Instrument teacher has a day job in an unrelated field

[Anonymous]

Most music teachers are not technical and are generalists in instruments vs. experts. Pay for private lessons like the rest of us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You are weird

Well I already know that. I'm not asking about my weirdness, I'm asking about music teachers.

That's the right attitude when asking for help on DCUM

Have you had a trial lesson with this teacher? You'll be able to suss out whether they have the rigor you want.

[Anonymous]

This is OP. Yes I've known many teachers who had day jobs, but always in music. I guess I'm asking it's ok the teacher spends most of her day not with her instrument/music. Like let's say someone works as in bookkeeping 8-4. Would you hire that person to teach classical piano or cello?

Yes, this teacher, who "has a lot of classical training and past experience teaching the instrument", is definitely not on the level to teach your elementary age kid who has been playing the instrument less than one year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do this person a favor and pass. You seem like a judgemental nightmare.

OP please ignore this sort of attitude. I understand where you are coming from. Having the right foundation is very important for a beginning student, especially if they seem to like the instrument and do well with it early on. There are plenty of sub-par teachers out there that people think are "fine for beginners" but in the long run do talented beginners a disservice by not teaching them proper technique and foundational skills from the beginning. There are also some teachers who might be great for more advanced students but not skilled at teaching beginners. If you suspect that your kid could be in this for the long-run, you DEFINITELY want to take the time to look for the best teacher for your kid at their current level, even if it means taking trial lessons, getting on wait lists, driving longer than the most convenient teacher would be, etc. And yes I am speaking from personal experience.

[Anonymous]

What are you willing to pay? My kids had different teachers for their two instruments. The one with a day job outside of music charged a lot less than the full-time musician.

[Anonymous]

My nephew's music teacher is the type that it sounds like you want. She does not take students who have been playing for less than 5 years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are looking at a new instrument teacher for DD. We had a different teacher and just felt it wasn't a good fit culturally: very laidback, not enough focus on technical training, no thought to building performance experience for the kids... I found another teacher who is from a similar cultural and musical background and has a lot of classical training and past experience teaching the instrument. Which is great!

However, this new teacher also has a day job in an unrelated field. I have no idea the hours of this day job and I think its sort of a small family business. What say you, DCUM? Is having an instrument teacher with a non-musical day job, ok? DD is still fairly young and has been playing her instrument just under a year.

Good Lord. Even part time music teachers can't win! Of course this is ok.

[Anonymous]

I have a question. How dare they??!!

[Anonymous]

This person has "a lot of classical training and past experience". Do you have plans for Julliard for your new musician?

If this teacher's approach is deemed acceptable, what more do you want? Do they put an emphasis on performance practice? What is their approach? Keep in mind that not all very experienced teachers take new students. Sometimes kids have to prove themselves, first.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can not figure out why this would be a problem. What potential problems are you imagining?

I think OP is wondering if it is OK that the teacher for her very young child (who has been taking lessons for less than a year) isn't fully immersing herself in the instrument, and if that makes her an unfit instructor for little Larla.

Which is, of course, nuts. Weird is not nearly a strong enough word.

DD isn’t very young for her instrument. Many kids start 2-3 years earlier. DD is very devoted to it and loves listening to pieces too, and old teacher did not assign enough to practice, nor was he critical enough to help develop proper form. So we are kind of starting over with new teacher.

So you need someone who can can undo learned bad habits. She may need to work her way up, teacher wise.

[Anonymous]

Wait until OP discovers that most public school teachers MUST work during their summer breaks. My DC’s beloved FCPS ES teacher was an Uber driver.

The music teacher quit to sell insurance.

My XSIL made more money as a cocktail server than she did as a Sped teacher with a Masters in FCPS.

And the CNAs at any assisted living work 2-3 jobs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wait until OP discovers that most public school teachers MUST work during their summer breaks. My DC’s beloved FCPS ES teacher was an Uber driver.

The music teacher quit to sell insurance.

My XSIL made more money as a cocktail server than she did as a Sped teacher with a Masters in FCPS.

And the CNAs at any assisted living work 2-3 jobs.

I'd strenuously argue that most FCPS teachers are working during their breaks. Especially those in dual income households, which was most (but not all) of my kids' teachers in ES.

[Anonymous]

Is this a joke? Majority of private music teachers have day jobs in unrelated fields. Even professional musicians mostly have day jobs. There are very very few full time jobs for musicians.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wait until OP discovers that most public school teachers MUST work during their summer breaks. My DC’s beloved FCPS ES teacher was an Uber driver.

The music teacher quit to sell insurance.

My XSIL made more money as a cocktail server than she did as a Sped teacher with a Masters in FCPS.

And the CNAs at any assisted living work 2-3 jobs.

This is OP. I am not talking about public school teachers. I'm asking about private classical music instruction.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How much do you plan on paying for lessons? Keeping in mind that kids are in school during the day and that there is marginal demand for adults who don't work taking lessons, do you think a teacher could make a living just teaching in the afternoon?

Every music teacher either has a day job, is retired, or has a spouse who is the primary earner

This is OP. Yes I've known many teachers who had day jobs, but always in music. I guess I'm asking it's ok the teacher spends most of her day not with her instrument/music. Like let's say someone works as in bookkeeping 8-4. Would you hire that person to teach classical piano or cello?

Wow. I take it you don’t know many people, OP. Get out more.