I've not long passed my grade 8 with distinction and I also play at weddings on the flute and the sax. My flute teacher, who unfortunately I don't see any more, said that teaching is a doddle and I should give it a try because I have the time, I have the books, I have the knowledge and she thinks I'm a good people person and that I'd enjoy it and to be honest it does appeal to me!

Has anyone got any tips for me to start? Like where can I advertise to get students? I've posted on countless free ads/postboards online and on my website, and I've even printed off leaflets and gone door to door in nearby housing estates but I've had no luck. I've even had business cards made and I give them out when I'm exhibiting at wedding fairs.

Is there an organisation I can join for teachers that will help me get students? Or is there anything else that I've not thought of that I can try? Since completing my grade 8 I've not had much reason to pick up my flute and play other than practising for weddings, but I'm only doing one or so a month, and I miss playing.

I'd say I'm fairly cheap, some tutors I know charge ?15 for half an hour! I'm only charging ?7 for half an hour and ?13 for an hour, and I also teach theory for ?6 in half an hour slots. Obviously the longer I teach and the more experience I get of teaching I will put my prices up a tiny bit. Am I doing something wrong?

All suggestions welcome, thank you! X

Teaching is a doddle......

I'm sure some people will have plenty to say about that even if it's only in private!
Have you any plans to continue lessons? You may well have the knowledge and aptitude for teaching but if you've no interest in studying beyond grade 8 are you really interested enough?

While you are trying to attract students have you spent any time looking at things like tutor books to see what you might use?

Be reassured, you're doing a lot of the right things already, but it does take time.

I'd suggest getting in touch with your local music service and/or nearby high schools, explaining your situation and asking if there's a peri teacher who'd be happy for you to shadow them for a day or two. It needn't even be a flautist, although obviously that helps.

Seeing other teachers in action is beneficial to all of us, no matter how long we've been doing it. Plus, it would get you much better known among other teachers in the area, while making a good impression in that you want to benefit from contact with more experienced teachers.

Okay I missed some bits out..

I want to teach people to learn the flute, from beginners and upwards, to get them through grades, and help them become better musicians.

I have the current syllabuses for the flute, and I have a beginners book called 'A Tune A Day'. I also have a spare flute to lend to students!


And I live in the UK and most primary schools/secondary schools now go through organisations of proper instrumental teachers who have done A levels and degrees to become a teacher, and I only want to learn privately! I've rang primary schools and they explained that they only go through organisations. I've also rang my nearest band/music centre and they never got back to me.

And I know plenty of music teachers that have only gone up to grade 8 and gone on to teach privately. So what if I don't want to do my diploma RIGHT now?? I plan on doing it eventually but it's not a MUST if I want to start teaching

HELP

I didn't suggest doing a diploma either now or any time. I was really taken aback when one of my teachers mentioned that she thought I'd be wanting to at least take a break after grade 8 when I was ready with plans for after.
Another good thing about still having lessons is being able to talk through teaching issues with your teacher and ask about anything you need a bit of help with. I've found this useful. Sometimes it's just to help you come up with another way of explaining something when you've tried all you can think of.

How are you going to work with the flute loan?
Will you have a written agreement?
Who pays for servicing or damage?

I'd put it the other way round, help them to become good musicians and prepare them for grades if that's what they want.
Is there any supplementary material you might use with Tune a Day? I've found that it can be necessary to have something extra for those times/students when they need consolidation before moving on in the tutor book.
Do you play in any bands/orchestras? This can be a point of contact especially if there's a training band and your own ensemble experience will help when your students need advice about playing in bands.

It can take a lot of advertising to get a little response and some people may well be sitting on the information and contact you at a later date. Some people find that having a web site is one of the most productive forms of advertising.

Keep phoning They can ignore one message, but three from the same person over a couple of weeks will get it through to them that you're serious.

I'm in a band and I've tried going through them but they only have 1 or two flautists who already have a tutor so they don't need anyone but I've left my details (which was about 4 months ago) with no luck.

