One of the first alternatives a musician has in earning money with his or her craft is giving private lessons. Many people start when they are teens, as a quick and easy way to earn some extra cash. But, like anything else, personalities and practicalities often get in the way. Just what makes a great private teacher? If you are already holding down another job (such as teaching in a public school), is this a good way to earn extra cash? What are the pros and cons?

PROS

• The ability to work from your home
• The ability to set your own schedule
• Great one on one rapport with students
• The ease at being able to fine tune an individual students' abilities, as opposed to generalized instruction in the class setting
• For certain instruments, there is a huge demand (particularly for piano and guitar instructors)
• Pride in watching students develop, especially if you take them through several years

CONS

• Having people in your home
• Students who do not show up
• Dealing with harsh personalities (stubborn children, stage moms, those who can't take discipline)
• Getting people to pay
• Advertising and getting started (particularly with more "specialized" instruments such as winds or orchestral strings)
• Fitting a lesson schedule into your lifestyle
• Fitting a lesson schedule into your FAMILY'S lifestyle!
• Deciding the skills level of the students you can accept

One note before going on: this article might seem like it harps on the negatives of private teaching. I don't mean for it to do so. Private teaching can be a wonderful means of sharing your gifts with others and is very rewarding. BUT, after doing it for many years, I could see where for me personally, it wasn't the thing to do anymore. But, that was me. I would just like to point out things to consider before involving yourself in lessons, and signs that show that it might be time to not give lessons. There is no law that says a music teacher needs to give lessons on the side, or at the least, to fill up all their extra time with lessons.

For one thing, make sure you are skilled at the instrument you wish to teach. For instance, many music teachers feel they can give piano lessons (or many people FEEL all music teachers can give piano lessons!) after only a few years' experience. Be honest with yourself. If piano was your secondary instrument, you should only take on beginners and have on hand phone numbers of teachers who will take on more advanced students. It's only fair to your students. For instance, daughter does give piano, but only to beginners, because she's still a high school student herself. As her student develops, she has in mind other teachers to pass her students to when they get beyond her teaching expertise. Find out what the goals are of the parents or the adult student. How far do they want to progress? Are they interested in competitions? Or, are they just interested in finding out IF this is the instrument for them? It's advisable to have a questionnaire ready at the beginning that can gauge the expectations of the student. If you have an overly inflated opinion of your ability (time for some REAL personal reflection here), you're only going to frustrate the students and yourself. Plus, word of mouth is the best method of advertising, positively and negatively!

When you have students, are you willing to TOTALLY forget the rest of the world exists? For me personally, one reason I chose at this time not to do lessons is because of my family lifestyle. It got to the point that I was not doing my best for my students, because my attention and time was pulled so many other ways, and I had to make priority choices. You MUST be willing to let the answering machine take calls, ignore the doorbell, and let your family know that this is a job, and that you are NOT to be disturbed unless the house is burning down. Your students (or their parents) are paying money for your undivided attention. If you want to give lessons and are concerned about distractions, you might consider giving lessons through a local music store.

You must also be as strict as possible about keeping your schedule. If you teach privately on the side, you need to make sure before you schedule lessons what after-work demands might be placed on you from your job, such as the schedule of faculty meetings. Obviously, there are going to be times when you will need to reschedule because of unforeseen incidents, but your students and their parents will be much happier if they can settle into a routine. By the same token, as much as possible, you need to ask this of your students. People's lives are such a whirlwind now, and constantly changing schedules are part of the equation. But, don't give in to the temptation of being willing to rejuggle lessons constantly for basketball and softball games. In doing that, you are saying that music lessons should not take priority. If a student is involved in other extra-curricular activities, have that figured into the equation before scheduling, or suggest gently they look elsewhere. If you schedule a student for every other week because of their busy schedule, let them know in no uncertain terms that they are expected to apply more time on their own to keep up.

You must also be strict when it comes to getting paid. Set your guidelines right at the beginning, and stick with them. My students were expected to give me 24 hours notice if they needed to reschedule, except in the case of car trouble or sudden illness. If they forgot, they still paid. Some teachers require payment for every lesson regardless, especially if it is basically their only means of livelihood. That makes sense. They need to know to budget, and when parents have to pay, they're not as likely to ask to constantly reschedule. Have a guideline for what happens if a parent does not pay, forgets a payment, or if a check bounces. If you take on quite a few students, you might even consider accepting credit cards. There are sites such as ProPay that will allow you to process cards with very little expense.

If you teach in a school fulltime, you must also consider this: are you willing to work with kids all day, only to come home to more kids at night? Think of your personality. If you know in your heart that the kids are what keep you in teaching, and you also teach Sunday school, and just love being with kids quite a bit, you'll be fine. If you're the type that needs a change of pace when you get home (and that DOESN'T mean you hate kids and teach cause you can't do anything else!!! I adore kids, but I fall into the second category), you might want to reconsider private teaching or maybe only schedule a few lessons on your lightest days and hand-pick your private students.

Along those same lines, how much time are you willing to put up with:students who don't practice? students who argue? students who don't want lessons, but Mom is forcing them? Again, based on your personality, if you want to teach privately because you want kids to have fun with music and get exposed to the basics without really worrying about performances, you will tolerate more than someone who is demanding and wants to fine-tune his or her students to do their absolute best. Nothing is wrong with either personality. Both have their places in the music education world. (But, there is no place for either extreme. You are not doing the parent or student any favors by letting them slide by in passing when they haven't earned it because you're worried that they'll hate lessons. Nor, are you doing them any favors by being a slave driver who won't let them let their hair down and play a pop tune or two, or by not giving them any positive feedback.) Also (especially if performing your instrument has always come easy to you), gauge yourself on how you would react if you have a student who practices, who really wants to learn, but finds this instrument doesn't come as easy as it would for others. How would you handle this? If you're a patient, understanding person with creative ideas, you'd be great with just about any level. If you have trouble understanding why they don't get it, you'd better stick with advanced students.

If you are into private lessons, and you are getting to the point where having students in your home starts to feel like an invasion of privacy, no matter how good they are, it's time to reconsider giving lessons, or possibly cutting back. You are not doing them or yourself any favors by taking the money when your mind wanders, when you don't spend as much time finding them good material, finding yourself finding excuses to cancel, or letting them pass songs that shouldn't be passed. Nothing is wrong with taking a lesson hiatus. It's continuing when it's not the best fit for you or your student that's the problem.

When I was at my "height" of giving lessons, my kids were younger without all the activities they have now. I didn't have my web design business, and I didn't have as many demands on my teaching job as I do now. I absolutely loved it.I could involve my students in music festivals, loved shopping for music, and taking them to masterclasses. As my family life and teaching life got more hectic, and after I found out something even more flexible with my schedule in web design, I caught myself letting my mind wander more and more during lessons. It was time to stop. I will probably go back to giving lessons once my children are out on their own. I loved the one-on-one with my students and the pride in watching them develop. Private lessons are wonderful. They're just not for everyone, or they're just not for everyone at all times. Analyze yourself and your situation before taking on this responsibility so that the experience will be the best for you and your students.