5 Lesson Location Options for Private Music Teachers

When it comes time for a student to step out into the world of Music Teachers and actually start teaching, each person asks him or herself the same question:

Where should I teach my Private Music Lessons?

Teaching in a studio, teaching out of your own home, Skype lessons, and going to your student’s homes are all viable options, each with very real pros and cons. We developed this guide as a resource for all you private music teachers out there to figure out the place that works best for you to hold your lessons.

Teaching out of a Music Studio

Pros

1. No need to find Students
   This is probably the most compelling reason to join a music studio – most (if not all) of the marketing is done for you. You often have the option to find your own students to fill your time, but more often than not the Studio takes care of filling your schedule.
2. No Scheduling
   In line with Pro #1, you don’t have to worry about appointment setting. The studio finds students for you, and then schedules them for you as well. Especially if you are new to the whole Private Music Teacher thing, this comes as a HUGE time saver!
3. No Taking & Tracking Payments
   Typically – though not exclusively – the Studio takes payment from the students, then cuts the Teachers a paycheck. Depending on the studio, you could be employed as an independent contractor or an actual employee, and actual employees have taxes taken out and benefit options!

To sum up… for the most part, teaching from a Music Studio turns the job more into a “real” job, and less of a private business that you need to run (and keep records for and all that jazz), which frees you up to do more of what you love – teach!

Cons

1. Fixed Prices
   Typically, you don’t have much say about your hourly price when you work for a Music Studio. They fix their prices and give you a certain percent or a certain hourly wage – often much less than you could make if you worked independently.
2. Rent
   In one way or another, you will have to pay a rental fee to use the Studio’s facilities. If they cut you a paycheck, that rent will be factored into the amount you get paid. If you still collect your own payments, it will just be one of your “business costs” you will have to pay out to them, either per student or per hour of usage.
3. Working for Someone Else
   Depending on the studio you work for, there will be differing numbers of rules you will have to follow. Some studios operate more like a co-work opportunity (basically you’ll just have to pay rent), and some require that you teach a certain curriculum or a certain number of instruments. Many private music teachers get into the business because they enjoy working for and by themselves, without having to answer to anyone else. Working for a Studio can take that perk out of the equation.

To sum up… The pros are just a flip-side to the cons (naturally). While working for a Studio can take away some of the annoying paperwork and tracking, you will typically have to sacrifice some of your independence.

Teaching Music Lessons from Home

Pros

1. Independence
   Ah, the reason many of us go into owning our own little businesses in the first place. At least, that’s why we got into it!
   Make your own schedule, only take on the students you want to, set your prices, answer to no one but yourself (and your customers!)
2. Set your Prices
   This is technically a part of your independence, but it’s such a big deal that it’s worth it’s own mention. Since you’re the one in charge of your prices, you can run them however you want to. You can set up payment plans, lower your prices, raise your prices – do whatever you need to to get (and keep) your students.
3. Commuting? No, thanks!
   When you have your students come to you, the farthest you have to commute is maybe down the stairs. Compared to teaching at a studio, let alone traveling to students’ houses, you can save time and money by cutting your commute to zero.

To sum up… if you teach private music lessons out of your own home, you will be running your own business. All of the perks that come with owning your own business and working from home come with it!

Cons

1. Marketing
   You will have to find all of your students yourself. Whatever that looks like, you will have to fill your schedule to stay in business and keep food on the table. There are lots of options out there for finding more Private Music Students like word of mouth, directories, bulletin boards, and online marketing. If you need help, we do have several resources available for learning how to market your business – Check out our guide on how to build a great music teacher website that will help you get more students!
2. The Business Side of Things
   Things like taxes, collecting and tracking payments, managing customer complaints… all things that usually don’t fall under your jurisdiction now do. And not only does learning how to do them take a lot of work (we didn’t go to business school!), but day to day and week to week they take up quite a bit of time until you settle into a system. We did find several courses on a site we love called CreativeLive – an online database of classes for Creatives just like you. Not only do they have skill building classes, but they offer classes for creative business owners that teach the fundamentals of business either for a very low price or completely free! If you want to branch into Business Ownership and run your private music lessons out of your home, we highly recommend checking out some of their classes.
3. Maintaining the Space
   Depending on where you are in life, this may feel like a big deal – or maybe not – you’re going to need a space for your students in your home. You may need a piano, books, any instruments you teach, and probably a place for parents to either wait or sit and watch. You’re going to want to keep the space clean and inviting, and that takes some work to set up and maintain.

