I received this question in my inbox the other day:
What are some options for transitioning from an afternoon-evening piano teacher to a daytime piano teacher? Now that my son has started preschool, I no longer want to work 4-8pm every night for the rest of his life…
And it got me thinking about the other parts of a piano teacher’s life. The parts that require a careful balancing act of clients vs. family.
Now most people with a career and a family require a bit of a juggle… drop the kids at daycare on the way to work, pick up dinner, pick up the kids, meet a client on the way to soccer practice, make calls while you wait for ballet class to finish… everyone has their “rat race” routines.
But few people actually have to juggle both clients and family being under one roof during the dinner hour. Few people have to work right through the time when their children return home from school and dinner needs to be made. Few people start work just as their spouse is arriving home for the evening. Because of the hours we are required to work, full-time piano teachers potentially could go days only seeing their children right before bed and right before school in the morning. For most of us this just isn’t a feasible way of life.
Making Work Work For You
While many of us will always have those late nights where our significant other tucks a saran-wrapped dinner into the fridge for us and wrangles the kids into their PJ’s solo… we’d probably all prefer that this not be our daily routine! And while piano teacher hours are usually determined by when our little clients are available… there are ways to be creative and make your work work for you:
1) Change your niche market. We’ve talked about how advertising is most effective if you advertise to a specific target market. If you’re hoping to avoid teaching into the evening then you need to change your niche away from school-age children. Create advertising for new retirees, seniors, or stay-at-home moms. By adapting your program both in terms of content (you need to serve each of these age group’s needs) and in terms of delivery (where you teach… your home or theirs?) you can be quite successful at capturing a niche market that comes with ideal working hours.
2) Teach preschoolers! Many of you are already enjoying our unique one-on-one program WunderKeys Piano for Preschoolers. This program was created out of my own desire to be at home with my first child. I wanted to teach mornings and I saw a niche market that was untapped in my area. Within a year I was able to switch 3 of my teaching days from afternoons to mornings. Life was good 🙂 Check it out – it’s free to become a WunderKeys teacher and the backing we give you is amazing. We’ve just extended WunderKeys into 20 different countries with over 300 teachers!
3) Consider Saturdays – I taught Saturdays up until about 2 years ago. It freed up two weekdays for me which made the one longish weekend day well worth it. You’d be surprised how relaxing Saturdays can be. Students are not tired from being at school all day, parents are happy to relax with a cup of coffee or go for a stroll… it’s like a whole new world! If you can stomach the thought of setting your alarm on a Friday night, I’d give it a try. As a bonus, many families who are just too busy during the week or who have parents who work late will be attracted to your studio because of your weekend availability.
4) Find a partner – If your studio is growing in leaps and bounds and you’re finding it hard to keep up with the hours (what a great problem to have!) consider hiring a partner teacher to teach in your studio on the days you choose to take off. You will no longer have to turn students away who call to register… and you won’t have to book your teaching days until they are bursting at the seams. Negotiate a fair price where you are compensated for a student-finding fee, the use of your studio etc. and enjoy your days off knowing you are still making income!
5) Teach groups – one of the best ways to maximize your income without increasing your teaching time is to teach in groups. Consider taking on less piano students in exchange for offering a regular group class to your current piano students to supplement their regular piano lessons. You’ll need to make it very appealing to have students commit to another weekly activity, but not only will you be able to create more time for your family… you’ll also be enriching your piano student’s musical education.
A bit of creativity goes a long way when working to find life balance between teaching piano and having time for yourself and your family. If you are willing to think outside the box you’ll find yourself and your studio in an impressively envious position!
Trina Dunsmoor says
Fantastic advice for those looking to work 9-5. Another option would be to consider building a clientele within the Homeschool community. Many cities and towns have a Homeschooling association through which you can connect with interested parents and do some advertising. A number of years ago, I was looking for ways to increase my teaching during the daytime and I found that homeschooling families actually preferred to schedule their piano lessons into the school day as part of the weekly program. Word travels fast as these families often share resources with one another…including the name of a great piano teacher!
Andrea says
Hi Trina – this is very true. And in our area homeschool families are able to be reimbursed by their sponsor for extra curricular activities so their piano lessons are fee to them! By being flexible about how and when we accept payment from them we have been able to extend our morning and early afternoon hours by quite a bit. You are right – this is an extensive network where word-of-mouth is king! WunderKeys is also a great option for these homeschool families who are looking to enrich their education programs and who really appreciate the music and math pairing that WunderKeys offers. I love teaching homsechooled children – they always seem to have much more time for piano practice 🙂
Holly Valencia says
Thank you for sharing these ideas! It’s starting to feel that way some weeks lemme tell ya! I think this balancing act is an art really. hahaha I have contemplated group lessons, but need to rebuild my house first! Sometimes my family wants to go out to eat or catch a movie, and I show up late or cancelling because I have students to teach in the PM. 🙁 Definitely a labor of love! In time though, I’d like to implement several of your ideas. Thanks again!
Andrea says
Hi Holly – How is the house rebuild going? You had a fire didn’t you? I hope you’re well on your way to normalcy again. Yes, piano teachers do end up making sacrifices because of our evening hours. Another option for teaching during day time hours that I didn’t mention in the 5 above is letting your local private schools know of your services and offering to teach on campus. Often international students who are living in the dorms want to continue with their studies but don’t have transportation. You can teach out of the music room and be paid either through the school or individually by the families. Private school students often have flex blocks or spares that they can use for fine arts or sports activities and piano lessons fits right into that. Our studio has had this offer many times in our area. Worth a try! 🙂
Melissa Slawsky says
Thank you so much! I needed this!
Linda Freund says
My mother was a piano teacher from the time I was in 3rd grade until she was too sick to teach. If you put your students before your children, you will regret it later. Your children will regret it for a lifetime. I waited until my child was 18 to start teaching, and he was jealous of the attention I gave the young kids. He’s away at college, but I’ve still decided not to build my business too much. My last telephone call to my mother before she was too sick to talk went like this, “Hi Mom.” “I’m teaching. I can’t talk.” Later she cried because her children didn’t talk to her. I tried to talk to her, but couldn’t think of anything to say.
Leslie says
We only have one son and he loves visitors! I have made teaching piano lessons work for us by inviting siblings to come to lessons as well. Our son gets to quietly play with the sibling during their sibling’s lessons and he really looks forward to the time with each one (and a 30 min. playdate seems the perfect amt. of time). I teach one evening 3-7 pm and it has been working for us (it’s his fav. day of the week because he gets to see his friends).