Why Making Money Teaching Guitar (North Of 6-Figures Per Year) Isn’t Complicated... And How To Do It
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Yes, believe it or not....
You really can make a lot of money as a guitar teacher.
I'm talking north of 6-figures per year, teaching part-time.
And here is the key part:
While making money teaching guitar isn’t “easy”...
... it’s certainly NOT as complicated as many people (especially those who don’t teach guitar) often think that it is.
And if you want to know how to thrive as a guitar teacher, attract more guitar students and increase your guitar teaching income...
EMAIL TO GET ACCESS
By submitting your info, you agree to send it to Tom Hess Music Corporation who will process and use it according to their privacy policy.
This article will show you how to begin the process of doing just that.
The first step is to understand the 5 big advantages teaching guitar has over most other business (and most day jobs).
And the second step?
It is to know how to harness these 5 advantages to grow your business faster and easier than most people who teach guitar.
To kick things off...
Here are 5 key reasons why making money teaching music isn’t all that complicated:
And now, let’s dive deeper into each one to help you understand how to make money teaching music:
Reason #1 Why Making Money Teaching Guitar Isn’t Complicated: You Can Earn As Much Money Per Hour As Many Doctors And Lawyers.
That’s because you are able to teach guitar in small groups, with multiple guitar students paying you for the same hour.
And yes, I know that most guitar teachers cringe at the idea of ‘group’ lessons.
Private guitar lessons are supposed to be ‘the’ way to make money teaching music, because guitar students get all of your attention... and therefore, teaching guitar students in a group is worse for their progress, right?
No. Heck no.
Sure – your guitar students ‘do’ get all your 1-1 attention when they are with you in a private lesson.
The problem is: 1-1 attention is the very reason guitar students improve slower in private lessons. (Not to mention – the private lesson format drastically limits your income as a guitar teacher.)
Here are 11 reasons why private lessons are not the best way to teach guitar and make money teaching music:
And here is a fun anecdote to drive the point home (about making money teaching guitar):
Not long ago, I got an email from an upset guitar teacher on my list objecting to my ‘groups are better” philosophy.
It went like this:
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Sorry: but I don’t get how getting “less” of a teachers’ attention in a group can possibly be to the student’s benefit (as you say). Say you are teaching swimmers. Would you seriously feel safer learning in a group of 10 other people than with a teacher teaching you one on one perfecting your swim stroke etc???. What if it was your kid learning to swim?
No offense, but sounds like some bs you made up just to justify stuffing people in a group to make more money.
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And I ended up writing an email to my list addressing his “points” which I feature below.
(Spoiler alert: groups are still better.)
First of all...
Playing guitar and swimming are 2 different things.
And - unlike swimming - a huge part of playing guitar is either playing ‘with’ or playing ‘for’ other people.
So, that already is pretty much an open-and-shut case in favor of learning (and getting comfortable playing) in a group.
But let’s dive deeper:
A guitar students’ progress doesn’t happen during ‘the lesson’.
It happens through how you practice ‘between’ lessons.
So, when you teach guitar, the only ‘true’ way to make sure your guitar students are ‘able’ to practice correctly between lessons is...
... to give your guitar students a few actual moments to practice without you (i.e. while you observe your other students) and aren’t actively focused on them.
Then - after a few moments - you check back to see how well they’ve stayed on track, give them more feedback and challenge them to practice better.
THAT is how you get a student to TRULY master something.
So, yes - if I wanted to swim well enough to potentially save my life one day...
Yeah, I’d abso-freaking-lutely want my teacher to teach me like that.
So, given that there ARE undeniable benefits to your guitar students from group lessons, ‘and’ to you...
... I’d say it’s your moral obligation to GET good at teaching guitar this way.
If you’d like to know even more about teaching guitar in groups vs. 1-1 lessons, check out this guitar teaching article.
Moving on:
Reason #2 Why Making Money Teaching Guitar Isn’t Complicated: Your Teaching Income Is Far Safer And More Secure Than Nearly Any Business (Or Job).
This is because your revenue is spread out among all your guitar students, each of whom is paying you monthly.
And if you have a day job?
Now all your income is tied to ‘one’ paycheck.
