Posted by Career-jaded on August 06, 2003 at 19:02:01:
Does anybody out there teach private lessons as their exclusive means of income? Is it possible to earn a living wage doing only that? How many lessons per week do you teach? I'm considering a career in music, but don't have the time or $cratch to go back to school for an advanced degree, and I'm old enough to know better than to jump into the audition circus at my age. I have no desire to be a band director. I want to be a musician, not a logistics expert. Not to chop on you band directors out there, but let's face it, 1/2 of what a band director has to do has little to no relationship to music. You guys/gals that do it are saints. I'm not. In the city whare I live, nobody is really giving lessons on a long-term basis besides the resident orchestra guy. So there is a large pool of middle and high school kids to choose from. Am I wasted, or can this work? By my calculations, at $20/hour, 5 days a week, one could earn in the neighborhood of $35K a year. BUT, school-aged kids are notorious no-shows, and no kid wants to take a lesson on Friday night even when there isn't a football game. So the figure is probably much lower.
Thoughts?