6 Benefits Of Teaching Guitar
When I started teaching guitar, I went into the process expecting some of the more obvious benefits, such as working on my own schedule and making an income, but I also found myself enjoying some unexpected benefits, which I’m going to share in this article.
Income
The most obvious benefit to becoming a guitar teacher is the extra income it created. While I made plenty of mistakes in the beginning of my guitar teaching career, eventually I was earning a pretty good income and had plenty of students coming for lessons every week.
I was able to earn a full-time income with part-time hours, which was great.
Creating a community
When you build a local business teaching guitar, you build a community.
You get to meet and know a lot of local people, and your students get to know each other (at least, they should be getting to know each other if you are using a good teaching model).
You end up building something that brings people together, and when you see that happen and know that you are the cause of it, it feels great.
You have fun, your students have fun and everybody wins.
Seeing people develop as guitar players, composers and musicians
When you are teaching guitar and your students are practising and studying outside of lessons, you see them grow as musicians.
You’ll see your students go from struggling with simple chords, to writing their own songs and performing in public.
You’ll see their musical capabilities expand, and as their capabilities expand, you’ll see their goals and ambitions expand as they become interested in trying more challenging ideas and music.
Your students will love this and respect you for it, and you’ll enjoy seeing them grow.
Making friends with other guitar teachers
If you learn to teach guitar by joining a network of teachers, you’ll be part of a community of people all working towards the same goals - much like your students join a community (your community!) when they start lessons.
You’ll make new friends with people with similar goals who face similar problems.
You’ll find people with similar values and ambitions.
You’ll meet other musicians who are ambitious and working on their music.
Creating time to work on my music
Teaching guitar meant that I had the time to work on my own music. I was able to record two albums that I probably would have struggled to do had I been working full time in a normal job.
By teaching part time during the week, and making a full time income from it, I was able to work on my own playing, writing and composing and release two albums, which had been a goal of mine for a long time.
An unexpected benefit to working on my own music like this was that I attracted more serious students, which made my life easier and were a pleasure to teach.
Working in a music adjacent field
As a teacher, you’re not being paid to work on your own music, or to write music, but you are still working with music.
Which is more fun than not working with music! It beats working in a bar, or a normal 9-5.
Personal development
Building a guitar teaching business is challenging - you’ll have to learn plenty of new skills such as:
- How to advertise your lessons
- How to deal with people
- How to resolve disputes and disagreements
- How to identify what a person is struggling with and help them
- How to problem solve
- How to deal with unexpected situations
- How to put together logistics behind lessons, such as managing payments, scheduling
- How to manage your money and taxes
And learning these skills forces you to grow as a person, expanding your capabilities.
How To Start Teaching Guitar
If you’re ready to teach guitar, inspire your students, attract new clients, and build a side-gig or a sustainable full-time career, take a look at the Guitar Teacher Training Program.