Where to advertise voice lessons and audition coaching

College Majors Music Major
1

<p>Hello! I'm a music major and I'm starting to teach voice lessons to high school and college students as well as coach aspiring music majors through the college audition process. I talked to my school's vocal instructor and the heads of my major program and the whole department about it and they all told me it was a good idea and to go for it.</p>

<p>Unfortunately I have no car, so it would be a little tricky getting a job to teach lessons at a music store or something. So I have to get people to come to me.</p>

<p>I was wondering, other than general online classifieds (craigslist, ebay classifieds, etc), social networking, word of mouth, and putting up flyers around local schools, churches, community centers, and music stores, where else should I advertise (preferably for free or a very low cost)? I've made pull-tab flyers and will be ordering business cards soon, but I was wondering what else I can do to get students to come to me. Any suggestions?</p>

2

<p>If your “whole department” thinks you are ready, then they should refer some students to you. Ask them. While D was a grad student she got most of her students through faculty referrals. She has never advertised, not even on social media. It took a while, but now she is fully booked.</p>

<p>Do you have access to a studio that you can use or a piano at home with a suitable private space for lessons?
I know it’s tough, but think about getting a car. The transportation issue is huge and , as you well know, has a negative effect on your earning power. It very well might pay for itself. Not only is it difficult to get to music gigs in LA without a car… a lot of the high school students with enough money to pay well for lessons do not want to schlep all the way downtown. D is able to charge her drive-to students twice as much.</p>

3

<p>My D tried to use a zipcar in Boston in order to teach lessons at a house, but it ended up costing her more than her time was worth, so we helped her finance a used car so she can start to go where the money is, including gigs.</p>

<p>For 27dreams, since you have no car easily available to you, would you consider giving Skype lessons? I know that is not ideal, but since you are starting out, you can’t be picky about your clients yet, and this would also give them an easy way to have access to you without driving.</p>

<p>My D is giving lessons to a few older professionals who have always desired to learn to sing or play piano, and they are beginners, and it is something they would do in order to fit it into their busy schedules as well.</p>

<p>My S’s bass teacher did this for students that wanted access to him who weren’t in our town, and it quickly picked up such that it was his preferred way to teach, because he could travel for gigs, but still teach a lesson from his hotel room.</p>

<p>Obviously, in-person is ideal, but without a car yet, this is something to consider.</p>

<p>Good luck to you. I remember when you were telling us about all your accepts, so it’s good to see you are trying to make some money with your talent as you go through school.</p>

4

<p>I am sorry, but I am having a difficult time with this. Schools with strong pedagogy programs recognize that to teach voice, you need concrete knowledge about vocal physiology, sound acoustics, articulation/diction issues, etc., which are best acquired through good vocal pedagogy classes. Then and only then are students ready to begin teaching through a supervised practicum, where you work with your student, have access to a supervising master teacher, engage in discussions about specific issues with other pedagogy students, and bring your student in for a demonstration lesson. </p>

<p>While you may be a fine singer, 27dreams, well respected by the faculty and other students, that does not mean you are ready to give voice lessons. Teaching an instrument is a bit different because so much of what is done can be seen, but singing requires excellent ears informed by concrete knowledge. Everything else is risky business indeed. I cannot speak to why your perception is that your teachers are encouraging you to “hang up a shingle”. Most of them should be members of the National Association of Teachers of Singing, which promotes informed teaching.<br>
Teaching others to sing properly requires that kind of knowledge and experience. To assume that you are qualified to prepare other students for auditions is putting their futures at risk as well. Voices can be damaged permanently, and wrong motor skill habits can be set in place that will never be fixable. </p>

<p>If I have misunderstood and you are in fact an advanced or graduate student with vocal pedagogy courses and practicum teaching experience, then it is a different issue. If you are a fine young singer yourself, with good technical and performance skills, that is nice, but it is not adequate for what you want to do if you have no pedagogical training. </p>

<p>As a voice teacher, you must use your ears, and it would be that much more difficult to accurately perceive what you are hearing in various acoustical environments. In other words, you want to teach in a consistent environment. I would not advise traveling from home to home as a voice teacher. Additionally, singing is a total physical experience, with issues of posture and energy crucial to success. This would be very difficult to establish with a beginning singer (or at any level) via Skype. Certainly Skype is a good tool for use by established singers with their regular teacher, where they know each other and what is happening from first hand experience. </p>

<p>It is great that you are interested in teaching voice, and there are many programs that provide good training in vocal pedagogy. Good luck finding your way to that kind of experience and training.</p>

5

<p>Bad assumption on my part…I thought this was from an older grad student! Ignore what I said and listen to Lorelei.
Are other undergrads at USC encouraged to teach voice?</p>

6

<p>I just typed up a really long response to all of you but CC deleted it. I’m just going to say to everyone that while I understand your concerns regarding transportation and qualification, your advice is misplaced. I have already decided to start giving private lessons, and have already contemplated all of your concerns a great deal, otherwise I wouldn’t have decided to go for it in the first place. My professors are helping me find a space to teach, and I’m uncomfortable giving Skype lessons to students I’ve never taught in person. I’m also not interested in pedagogical concerns from patronizing people who don’t know anything about my past teaching experience, what vocal method I personally follow, or how much I plan to focus on vocal technique as opposed to performance feedback and general musicality when teaching my students. (Aside: I am not going to advertise my services to current vocal majors.)</p>

<p>I thought I made it clear that I am posting here because I am asking people to recommend where I should advertise as an independent instructor so I don’t have to go get a job teaching lessons at a local music store and take the bus to work. Sorry if I sound irritated but like I said, CC deleted my very long and well thought out response to you all.</p>

<p>also, musicamusica - Sorry I didn’t make this clearer, but I was referring to three separate people: my vocal instructor, the head of my major program, and the head of the whole department. I didn’t mean to come across as boastful, bragging that the whole department was behind me, haha. </p>

<p>Edit: Students in my major program are encouraged to get out into the real world of music and be entrepreneurs. This is one way I’ve started to do that, and the authorities wholeheartedly approve.</p>

7

<p>It’s probably different with voice, but Juilliard allows student instrumentalists to teach. They have a directory, and they have teaching fellowships that undergraduates are eligible for. (However, to my knowledge, vocalists are not part of these programs.) </p>

<p>As for advertising, my daughter does some teaching outside of her fellowships, but it is almost all through word of mouth. She tried advertising on Craigslist, but that mostly produced a lot of crazies.</p>