Becoming Wealthy Teaching Piano Lessons?
Ask the average piano teacher how to become a wealthy piano teacher and you’ll probably hear “you can’t” for an answer. The general consensus is that teaching piano is a labor of love that happens to also pay the bills, but not much more. But that’s not true. I know how to become a wealthy piano teacher. And you can discover how to become a wealthy piano teacher too. The answers are right here in this article.
It’s all a matter of perception.
You see, most piano teachers don’t think of themselves as entrepreneurs. They don’t understand that they are actually in two businesses. Sure, they are in the business of teaching every budding Ludwig van Beethoven how to tickle the ivory and how to tell a treble clef from a bass clef, but they are also in the business of being in business.
That means that besides cracking open the music books, they also have to crack open the accounting books. They have to make time to separate the black and white keys from the black and white numbers. They have to learn how to run a profitable business LIKE it was a business and not a hobby.
If you want to learn how to become a wealthy piano teacher, you have to learn how to run a successful business. This means that you need to run a profit and loss statement, identify your overhead, analyze your rates, and determine what you need to do to raise your standard of living without working yourself into an early grave.
Does that sound impossible? It isn’t. In fact, the only thing I’m asking you to do is what every other successful business person in the world does every day — run your business at a profit. Want to know how to become a wealthy piano teacher? Make believe you’re a lawyer, or a doctor, or a plumber instead. No, I’m serious. Here’s what I mean.
No matter what business you are in, even teaching piano, you’re selling something. Shopkeepers sell merchandise, lawyers, doctors, plumbers and, yes, piano teachers sell their skills. And they sell it by the hour. If you aren’t getting top dollar for the time you spend teaching your students how to boogie woogie, you’re leaving money on the table. That’s money that should be in your pocket instead.
One of the keys to earning top dollar for your classical, concert and jazz piano skills is to raise your visibility in the market and make yourself appear to be more exclusive than your competitors. People with money in their pockets are willing to pay for exclusivity and the benefits that come with learning from the best of the best.
That’s only one trick you need to learn in order to discover how to become a wealthy piano teacher. There are so many more.
how do i become better at sight reading piano music?
Hi-
I’ve been taking piano lessons for five years, and the lessons were unconventional…meaning the teacher taught me to play by finger numbers and using my ear before reading sheet music. i can play songs such as bach’s 1st invention and i’m learning grieg’s notturno, but to make a long story short…i SUCK at reading sheet music. my question is, am i behind on my piano abilities…should i be able to do more than i can at this stage? how do i get better at reading sheet music? thanks so much =]
The key to better sight reading is to keep learning unfamilliar pieces that don’t take too long to finish. Obviously, you’ll need to use the sheet music and not just rely on your ear. If your piano teacher is spoon-feeding you the correct notes or finger numbers instead of helping you figure it out yourself from the music, you may need a new teacher.
My suggestion is to get a book songs that aren’t too difficult for your ability, and just start learning them. You don’t have to learn them perfectly. In fact, once you sort of know a piece, practicing it further won’t improve your sightreading much, so just move on to the next song.
Of course, it’s good to also be working on a harder piece that you plan to learn thoroughly, because this will advance your playing ability and technique.
Future music theory teacher?
I am currently a piano performance and pedagogy major and realized how much I love writing and history. In short, I would love teach music theory one day. Does this mean I have to switch to be a music education major??
You don’t have to switch. Ultimately, if you want a job teaching music theory at a high school, you’ll need a BSEd (Music Ed degree) but you’ll also have to teach either band or chorus. If you don’t want to do that, you’re better off staying with your BA, then earning an MM in Piano Pedagogy or MA in Music Theory and Composition, and teaching in a Community College. You’ll get to teach more Theory that way. http://www.music.pitt.edu/graduate/degrees.html#composition Here is the sort of Master’s degree you’ll want to pursue.
Im trying to learn to play the piano, tips?
Im 15 now, and i have a keyboard. I just don’t think i could go for a teacher, so i was wondering if anyone had any tips to give me, I’m trying to teach myself. Any good books, sites, or anything to help me out?
really appreciate your help 
The best way to learn is to have a teacher. If you make a mistake with your posture or with playing in general, it will take twice as long to fix.
This site is for general music/piano knowledge, so it doesn’t have many pieces of music: http://www.pianotricks.com/. Theory is still very important stuff, so don’t underestimate it. If you want to learn songs, it’s hard to do it with an Internet. People aren’t coaching themselves with a computer, right? =)
