned. Teaching strategies can be learned. Theory can be learned. Curriculum can be learned.
But there is one thing that cannot be learned overnight, cannot be faked, cannot be skipped–and that is your actual PIANO SKILL LEVEL. The level of competency and experience you have at the piano. It’s important. And there’s no shortcut.
So, I’m sorry (not sorry), if you just started playing the piano two years ago and you want to teach, give it more time. You can absolutely grow as a pianist and as a musician, but it takes years and there is no shortcut. I personally do not believe in the “just stay one step ahead of your students” mentality when it comes to piano because it is such a complex and dynamic skill.
Do Not Become a Piano Teacher If You Don’t Like Wearing Several Different Hats
To start your own business as a piano teacher is a multi-faceted endeavor. Yes, you can later outsource the parts of the business you don’t excel at or enjoy, but at the beginning, you (yes, lil ol’ you) will be wearing the following hats (and maybe more):
- Website designer and maintainer
- Social media manager
- Marketing manager
- Email marketing manager
- Market research expert
- Small business tax expert
- Scheduling master
- Customer service representative
- Accounts payable manager
- Accounts receivable manager
- Collections officer
- Recital and event planner
- Child psychologist (okay, I’m mostly kidding on this one)
If showing up to teach and then clocking out sounds more your pace, consider teaching piano for a local music store or online lesson platform.
Do Not Become a Piano Teacher If You’re Not In It For the Long Haul
If you are a great teacher, student turnover will likely be very low. And, let me tell you, once you really get to know those kids, it is difficult to turn them away or quit teaching. I am extremely picky about when and how I accept a new student into my studio knowing that the average length of time a student sticks with me is about seven years!
Students and parents form an important bond with a piano teacher as well. So if you’re not 100% sure you’ll still be doing this in five years, please, please don’t start teaching 20 students! They deserve a better start to their musical journey.
If you’re unsure of your future plans, try starting with just a couple of students in your free time. But if you want to make the commitment to teach, make the commitment to teach!
Conclusion
Becoming a piano teacher is the best decision I’ve ever made. I have no regrets. But I want nothing but the best for the next generation of musicians. If you are up for the challenge and ready to commit to the piano teacher life, come along with me! There is a lot to learn but I gotchu, future piano teacher.
And if you’re curious to hear the other side of the coin, check out Should I Become a Piano Teacher in 2024? for my top five benefits to choosing this career path.
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