Instrument teacher has a day job in an unrelated field

[Anonymous]

PP coming back to this.

OP, have you ever considered that teaching and performing are VASTLY different skills? Because they are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hopefully the teacher rejects this crazy stage mom.

+1

[Anonymous]

OP, just find a teacher who does full time Suzuki lessons.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, just find a teacher who does full time Suzuki lessons.

Suzuki isn't for everyone and isn't necessarily a superior method of music education. But yeah, that would solve OP's anxiety problem regarding what the instructor does all day. When one of my children was learning an instrument that I didn't have experience with, I put the effort into learning about it so that I could help supervise my child's practice sessions better and correct bad technique when I saw it. The quality and quantity of at-home practice between lessons is very important. OP should figure out what she can do on her end to help teach her child on the instrument. Can OP teach theory? Can OP accompany with voice or keyboard? Can OP be a human metronome or read a tuner to correct pitch? As with academics and sports, if parents help teach, mastery comes sooner.

[Anonymous]

My parents are musicians who have day jobs and very few of their friends who are musicians play music full time. It is a very difficult field to make a living in full time without another source of income.

[Anonymous]

I know a number of Suzuki teachers who have day jobs, so I don't think that going the Suzuki route would automatically enable OP to find a teacher who doesn't have a day job.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I know a number of Suzuki teachers who have day jobs, so I don't think that going the Suzuki route would automatically enable OP to find a teacher who doesn't have a day job.

What kind of non-music jobs do the Suzuki teachers have, I'm just curious

[Anonymous]

How is the day job any of your business? If they're good music teachers, the rest is irrevant.

[Anonymous]

No, music teachers have to live in penury like small-town school teachers in the 1890s.

[Anonymous]

This thread might take the cake.

[Anonymous]

A lot of musicians have non-instrument-related day jobs, even if they are related to the music field. I know musicians who teach privately, but have day jobs as salespeople in music shops, in the administration of an arts organization (admin assistant, marketing, accounting, etc.), as an audio engineer, and so forth. And someone who is teaching general music to preschoolers is not exactly in elite music of any sort.

OP, either you decide to step up to the level where you're looking for someone with a full-time performing job -- which is REALLY rare for pianists unless they're employed by a ballet or opera company as a rehearsal pianist, or are a touring soloist or chamber musician -- or you stop obsessing over what else the teacher is doing as a day job. The type of teacher who is a full-time performer usually won't take beginners, and often reserve their scant number of teaching hours for the exceptionally talented and serious students.

I do think that someone who teaches needs to be a competent player, but that's unrelated to their day job.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Unless you see a reason why it's not OK, of course it is.

Our piano teacher launched a day job as a consultant in a specific area and tried to use all of her students' families to bring in business for the new day job. That was not cool, but didn't impact her ability to teach my kids piano.

This is OP. This is what I am asking, thanks. I just wonder if a teacher who works in the field of music would have better experience and connections in terms of performance opportunities, info about local youth ensembles, connections with other teachers, for example.

Your kid has only been playing a year! I personally would not stress about this at all. Your kids needs to want to learn first and clicking with the teacher is most important.

Played and instrument all through high school. Was good. Got into music school. But didn’t go. Thought I’d play for fun. I found other hobbies as an adult. I had private teachers growing up. They were all fine. I had one, in high school say I need a more advanced teacher and suggest I move on and so I did. Spent two years with advanced teacher who was fine, but I still stopped playing. Hopefully the teacher is honest and will tell you when you get to that point.

[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?

Of course. You are not making sense. You can master music and not be able to support yourself on it. Most ballet teachers have day jobs. Training is 20 years. I used to teach ballet and college English courses at night. I could not live off those things. I have another job in a different area so I can have a nice life. Yes, you can teach music and have a day job. This is a very odd post.

[Anonymous]

I would think that in order to support yourself on teaching music alone, you would have to charge a hefty fee for each lesson. So unless OP is willing to pay top dollar, finding an instructor who doesn't have a day job is going to be tough.

[Anonymous]

I don't understand - many musicians have day jobs that are not music-related. How else are they supposed to pay the bills? Being a music teacher is not that lucrative.