Pivoting careers is usually a delicate endeavor, although there are several reasons for which it might be necessary, age, salary expectations, and experience, to mention but a few.
Specifically, in the music field, it is not out of place to find people switching careers seamlessly. Mostly because some music careers are intertwined and, as such, require little to no new knowledge for them to function optimally in their new field.
This article details the various alternative career roles which piano teachers could also take on, providing useful information for piano tutors looking to switch careers. Read about piano careers in Canada.
What Does a Piano Teacher in Canada Do?
A pianist teacher is tasked with the responsibility of teaching students how to play the piano across varying proficiency levels. And it doesn't take a decade to become a piano teacher. Learn more!
While this may seem like a straightforward job description, there are intricacies to performing a piano teaching job successfully.
Students will have to undergo a series of piano lessons Toronto or in another city that would cover a wide range of topics, including music theory, clefs and staves, hand positioning and fingering techniques, the piano keys, melodies and harmonies, intervals, pedalling techniques, scales, chords, and chord progressions, etc. The piano tutor would also handle the responsibility of scheduling and supervising regular practice periods for the student.
In summary, the piano teacher's responsibility is to provide music or piano lessons to the student based on their needs, evaluate student progress and provide feedback, organize appointments and practice schedules, and in most cases, handle administrative and financial responsibilities.
Piano instructors in academic institutions or music colleges may have a different routine and curriculum for teaching students. However, their assigned responsibilities are not very different from the ones outlined above.
Requirements and Proficiency Needed for a Piano Teacher
Becoming a piano teacher requires two types of skills —piano-playing skills and teaching skills. For piano teachers, the typical proficiency level required is a degree in music and knowledge of music theory. While a music degree can be attained from the university, most importantly, a piano teacher should be able to play the piano skillfully and sight-read.
On the other hand, becoming a piano teacher would require:
Patience: Working with individuals less knowledgeable in piano playing can be frustrating as a professional. Hence, it is critical to constantly remember that learning is a process through which the students will get better with time.
Motivational Skills: During learning, it is common for students to feel unmotivated or ready to give up. In these situations, a good piano teacher should be able to spur students back to learning in a nurturing and supportive way.
Communication Skills: A vital aspect of teaching is being able to convey ideas and deliver in-person or online piano lessons in easily understandable words for the beginner student. This is what also makes a good piano teacher.
Interpersonal Skills: Being a piano teacher would mean interacting with several students. Hence, it is essential to have the ability to relate easily with students and have a friendly rapport with them to enhance learning.
Organizational Skills: Dealing with several students may translate into tedious administrative duties. The piano teacher may also schedule different practice periods for each student. As such, a piano teacher needs to be able to organize each student's records and schedule practice without conflicting periods.
Careers for Piano Teachers in Canada
Nowadays, teaching piano-playing is quite lucrative. Originally, conventional private or institutional piano tutoring was all there was. However, with the advent of the internet, there's now a plethora of new ways a piano teacher can make a living. Below are a few:
- Work as a piano or music instructor in an institution or music college: This is one of the most popular ways to make a living as a piano tutor. Playing the piano has been made quite popular over the years, and it has been included in some academic curricula. It is no wonder that music colleges, universities, and high schools hire piano teachers proficient in the knowledge of music to handle their music courses.
Most piano teachers find work in music schools and colleges as piano instructors. Source: Pexels
Working as a piano teacher in an institution or college is almost always a flexible job that can provide ample time to pursue other ways of profiting from piano-playing skills.
- Provide online instructional videos: With the internet, piano teachers are also privy to the opportunity of uploading instructional piano videos on the internet for a profit. This 21st-century career path is also quite lucrative. Video sharing platforms such as YouTube, TikTok, Twitter, etc, provide the piano tutor with a wide range of audiences and free cloud storage for uploaded videos. These platforms also provide content creators with commissions based on the views and interactions on their videos.
Furthermore, music and music-related brands are constantly scouting for content creators in the music niche with a large online audience to market their products. Endorsements and ambassador deals typically serve as a major source of revenue for piano players in this career path.
- Offer private piano tutoring services: Asides from teaching in institutions or colleges, piano players can also set up a private studio or learning space to teach interested students. For this career path, scaling can be quite easy but maybe capital-intensive to begin.
Private piano learning studios generally have a straightforward enrolling process and a focused learning plan as opposed to music colleges, where music is taught on a broader scale, and a wide variety of instrument learning is offered.
- Hosting online classes: In a bid to tackle the physical hassle that comes with running a private piano tutoring center, hosting online piano learning classes is an ideal career path. With even greater opportunities, hosting online piano learning classes can be a lucrative career path for a piano teacher.
Reaching interested students via word of mouth, online advertisement, social media marketing, etc., learning can take place via an online learning and sharing space e.g. Zoom.
Via superprof.ca as well, an online learning platform, piano tutors and students alike can provide and receive knowledge respectively on how to play the piano proficiently.
How Much Does a Piano Teacher Earn
As mentioned in the previous paragraphs, piano teachers can earn a living in many ways, including piano lessons Calgary or elsewhere. Pin-pointing an exact figure for a piano teacher's salary could be inaccurate. However, a rough estimate of the salary range of a piano teacher is between $25.38 - $32.62 per hour on average. This could translate into approximately $52,800 annually.
Other Careers for a Piano Teacher
In reality, being a piano teacher provides anyone with the relevant skills and proficiency to fit into almost any musical field seamlessly. While some of these alternative career paths may require a little dedication and practice to achieve professionalism, their fundamental requirements are not beyond a piano teacher's capabilities. Below are several other career paths a piano teacher could venture into:
- Concert Piano Playing: Concert pianists are usually at the peak of their piano playing career. This high-income piano-playing career generally requires a sound knowledge of classical piano-playing and music theory which piano teachers are proficient in. As such, they have no trouble venturing into this career path. Being a concert pianist would involve playing at tours and live performances, hence, frequent practice and travelling is a characteristic of a concert pianist's career.
Concert piano is one of the most lucrative professions for the trained pianists. Source: Pexels
Asides from live performances and tours, streaming platforms also provide concert pianists with additional income by giving them commissions on profit generated from streaming revenue.
- Music Arrangement: A piano teacher can also take up a career in music arrangement. This career path features arranging music for piano solos. A music arranger can also originate piano versions of songs and make profit by selling its music sheet.
- Orchestral Piano Playing: Often in onstage opera performances, an orchestral pianist plays the piano as a standalone instrument. This is also another lucrative alternative career path for a piano teacher.
For success in this career role, the orchestral pianist would need to develop interpersonal relationships and work closely with artist management companies or smaller organizations to source for gigs. They could also source for events individually.
- Church Piano Playing: This career path is another popular alternative for piano teachers. Churches are often sourcing pianists either on a temporary or permanent basis. Hence, this career path can be ideal when in a new environment or looking for a flexible career. Work hours can be as little as a 2-hour service per week plus rehearsals. A piano teacher could also advance this career path into choir and music directing for an augmented salary.
- Piano playing for a band or music group: A piano teacher could also work as a pianist for a band or music group. This career path is only as luminous as the band's prominence itself. Since remunerations depend on gigs performed, it is ideal for picking this role with an in-demand group.
Most music bands or groups also have excellent discography for which streaming platforms could reward generously after generating revenue. This is another source of income for the band or music group.
Summarily, many piano teachers earn an average salary in Canada. Other careers, asides from piano teaching, are just as lucrative and may even require lesser expertise. As such, it won't be much of a hassle switching from a piano-teaching career.
Learn more about qualifications for piano teachers.
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