Whether studio teaching is your full-time job or a side hustle for some extra cash, any private music teacher knows that it comes with its pros and cons. Setting and enforcing fair pay, constant scheduling, lack of benefits, retention affecting your income… the list goes on. While private and studio teachers do not have the same challenges as school music teachers, the challenges they do have affect the stability of their income, which in today’s world can be a bit terrifying.
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Investing In Yourself as A Studio Music Teacher
When we think of this term, usually a couple things come to mind, either a degree or a retirement account, or maybe even a healthy lifestyle change. But studio teachers need to understand that professional investment doesn’t ever really end, and certainly not upon receiving a degree.
Let’s start with some fun facts about studio teachers that you may or may not have realized about the studio music education world:
You don’t need a degree of any kind to teach.
Parents don’t often ask the qualifications of teachers- they assume they’ll be paying for the best.
These teachers often have never had a background check and are working in closed rooms with children.
Many have never been educated about how to properly pay taxes.
Some are neither an employee or an independent contractor, but are somewhere in between and probably don’t know it.
There are studio music teachers with degrees that are paid minimum wage and believe that this is acceptable.
It’s rare to need a teaching license to teach privately.
Studio teachers that have been in it for decades teach the same way they did when they began.
Some studio teachers still believe that only God-given talent ensures success and will still use the words “You won’t be able to do that.”
Retention rates can be 40% per year or lower and that’s NORMAL
Studio music teacher take-home can be less than 50% of the lesson payment.
The list could probably still go on. But if you’re baffled by these facts, just do a quick Google search and you’ll see people talking about these things. I’ve also seen them first-hand at my store and through networking. Are all of these things bad? Not necessarily, but some definitely are.
There’s definitely a remedy that you, as a studio music teacher or studio owner, can help with, and that is professional development. This isn’t really a topic that is discussed enough in the studio music community, but should be. Likely it’s because of the logistical issues that hinder the accessibility of professional development with this demographic of music teachers.
Please note, if you own a studio and teachers work under you, you must be a legal employer (meaning your teachers are classified as employees under you) to mandate professional development. What you CAN do is help your staff understand the importance of professional development for their schedules and earnings.
How Does Professional Development Allow Studio Music Teachers to Earn More?
First professional development helps music teachers hone in on their expertise, become more skilled, more flexible and better able to handle more levels, more diverse learners and more issues that can arrive with the process of what they teach. This increases retention rates among their students because families automatically find fewer reasons to leave, switch teachers, realize that “this isn’t for them” or pick the other teacher across town because they are “a better value.” You become indispensable for their need when you achieve mastery in your instructional skills.
Studio teachers can expand what they teach into other instruments, theory, composition, early childhood, musical theater and other cross-disciplines. Every instrument becomes easier and easier to learn and teach, if one just knows how to tackle it from a pedagogical approach. This allows you to not only pick up students of different disciplines, but also to help current students dive into secondary instruments and disciplines. You would be able to help them with a solo competition they’re preparing for through school. You would be able to help them prepare for an audition for drama club. You can help them if their high school teacher needs them to double on another instrument, or play in pit orchestra.
The possibilities can be endless, especially if you already teach over twenty students. As the students get older, their needs expand, especially if they already feel empowered in their skills with one musical discipline.
But besides trial and error when teaching skills that you may not be confident in, how else can you expedite the process? This is where professional development comes in. And outside of going back to college, which is difficult for any private teacher to do, what other options are there?
Finding The Music PD You Need
Since COVID, the availability of online courses has grown exponentially, but the availability of music courses is mostly geared toward the beginner who wants to start a musical skill, not a professional looking to refine or expand. For beginners, the market is saturated. For professionals, the issue has been availability. School music teachers struggle with this somewhat also. They are given opportunities on staff development days where they can attend sessions meant for every type of teacher in their building, but they also struggle to find relevant PD sessions for their specialization, outside of attending state/national conferences.
The good news is that, for professionals, the market is finally there, as a platform that is welcome to all types of music teachers. Online, on-demand, interactive, thorough, with downloadable resources you may use, and that issues a certificate, so that even certified studio teachers can maintain their certification without going through school-managed professional development. The creators at Uplevel U: Music are expanding their availability to help every type of music teacher, and over time, plan to have dozens of courses to handle every type of music instructional need.
You now will be able to take control of the exact kind of educational investment you need to make as a music teacher, which will make you more marketable and have a higher retention rate with your students. Visit Uplevel U: Music, get your name on the email list (also above) so that you can receive the latest information on promotions, coupon code, new course released and other resources that are created just for you.
This article was written by Uplevel U: Music's owner and creator, Karen (Kay) Janiszewski.
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