Attract More New Guitar StudentsDiscover how to attract new guitar students by using this assessment.
Why So Many Guitar Teachers FailFind out why most guitar teachers
will fail to ever make a good living.
Earn More Money Teaching GuitarLearn 11 steps to take in order to earn more money teaching guitar.
Which means, should anything happen to your company (or the industry you are in), your income could suddenly go to zero.
Meanwhile...
When you teach guitar, you have as many sources of income as you have guitar students.
So, while your business can and will fluctuate, you’re not likely to lose ‘all’ your income overnight.
And that security makes it simple to leave almost any (even a very high-paying) job and begin making money teaching guitar.
Here are a few other (positive) differences between a 6-figure job and a 6-figure income as a guitar teacher:
2. When you are a guitar teacher who owns their own business, you have more power to GROW your income than you do at any job.
You can always go out and get more guitar students (each of whom will substantially increase your income).
But at a day job?
Your income is largely controlled by your boss and is not likely to increase at the same rate as it could when you are making money teaching guitar.
Next...
3. Many industries have come and gone throughout history.
But music has always been a part of people’s lives. It has survived every economic collapse, world war, pandemic and cultural shift in history.
So, the demand for music lessons isn’t likely to ever go away.
4. At most jobs, you have less freedom over your schedule (even if you work remotely) than you do when you own a business as a guitar teacher.
When you are the boss (i.e. when you are making money teaching guitar) - you can make changes to your work schedule (or business model) without asking for permission from anyone.
Finally...
5. You get tax breaks when working for yourself that you’d never get by being an employee (in most countries anyway). So, even if you earn the same amount in a business as you do at a job – your take-home pay is likely to be (much) higher. But talk to an accountant to get the details.
All these benefits make it far easier to earn more money (while working less).
Reason #3 Why Making Money Teaching Guitar Isn’t Complicated: Your Guitar Teaching Income Is Almost All Profit.
There is no inventory to pay for and no lease or salary expenses to worry about (until you have so many students, you can easily afford it).
There are also no loans to take or capital to raise when you are starting out as a guitar teacher. All you need to begin making money teaching guitar is a room with a few chairs.
So, if you’re not teaching – it’s something you can literally start doing by tomorrow.
Reason #4 Why Making Money Teaching Guitar Isn’t Complicated: You Can Keep Many Of Your Guitar Students Studying With You For Years.
Unlike other businesses that rely on one-off transactions...
When you are making money teaching guitar... you get to build strong relationships with your guitar students (and among your guitar students).
As a result, they will develop strong reasons to stay with you, beyond just learning to play better.
And guess what?
Retention (keeping your guitar students with you for as long as possible) is where the big money is when you teach guitar.
Here is why:
For one thing, your income becomes way more predictable compared to a business that relies on one-time purchases (like, say - a guitar store) and has its income “start over at zero” every month.
Also, the longer your guitar students stay with you, the less hard you have to work to fill the holes in your schedule... and the easier it becomes to make money teaching music.
And the best part is:
It’s far easier to keep a student who is already studying with you...
... than it is to find and convert a brand-new person to become your guitar student.
Reason #5 Why Making Money Teaching Guitar Isn’t Complicated: It’s Laughably Easy To Become The #1 Guitar Teacher In Your Area
Very few teachers have much ambition to grow a serious business or to consistently add more value to their students.
They don’t invest in themselves to level-up their teaching skills.
They keep doing things the same old way (or they simply copy what other guitar teachers are doing).
And they don’t really care if their students improve and become good players as long as they keep showing up and paying for lessons.
That’s a big reason why many ‘average’ teachers find it hard to make money teaching music.
So, when you come in with even *slightly* more ambition, work ethic, innovation and guitar teaching skills than average...
...that could well be enough to “lock up” your area as the go-to guitar teacher everyone wants to study with.
Now that you know more about what goes into making money teaching guitar, let me show you how to make your guitar students stay with you for a long time (years) – while being grateful to have you as their teacher. I show you how in my free eGuide How To Keep Your Guitar Students Taking Lessons With You For Years. Download it today and discover the guitar teaching secrets most guitar teachers will never know.
Start teaching guitar and making a lot of money doing.
