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And that's the exact attitude many of the teachers who work at these "music schools" continue to exhibit. They treat it like a transitional, part-time job, or as "expensive babysitting."

FYI: Some bosses at these joints keep 66.6% of the $$$, or maybe more. My data may be outdated.

My recommendation is to settle in a suburban area, relatively affluent. There are always affordable housing options in these areas. Then drive to the students' homes to teach. You can charge higher fees and ask for gas stipend.

In this month's American Music Teacher, (you're all members, right?) is an excellent and interesting article by Robert DeFazio on Private Music Teaching as a Business. Well worth a read.

AZN's advice is worth consideration. There is always a market for piano teaching in the home, and few good piano teachers are willing to do it.

Of course, every idea is worth consideration, but if you hate the suburbs, don't like driving (or owning) a car, have allergies to pets, perfume, or household chemicals then it might not turn out to be the best situation for you.

If you don't like driving or owning a car, then Southern California is not for you. You'd be grounded.

Nope, not outdated. And it's not some, most of these schools do that. Oh and that's WITH a Master's degree.

I think with your degree, you are better off keeping your repertoire in your fingers and giving free recitals in whatever city you settle on to recruit students rather than starting off at a music school.

For LA area, you might check out Pasadena conservatory of Music, PCC ( community college ) has a very good music dept. they take their music seriously. This will offer you health insurance. Our YMCA also has a piano teacher on the ground. This is the La Canada Y. LA is studded with talented classical professional musicians, we have a great orchestra, the W Disney concert Hall, and the recording studios, not to mention the Colburn conservatory. USC Thorton school of Music.Good master teachers available to the general student is hard to come by. I would emphasize your training and experience in a well lay out biosketch online, and give examples of your playing by a link on the same page. It is frustrating to screen for teachers and have no indication of their potential. At least there has to be something to hang onto. Good luck. You definitely need a car in LA and SD.

Generally, I'd say ANY upper-middle class/affluent area anywhere is a good place to start a studio - as long as the demographics are geared more towards younger families and less towards retirement age. I believe there are websites that let you purchase demographical information buy city. Despite all the negatively that is circulating, interest in piano lessons still seems to be strong and not waning.

What is harder, however, is actually building the studio. This would be the same in any area. It's often said that it takes an average of five to seven years to really ESTABLISH a strong studio exactly as you want it (x number of students at x dollars an hour in an ideal location with great clients). I'm still in my 2nd year so I can't comment on this, but it seems more or less the case. Until then, there is a lot of hustling and juggling to do - working at community schools, driving around town to houses, taking odd gigs, etc.. unless you actually inherit or buy a studio from somebody who is retiring (which does happen sometimes), there is no way you can build up your studio in a year.

I personally got started as a teacher by working exclusively at community schools, and then taking students directly from the school as my own, or having been recommended by parents from the school. I know many schools make you sign contracts saying you won't do this - but I was lucky in that the ones I worked for did not. All of the actual advertising I did (website, flyers, yellow pages, etc), did absolutely nothing.

What about just staying in Rochester ? Less people... Heck I'd just hang there and study with Bill Dobbins for the rest of my life..




That's my gym.. I see those people in that little sanctuary or whatever it is on occasion as I'm coming up the steps from the parking lot.

I've been here for 33 years gigging around and teaching-the thrill is gone. Personally I'm trying to figure how to get out of LA and go somewhere like Pacific Grove or even Ventura.

I've been teaching in Orange County (Newport Coastal area)for nearly 20 years now. The area is saturated with teachers, "yes." HOWEVER, if you do something different than the rest of them (i.e. offer a core curriculum that is non-traditional) there is tons of room for you. The nice thing about O.C. is the lack of traffic and the ease of getting around. There are plenty of affluent neighborhoods to teach in, in-home lessons come at a premium and are in demand, and there is a great market here for the "hobbyist" pianist. My core curriculum focuses on pop music and fun/recreational music that keeps students engaged and motivated. You will have a tougher road if you're looking to develop a studio doing the "standard" stuff just because of the sheer number of established teachers already in the area. Just my .02.

I love this area: the people are great, students are fantastic, and the weather can't be beat

"...as long as the demographics are geared more towards younger families and less towards retirement age..."

Now that it has been mentioned, I realize that I forgot about this important and emerging demographic of piano students who are returning to study, now that they have time, work is over, the kids are grown up, etc. I guess I don't think about it, the way a fish doesn't think about water.

On the other hand, who knows what a fish thinks.

Anyway, if you want to do in-home lessons, you have two market segments who don't drive (or may not like to): youngsters and oldsters.

Try the 405 at 7:30 in the morning. It's a parking lot. Southbound 55 and 57 are pretty bad, too, most of the time.


Absolutely true! And at the tuition rate these folks are willing to cough up, I was able to quit my other job.

I don't mind driving, and in-home lessons would definitely be a great way to at least get started. I probably (definitely) can't afford a great home studio right off the bat anyway!

San Diego is really sounding quite nice...

Also, just in addition to what I'm looking for:
- I'm not necessarily looking to live right on the coast. Sure, that would be a nice bonus, but I don't feel the need to pay extra for it. I'm just looking to be in or near one of these cities, all of which happen to be on the coast.
- Although I'm aware that most families are in the suburbs, I'm still young and don't want to be too far from the city and all the action. This is something that is very appealing about San Diego - if I choose to live in the city, the wealthy seaside suburbs, with all of their potential students, are just a short drive from downtown. Alternately, if I choose to live in a suburb, I still won't be far from the city.

I've really enjoyed everyone's input! Keep it coming!!!

FWIW, had dinner with wife's family tonight and learned that Rancho Mission Viejo now has zoning permits to build 14,000 new homes just south of Santa Ana, so you might just find some clientele there as families move in.

You mean Mission Viejo? There's also Rancho Santa Magarita and Ladera Ranch nearby.

I almost bought a house there, but, alas, it was out of my price range. It's a LOVELY place to live, though. However, the area is definitely saturated with piano teachers. A couple of teachers there have more than 100 students! I kid you not.

I think John means this
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/rancho-496196-mission-viejo.html

Wow, another city? Definitely worth a look, but it might be quite expensive. I know there are always affordable housing options in any city, but not necessarily conducive toward piano teaching.

I'm originally from San Francisco and my immediate family still lives in N. Ca. I have not moved back, although I would like to, because I am established (not a piano teacher) in the DC area and the cost of living is so high in Ca.

That being said, I would recommend looking at the cities of Petaluma and Santa Rosa in Sonoma county. The cost of living there is less than the bay area, and you can find a town, vs a suburban lifestyle. There is a range of incomes. I don't know how saturated the piano teacher market is. I'm guessing that the market is saturated in any desirable place; that's the reality we live in now.

Santa Rosa has a very good classical music scene for its size. The local symphony orchestra draws musicians from all over N. Ca and is of a very high level.