To sum up… several of the “cons” to working out of your home have steep learning curves, but once you master them it gets a whole lot easier! So if you’re willing to put in the work to learn what you need for your business, teaching from home is a great option for you!

Teaching Skype Music Lessons

Pros

1. Independence, Prices, and Commute
   Similar to working out of your home in many ways, teaching music lessons over skype is essentially owning your own business. You get to set your own hours and prices, make your own policies, and reduce your commute time to zero.
2. Less Space Required
   Contrary to teaching music lessons in your home, you don’t need to prepare space for anyone to wait or even make sure you have enough room for a student. If you can fit your computer, whatever instrument you teach, and yourself in a room, you’re good to go!
3. Wider Student Pool
   Unlike our other options, teaching music lessons over skype gives you access to students around the world. When you can cast a wider net, you catch more fish!

Cons

1. Online Marketing
   As with the pros, Skype lessons has very similar Cons to running a Private Music Teaching Business out of your home, like the marketing aspect. You do still have to find all of your own students, but this one comes with an added difficulty: all of your marketing is online marketing.
   You can’t rely on handing out flyers or local directories for marketing Skype music lessons… people need to find you online. And that can feel like an impossible task! If you want to dip your toes into the world of online marketing (it helps for advertising local music lessons and events as well!), check out our beginners’ guide to online marketing for Private Music Teachers.
2. Technical Difficulties
   As I’m sure you are well aware, technology is far from infallible. In fact, lots of things can go wrong in an online music lesson, and they often do. If anything from internet connection failing to the application not running right happens either on your end or your students’ end, it throws a wrench into the lesson time. Video and sound can lag, video and sound quality may be lacking, or the application will just not let the lesson happen!
   All this to say, there is a component of user error as well. If you find a reliable program that you are familiar with and like, that can minimize technical issues in your lessons.
3. Disadvantages of Distance
   When you are teaching a lesson in person, you get to take in the entire picture. You move your eyes down and you can see your student’s foot or hand position. You can hear nuances in the timbre of the instrument that may not be as easy to spot over a Video Chat. It puts a layer between you and your student that you will need to work around.

Teaching in your Students’ Homes

Pros

1. Independence
   Just like teaching out of your own home, teaching music lessons in your students homes allows you full control of your business – you set your schedule, fees, and everything else
2. Comfortability
   Sometimes students (and their parents) are just more comfortable in their own homes. This can lead to more confident and attentive students, especially in that oh-so-important first lesson.
3. No Setup Required
   … by you, anyway. You don’t need a space in your own home, you don’t need to clean, you don’t even need to have any instruments in your home if you don’t want to (though… what private music teacher wouldn’t want at least their primary instrument in their home?) – you just show up at a space that is already ready to go!

To sum up… teaching in your student’s homes has a lot of the same perks as teaching out of your own home does, but is far more feasible for someone with limited space or resources to create a space conducive for private music lessons.

Cons

1. Business Stuff
   I know we’ve already covered this point ad nauseum, but it’s worth mentioning again because it is a very real con for this kind of work – you are running your own business. You need to learn how to manage funds and pay taxes and track expenses just like any other business, and that can be difficult.
2. Travel Costs
   Whether you are driving your own car, taking public transportation, or walking to your different students, there are costs involved. You have to pay for gas money or transportation tickets, and then there is the ever-valuable cost of time. No matter how you get there, it takes time to travel. You can offset this by implementing a travel fee and using your commute time to catch up on podcasts or whatever it is you like to do, but sometimes it feels like it isn’t worth it – and nobody can make that call but you.
3. Comfortability
   This one is a bit of a double-edged sword. While it can put nervous students at ease, it can also put unruly students at ease – which can make for some unique behavioral problems. But there are a lot of different ways to deal with unruly & difficult students, and if you approach it the right way, you can nip those problems in the bud.

To sum up… again, we have some similarities with teaching in your home, but some very important differences to contrast. Things like travel costs and potential behavioral speed bumps can really tip the scales, depending on your teaching style, number of students, and priorities – only you can decide what would be the best choice for your specific business.

Teaching at a School

I threw this option in here because, while it isn’t technically “private music lessons,” many teachers that run their own business have opted to take on a small contract with a local elementary school or high school.

Because of budget cuts and all that fun stuff, music education isn’t getting allotted as many funds as other programs, so most schools will combine music classes and/or have them meet just once or twice a week – which is easy to fit into a private music teacher schedule while still keeping your current students.

So while teaching large groups is different than teaching privately in lesson planning, classroom management, and red tape, it does offer a steady paycheck and can even open the door for more private students!

---

Have any questions? Did we miss anything? Leave a comment and let us know!