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 |