earnings as a music...
 

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[Closed] earnings as a music tutor, anyone do it?

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looking to retrain, wondered if anyone does music tutoring at home/travelling ie not in school, and what qualifications are needed, and what hourly rate, pa earnings i can expect?

+ any pitfalls things i should know about?

I would be looking at brass instruments, and guitar, classical and steel string acoustic, not electric.


 
Posted : 27/12/2009 10:05 am
 Smee
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Sister inlaw teaches piano, cello and guitar - charges £40 per lesson and is fairly busy in the Edinburgh area. Pitfalls - she says it can be a bit like being a social worker. She has a music degree and a long work history as a session musician.


 
Posted : 27/12/2009 10:08 am
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Son guitar teacher charges £20 per hr in Aberdeen


 
Posted : 27/12/2009 10:47 am
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£20 per hour is too cheap. I'm a professional guitar teacher, but getting the f++k out of it because too many people are underselling what is a highly skilled service. Pisses me right off, you couldn't get your toilet fixed for £20 an hour.


 
Posted : 27/12/2009 11:16 am
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but a toilet is an essential


 
Posted : 27/12/2009 11:24 am
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cheers all, i'll have a music degree by the time i start work, i was grade 8 practical standard on the cornet/trumpett but less so on the music theory side, is it worth doing the grade 8 theory stuff in addition to the degree?


 
Posted : 27/12/2009 11:35 am
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Rob, you've kind of missed the point, but thanks for your contribution. 🙄


 
Posted : 27/12/2009 11:40 am
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Really? I just re-read your post and it certainly seems that you are suggesting a teacher of a past time is worth more than someone who provides an essential service.


 
Posted : 27/12/2009 12:13 pm
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Both myself and my wife went through the music college system and worked as pro musicians, when we got married and had children we decided one of us needed to give it up so as to be around for the boys. We both ended up becoming teachers, my wife still teaches flute and earns around £30 an hour privately and about £35 an hour at a local independant school but her annual income is pathetic for the level of skill she has and the years of training/performing she did (from age 7 to 50), this is due to the amount of hours you can teach effectively for, which in our opinion is no more than 25.

If you are teaching in schools then you only have 36 weeks a year to earn your living!

I became a classroom teacher and have since moved from teaching music to become in charge of outdoor education at a EBD school and have a reasonable salary - there is no way I would advise anyone to become a freelance instrumental teacher due to way both parents and schools will treat you - like sh1t!


 
Posted : 27/12/2009 1:05 pm
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We both ended up becoming teachers, my wife still teaches flute and earns around £30 an hour privately and about £35 an hour at a local independant school but her annual income is pathetic for the level of skill she has and the years of training/performing she did (from age 7 to 50), this is due to the amount of hours you can teach effectively for, which in our opinion is no more than 25.

If you are teaching in schools then you only have 36 weeks a year to earn your living!


So she can make over £30k a year doing 25 hours a week with 16 weeks holiday a year? Yes, sounds really pathetic given you can earn similar amounts as a professional engineer (degree, several years training) working 37 hours a week with 6 weeks holiday a year.


 
Posted : 27/12/2009 2:00 pm
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Really?
........Yes.


 
Posted : 27/12/2009 4:59 pm
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£30 per hour appears to be pretty standard here (S England). One daughter taking drum lessons from professional drummer and another taking singing lessons from qualified singing teacher both paying £30 per hour.


 
Posted : 27/12/2009 5:19 pm
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I pay £13 for half an hour (guitar) in Aberdeen, but it usually lasts 50mins to an hour, never ever less than 45mins.


 
Posted : 27/12/2009 6:23 pm
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So she can make over £30k a year doing 25 hours a week with 16 weeks holiday a year

Yup doesn't sound too bad to me.

One thing to bear in mind though is that unless you get people to pay for a block of lessons up front, they will likely miss a few over the term/year, and not really be expecting to pay for them - can make a big difference if you teach a few unreliable people.

I'm not a music teacher but I work in music education and know a lot of people who do.


 
Posted : 27/12/2009 6:28 pm