I have past and present grade books for grades 1-5 on the flute, as well as a proper past sight reading book so I would say I do have all the materials needed, but everything that I don't have I can always get from ABRSM.

It seems that I've tried everything

Stick with it. Four years ago, I decided to go private, having previously been a peri, and moving into a new area to boot. I did the things you've done, although Google is for me the one which has provided most of the enquiries - hence massively expanding my website. Look into Google Adwords (which you pay for) and Google Places (which you don't).

For the first year or so, I picked up only enough pupils to count on one hand, and I know how dispiriting it can feel, but gradually things have built up and up, and more importantly I've not had people drop out


There's a lot of material to investigate outside of exam-oriented books. If you can get to a well-stocked sheet music shop, spend an hour or two browsing, to get an idea of the various tutor books available, other repertoire for beginners (check the pieces on the exam syllabus but not in the books for a guide), etc.

Get into the habit of checking charity shops, too, because there's often a box of sheet music, usually including a few dirt-cheap older copies of things still in print. Having random beginner books to lend to pupils just for the first few weeks is something I tend to do, to give me time to decide the right pathway to take with each individual longer-term.

Also, if you're happy to vaguely describe your location in the UK, there might be people here who can give more specific suggestions.

I've been teaching for just over a year now, and the past few months have really been great. I started with just one for a couple of months, and then they told their friends, which produced two more, and then word got around and now I'm quite busy. I have found that parenting websites can be good. The best form of advertising is word of mouth.

As for teaching being a doddle - it's not, but it is a very rewarding job!

Good luck - I'm sure your teaching will pick up

Just an observation from someone who has recently been looking for a teacher. I did a lot of looking online, but the two I eventually contacted were through music (instrument) shops - they had lists of teachers for various instruments, location (just town) and contact number.

I would suggest increasing your rates. I'm assuming you're advertising them and if I were looking for a teacher I'd want someone who was charging the going rate. Otherwise I would think they weren't good enough.

I know you feel inexperienced but you're either ready to teach or not. If you are, then you deserve the going rate. I think G8 is a suitable qualification to get started with.

As for diplomas etc, you can't do a teaching diploma without having at least one student so there'll be time for that later if at all.

I have no idea where people have seen my advert but I only have a website and a listing on musicteachers.co.uk. Give that a shot if you haven't already.

Good luck!

If you do however want to know where your adverts are most effective/where people are hearing from you online. Make a blog at wordpress.com or something similar with your details, and link all adverts, with name/address/rate, to that site.

These sites will often have a stats page of how many visited/what site refferred them. (you can also do some webmaster stuff with google that allows you to see more in depth details about how it is working).

Thats if you really wanted to spend a lot of time on it though.

You can do the AB DipABRSM without any pupils.

Yes - I would agree with increasing your rate too!

15GBP for half an hour?!

That's the MU rate for 2011-2012. Sounds about right to me and I would happily pay that. Although the rate round here is more like ?12.50.

Although our new local Rock Choir © (not my choir!) charges ?12 per week just to sing in the choir. I charge ?3.60!! Doing something wrong there!!

I would certainly consider increasing your fees. 15 GBP for 30 minutes would be regarded as more than reasonable here (South East London), and the two risks of pitching low are the risk that people will think 'you get what you pay for', and difficulty increasing your fees later on.

Have you also asked around local schools yet?

Good luck!

The ISM routinely survey their members, which corresponds to this fairly closely, with unsurprising geographic differences between London, the south and the north. http://www.ism.org/news/article/fees_private_tuition

Make sure you are on places like musicteachers.co.uk, the free listing for Yell, and then google flute teachers in your local areas, see where they appear, and copy if necessary. Make sure that your own website has all the necessary tags for teaching, such as beginners, intermediate level players, and so on, be as varied as possible. I don't know if ISM do student members, but investigate that, or the MU.

Collect a couple of tutor books for your chosen instruments, and then start planning lessons for a complete beginner, someone who is intermediate and a bit more advanced. I wouldn't try and teach beyond grade 5, as you want to be a few grades ahead of any students.

