Are you a skilled pianist who enjoys playing music and sharing it with others? Have you ever thought about offering piano lessons?

Teaching piano lessons is a wonderful endeavor that can be as simple as a side hustle, or it can be as extensive as a full-time job.

While you don’t necessarily need a specific degree or certification in order to begin offering piano lessons, there are a number of things that you can do to ensure the best possible experience for both yourself and your students.

There are many highly educated and highly experienced teachers offering very high-quality services to their students. As a new piano teacher, you’ll definitely be encouraged to jump in and get started, but also be mindful that it is a profession that many people take really seriously and rely on as their full time income. Keep this in mind as you set your rates and position yourself in the field in your own community.

If you’re interested in taking on some piano students, here are some things to do as you get started.

Ask yourself some questions.

The best and most talented pianists aren’t necessarily the best teachers. Similarly, the best teachers don’t always need to have the best performance skills. (Of course, good teachers need to be excellent pianists, but many teachers don’t identify as performers.)

Take a close look at yourself and what you enjoy about playing the piano. Think about other skills and talents that you have and consider how they would help you to teach piano.

Here are some non-piano skills that are crucial for piano teachers:

-Communication: Not only do you have to communicate information to your student about how to play the piano, you also have to be good at communicating things like what and how to practice, details about scheduling and policies that you’d like to have in place in order for your lessons to run smoothly. If this level of communication about all of the details surrounding the content of the lesson as well as the logistics of the lesson seem daunting, you might reconsider teaching piano lessons.

-Patience: Your patience will probably be tried in every way you can imagine in a piano lesson. You might have to re-word your instructions over and over in order to get them across to your student. You’ll definitely have to endure slow, off-beat, messy piano playing. Your students will bring all kinds of outside issues, attitudes and feelings into their lesson and you’ll have to be ready to handle them.

-Flexibility: Every student you teach will have their own gifts, skills and challenges that they are bringing to the piano. You have to always have a plan for your lessons and you have to be ready to veer from your plans at any moment.

-Creativity: Piano teachers need to be equipped to come up with creative solutions to problems. They have to find ways to creatively teach material that many people perceive as boring. Putting your own unique spin on piano lessons is what will make them successful and enjoyable.

Teaching piano is a very relationship-oriented job. You will work very closely with students and their families. Even if you are a really excellent pianist, if you don’t love nurturing relationships as a part of your job, you will feel really drained by teaching.

On the other hand, many excellent teachers find that teaching piano is just the right balance of sharing content with students and finding ways to relate to them.

Find a student.

The best way to get started teaching piano lessons is to find a student and start teaching. Consider asking a friend or acquaintance if they or their child would be interested in learning piano from you while you figure out your approach.

It probably doesn’t make sense to charge a trial student a competitive rate as you are first learning, but you can work out a fair way to be compensated as you learn.

With your first piano students, be ready to adapt and change quickly. Don’t assume that piano lessons will look the same as they did when you were learning as a child.

Prioritize your teaching time and your preparation time.

Consistency is crucial for piano lessons, especially when it comes to scheduling. Piano students need to be set up for success by having a consistent and predictable experience at their lesson each week.

For this reason, it’s really important to prioritize piano lesson times each week. Find a time when you won’t need to cancel or reschedule frequently and make sure your student has the same level of commitment.

At first, you will likely have to put just as much or more time into preparation for lessons as you do for actually teaching the lessons.

Learn about a variety of different methods and approaches.

Many new piano teachers resort to teaching piano the same way they learned, using the same books, methods and approaches.

There might be some timeless elements of teaching piano, but like many areas, it’s a field that is always evolving.

Plus, every student is different and what may have worked well for you as a learner won’t necessarily be the best for your student.

Look back through your old piano books, but also check out a music store and browse other books that are out there.

Learn about technology that is available to help people learn the piano.

Educate yourself about learning styles and different learning modalities so that you can be equipped to meet the needs of your students.

Network with other piano teachers.

Many areas have local groups of piano teachers who meet regularly and put on events for their students. This is an easy way to get connected with other teachers and learn more about what they are doing.

If you don’t have an organized music teacher’s group in your area, search for local piano teachers and reach out to them. Don’t view other teachers as your competition. Instead, get to know them and see how you can help each other out.

If you are having trouble finding local teachers to connect with, there are many ways to interact with other piano teachers online. Look for Facebook groups for piano teachers, browse Instagram for other piano teachers and look for helpful websites and blogs run by piano teachers.

Observe other teachers.

An excellent way to become a better teacher is to watch other teachers during their piano lessons. There is so much to observe, from how they convey the actual content to how they relate to their students. You’ll get to take a peek at the books and teaching aids that they use in their lessons.

It’s fascinating to watch the same teacher teach multiple students in a row. Every lesson will likely look different from the previous one.

The more teachers you can observe, the better. You will learn many different ways of teaching and running lessons.

Invest in yourself and in your business.

If you are serious about teaching piano lessons, you will want to invest in yourself and in your new business. Be willing to purchase books, supplies and equipment that will help you to be a better and more effective teacher.

Any new business endeavor requires up-front expenses to get started. Teaching piano doesn’t necessarily require a lot to begin. A well-maintained piano in good working order is necessary, and you’ll definitely need your own personal copy of your students’ books.

Otherwise, you’ll have to use your own discretion to decide which other purchases are necessary. Many teachers use a lot of apps and online programs, so a tablet may be helpful. Others have preferences for games, teaching aids and office supplies that they like to use in piano lessons.

Also, be willing to invest in yourself to learn new things. We’ll explore this topic a little more in a moment, but the best teachers will continually invest in improving and growing as a teacher. Be on the lookout for opportunities to learn more.

In addition to things that you might invest in to help with your actual teaching, you’ll likely need to invest in things that will help establish and grow your business. Things like business cards, setting up a website, and bookkeeping software are all helpful for piano teachers.

Find classes and workshops to attend.

We just talked about investing in yourself and one of the best ways to do that is to further your education.

Check with your local university to see if there are any classes that might help you fill in some gaps in your own piano background. Look for piano pedagogy classes or see if you can enroll in private lessons with a professor. Taking lessons yourself is a wonderful way to become a better teacher.

Shorter-term workshops and classes are also commonly put on by universities, local music teacher groups or music stores.

Also, look online for online classes, workshop, conferences and mentorship opportunities.

Good luck as you get started teaching your new piano students!

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This post was written by Megan, piano teacher and author of Pianissimo: A Very Piano Blog. Visit her website for more piano related blogs for teachers, parents, students, and all things piano.