Hi. In what specific forms of media -- books, magazine articles,
software, face-to-face lessons, live lessons, etc. -- would my guitar
lessons, which I write on a freelance basis from my home, most likely
produce an income of $300 per month or more?

Put another way, of the many possible ways that someone could provide
guitar instruction on a freelance basis from their home -- giving
face-to-face lessons, writing books, etc -- which of these ways finds
the most people successfully making a living at it?

If you could provide specific statistics, that would be a big help.

I suspect the answer will reveal mostly non-Internet opportunities, so
I don't believe a list of Internet sites would suffice.

Thank you for your time.

Hello guitarteacher,

Great question!

Q. Which will most likely produce an income of $300 per month or more?
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As a current guitar player, and former instructor, I can offer online
resources and personal offline statistics to help you choose a path.
Cement statistics for art service related fields such as guitar
instruction is scarce and often misses the mark.

The $300.00 you are seeking a month is a relatively easy amount to
achieve, considering the amount an average lesson costs. Much like the
comments from our friend in the U.K. below, the average U.S. price per
1/2 hour lesson is about $25.00. The typical student takes 1 hour of
lessons a week. This is $50.00 in one week, or $200.00 a month from
one student.

The number of people who wish to play guitar is staggering. In my own
opinion (as this question doesn't rely on solid stats), you will be
able to find at least three students, in a relatively short amount of
time. If you can keep a three student level, you would stand to make
$600.00 a month from giving freelance guitar lessons.

People will pay more for style and attention. Do you have a style you
are better at? Do people associate your playing with anyone else? If
you can nail a single style, and make your own mark within it, people
will pay the premium to learn a different approach. This may very well
be something you might want to consider.

(Much like actors payed Bruce Lee a premium to learn martial arts)


I am unsure of your physical location, but I searched Google for the
following term :

guitar instructor jobs
://www.google.com/search?q=guitar+instructor+jobs

As you can see, the possibilities are quite numerous. Organizations do
pay to have guitar players teach children to learn, and you'll also
find some high end classical teaching positions open as well. You may
need to call local music stores, but you will find, many of them will
send you clients in exchange for being a freelance instructor for
them.


Should you decide you would like to write a book full of lessons,
theory, or even new concepts, I would choose to do this in addition to
lessons. I took the liberty of going to a few publication companies
that deal specifically with guitar books, and found the pages that
describe the submission process :

Mal Bay Publication Process
http://www.melbay.com/howtosubmit.asp

Cherry Lane Music
http://www.cherrylane.com/clpub/html/body_contactus.cfm

Alfred Publishing
http://www.alfred.com/span_custserv/custservice_faq.html#a9


Q. Which of these ways finds most people successfully making a living
at it?
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By far it would be a face-to-face instructor. There really are no
industry numbers due to the overwhelming amount of freelance and 'free
spirited' musicians there are in the United States. Guitar instruction
books sell well, but guitar is a hands on experience. Most pepole that
buy the books, need them for their lessons :-), and the writer
receives only a small commission of each sale. This would hardly be
enough to live on, unless you were more famous, and could boost sales
- like Chet Atkins or B.B. King.

You should think of this as a building process like any other:

- Get the job (freelance instructor)
- Get really good at it. Teach students to learn and enjoy your
teachings.
- Build a loyal following, then start to write a book.
- Approach the publishing companies with your thoughts and experience.


I hope I touched up on most of the concerns you have. Should you need
clarification or further resources, please ask before rating this
question, as I would love to assist you further.

I didn't use an internet search strategy to answer your question,
rather offered personal insight.

Good luck with your choices and happy playing!
SgtCory

An encouraging and helpful response.

Hello guitarteacher,

I'm commenting from gut feelings rather than because I have any hard
facts.  However, the way I see it is that giving individual
face-to-face lessons to students is likely to be the simplest way to
achieve your goal. If you count on charging $25 for a 30-minute lesson
(I'm basing this on UK rates for music tuition, but assume them to be
similar in the US), you only need to give 12 lessons a month to get
your minimum income. If students come every week, that is only 3
students to find. To this, you could add group tuition (evening
classes, holiday schools, for example). Once you have this basic
income coming in, you could seek to diversify by trying to write
articles for magazines, perhaps extending to reviews of guitar
recordings and concerts. I'm not sure that you would be able to make
article writing a sole source of income if you do not intend to cover
subjects other than guitar playing. I also don't think writing books
would bring in very much. Most publishers don't give large advances
anymore, and royalties trickle in very slowly.