Why I Do Not Teach
And why you maybe shouldn't either
Finding dedicated string students is painfully difficult.
Violin & Viola are HARD to play.
Most students do not practice.
Because learning these instruments is hard and students do not practice, lessons can become soul-crushing.
I’ve been teaching private lessons for 18 years. I got to a point where I was repeating myself to 12 students all week. None of them are absorbing or applying my guidance.
I was not a string teacher; I was a babysitter.
I have wasted countless hours jumping through hoops—trying to help people improve on an instrument that they refuse to practice.
Change was gradual, and then it was sudden.
Today, I qualify potential students. I developed a qualifying system that discourages unmotivated students from wasting my time.Now, I only attract highly motivated students that come to every lesson prepared.
Wanna know the best part? These rules and guidelines fit my lifestyle as a performer that teaches lessons part time.
Want the playbook for how I run this system in my teaching business?
Read on.
First Thing, Qualify the Student
“Do You Teach Lessons?”
As soon as I see/hear these words, I do the following (you can follow along here):
I send them a consultation survey link like this one.
I conduct a student interview. Because I want to make sure that I am the best person to help them, I ask them what their goals are. Finally, I let them play for me (15 minutes).
After the call, I will consider whether or not I want to take the student on.
Note: I do not disclose my rate while on the call. This eliminates the opportunity to waste time in negotiating—my rate is my rate.
I send a follow-up email summarizing the key points of our interview. Following the summary, I will disclose whether or not I will teach the student.
If I am taking the student on, I will share my rate and present them with this contract.
Feel free to download this template and use it for your teaching business. Thank you so much for reading this newsletter!
To use it:
Press select all of the text {CRTL/CMD + A}.
Copy all of the text {CRTL/CMD + C}.
Open a new word document and paste the text {CRTL/CMD + V}.
Review the material in the contract. Add/subtract whatever you like. This is YOUR contract now.
Change all the information highlighted below to make sure you’re not accidentally impersonating me.
Other Tips For Finding Quality Students
Find a way to give masterclasses where dedicated students go. All-state, solo and ensemble competitions, summer festivals, and teachers conventions are a great place to start.
To find dedicated adult students, search in Facebook Groups, Subreddits, and other online communities. Answer some of the community’s questions and get to know people.
Set clear expectations for your students. Make it clear how they will be in good status and how they can fall into delinquent status. Protect your time and your energy.
Why Qualifying is Necessary
Qualifying your students will show you red flags early in the relationship.
Students that take days to respond to messages may take days to pay you.
Students that are late to the interview might be habitually late to lessons.
Students that are unwilling to sign your contract will be unwilling to follow the guidelines of your contract.
You do not have to teach every student that comes your way.
Be selective.
Do Not Be Afraid To Be Firm
Teaching is a real service. Establish your boundaries and be clear about your expectations. This contract encompasses your rules of engagement.
This is YOUR business.
You deserve to be paid before you teach.
If you are a teacher and a performer, it is okay to have cancellation policies like this:
Cancellations and Rescheduling:
If Client cancels a lesson within 24 hours of the lesson time, a cancellation fee of $60 will be applied to the Client’s account. The cancellation fee must be paid within 7 calendar days of the offense. After 7 days, the Client will be marked as “Delinquent” and will not receive further lessons—bundles included. Once the fee has been paid, the Client’s “Delinquent” status will be changed to “Good Standing,” and new lessons can be scheduled.
Instructor reserves the right to cancel lessons for any reason and within any time frame. In exchange, Instructor guarantees to promptly reschedule the lesson for a make-up (in-person or virtually).
If students are unwilling to respect my time, they do not qualify for lessons with me. You shouldn’t accept less than this either.
It is just that simple.
Now You See Why I Can’t Teach Lessons
Most students (or their parents) do not get past the contract phase of my qualification process.
Think about it, if they are unwilling to go that extra mile for me, why should I go the extra mile for them?
And I would not have it any other way.
Here’s why:
No Energy
At the ripe age of 32, I now understand tasks can be categorized by 2 values: time and energy.
Tasks always take up time. There’s nothing I can do about that.
So instead, I am focusing how tasks drain my energy or fill me with energy.
Everyone enjoys certain tasks and dreads others.
Joy = gives energy; Dread = drains energy
At this phase of my life, teaching lessons to undedicated students drains my energy.
When I teach unqualified students, I spend my time AND my energy. Stack up a few unqualified students week after week after week, I can already smell the burnout.
I have young businesses that drain my time and energy. They generate endless laundry lists of tasks that must be completed.
While I love owning and building my businesses, I do not love EVERYTHING about them.
I spend more time sending emails, writing invoices, sending tax docs, accounting, and other general administration than playing viola. I hate it.
So, when it comes teaching students on top of everything else, I am confronted with these questions:
To get my desired day rate ($1000/day), do I really even want to teach for 8 straight hours?
Will I have enough energy to spend at least 2-4 hours on my businesses after 8 hours of teaching?
Are there tasks I could be doing that are worth more than $125/hr?
How sustainable would the additional work load be?
Some of my long-term goals are the following:
Build multiple private businesses centered around performing and creating music. These businesses will provide value to millions of people, generating income for me, my family, and my friends.
To become a time billionaire and obtain full control over my day-to-day and creative endeavors.
To be an active, loving father (in the future lol).
To transition into a career as an investor.
To play a role in creating a seed fund that will fund public music education—forever.
At the end of the day, the math behind teaching unqualified students ain’t mathin for me.
So, that’s the calculus behind why I do not teach (except you, Wanda)!
I hope you like the contract template!
Use the guidelines in here to help you establish expectations, and qualify only the most dedicated students!
If you have any questions about the template or anything else, please do not hesitate to reply to this email!
Thanks for reading. Talk to you next Friday.
Drew
I normally don’t comment on anything but I was a parent of a son who didn’t practice unless and until he had a solo, which was frequently. My son is a violinist, guitarist, and a fan of you as well as Daniel D, Black Violin, etc. He was also the kid that wouldn’t practice. Or perhaps I should qualify that by saying he wouldn’t practice what he was assigned to work on. He didn’t get that part (practicing) together until his second year in college. What I think the private instructors didn’t get about him that his orchestra teachers did understand was that he was creating something new in his head, something different. He may not have fully understood he lacked the technique to execute what he was composing. He volunteers sometimes with the middle school and high school orchestras and he has to chuckle when he sees a version of himself in the classroom. He always only wanted to be a musician. Because of his talent (not his practice), he was pretty much first chair the whole time he was in school. That being said, the 20 year old version of him does practice but he doesn’t regret the childhood version of himself that was trying to beatbox and make the violin work with it at the same time. Both myself and his teachers were frustrated.
I couldn't agree with this more! The more we as musicians and teachers treat our profession like the important service it is, the more others will respect our time, rates, and qualifications! You inspire me to do better. Thanks, Drew!