I agree about the fees, have a flat rate of at least ?12.50 for instrumental and theory teaching. It isn't just that you don't want to appear cheap, you also don't want to undercut your fellow teachers. Also, be persistent. Have some T&Cs drawn up, especially if you are planning on loaning out a flute, do think about a deposit for that. As far as your T&Cs are concerned, be fair, but be consistent, don't say one thing but actually do another.

I have found since I have a preliminary meeting when I hand out a pack of information, including contracts, T&Cs, general information, contact information sheets for students to fill in, copies of my blank lesson plans, I have had no problems with students and their families understanding exactly how I operate. It just seems to create a professional atmosphere. This is a free meeting, as no teaching takes place, and where young children are concerned, I like them to be able to tell their parents if they really don't like me. It give me the opportunity to work out if the child is ready for lessons.

Also see if local schools will let you put up notices on their boards, or even better hand out small sheets at the end of the school day. Infant and junior schools are best here.

Good luck, and the others are right, teaching is not a doddle, it is always fun, but hard work as well.

The only calls I've ever had from this one have been from Yell, trying to sell me an upgraded listing!

I know!! But other websites use Yell to mine for information, and before you know it you end up listed in loads more places. I also think that when prospective students search online now, they look in more than one website, and the more exposure you get the better.

I've picked up pupils from yell before now, but one useful place to advertise when you're first starting out is in your local paper.

Interestingly I am in a similar position to you. I did teach privately a few years ago, but after going to univesity to study music, and moving out of the area, I have recently returned and set up in my home town.

I would echo the previous comments that all the efforts your making to make yourself known are good ones. It can be a challenge starting up, as you often have little money to reinvest in advertising/marketing etc. but it's well worth it and there are plenty of free ways to advertise as well.

I have been fortunate enough to speak to my old school, where most of my old teachers still work, and will be starting there shortly as a Peri. Is it possible for you to do this as well?

The biggest piece of advice I can give you is do ANYTHING and EVERYTHING to be involved in the local area's music scene. This includes going to concerts, seminars, open recitals etc as these events offer great opportunities to network with teachers and like minded people. You may also want to contact local teachers to try and find out if there are any teachers that are looking similarly for other teachers in the area to network with. I found that when I was at my local music shop playing the piano that I had someone asking me about my training - it's a great way, informally to try to find students or again make yourself known to people in the area.

Another thing you may not have considered is teaching at your pupil's house. For the most part teachers tend to shy away from this as it quickly eats away at the time you could spend teaching, but in the short term you might find it sets you apart from the crowd.

Remember, keep going.... it takes time, but the good thing about teaching privately, especially instruments, is that people often sign up for long term, which means once you have your pupils, you should be able to retain them whilst you continue to boost your numbers.

In addition to further diplomas, you might also want to consider some Professional Development Courses. The ABRSM offer several here in addition to the teaching diplomas and again is a great way to meet other teachers.

Had any joy, Liziie?

Are you suggesting that's too much? Or too little? I'd struggle to find anyone charging less in my area.

I was commenting on the original post where the implication seemed to that 15 pounds an hour (will someone please sort out the pound symbol?! ) was outrageously high.

Ah OK. Have you tried going back into your post via the Edit button, then Quick Edit, and changing them to ? signs? They usually stay that way then
I just did it!

Hi there! I should go for it - there is only one way to find out if it's for you and that is to try it. If you are good at it, people will stay, if not they won't. Start off with just one or two pupils of modest standard, charge enough (because you have put in hours of work and alot of money over the years to get to the standard you are), and don't apologise for being young or a student, or new to teaching. If you like people and genuinely want to help them, then that's a big chunk of what you need. In my experience, it is better not to teach friends (however tempting that may be at first) as they tend to see you as a friend and not a teacher - they may expect lessons for free, or for a discounted rate, and may not take it seriously. So I say have a go - it's the best job in the world! Good luck!