Typical income for guitar teachers
If you're thinking about starting your own guitar teaching business, you will want to know how much money you could potentially earn. The great thing with teaching guitar is you have great flexibility on how much you want to earn. You can choose your own hours, set your own rates and work as long or as little as you want. This means there isn't one right answer for the typical income of guitar teachers. Have a look at the three scenarios below and think about which one fits with what you want to achieve.
Scenario 1: Casual Teacher (less than 10 students a week)
This scenario fits with you if you want to earn money teaching guitar while keeping your full time job. If you can only fit in less than 10 lessons a week then this scenario will give you an idea of how much you could earn teaching guitar.
Number of hours worked each week: 5
Number of students: up to 10 (30 minute lessons)
Typical rate for 30 minute lessons: $20 (can vary widely depending on your location and local demand for lessons)
Total weekly income: $200
This scenario shows that even for minimal effort, a casual teacher can easily earn a couple hundred dollars a week. The majority of guitar teachers give more than 10 lessons a week so earn significantly more than this as shown later. If you're not sure whether teaching guitar is a career you would like to pursue, it's worth trying to aim for no more than 10 students and see what it's like.
Your income from 5 hours worth of lessons could be higher or lower than this depending on the local demand for lessons and how well you promote yourself and your brand. The reason we focus so much of our courses and guides on business and marketing is because when you apply the right marketing principles and strategies, you will be able to raise your income.
Benefits to becoming a casual guitar teacher: the main benefit everybody should consider is the increase of financial security the extra income can give you. Instead of relying 100% on your main source of income, you can reduce your risk by earning income on the side from teaching. The other major benefit worth considering is the flexibility it gives you. You can choose when you want to teach and set a schedule that fits you and your career.
Scenario 2: Part-time Teacher (10-20 students a week)
A large majority of teachers teach part time by choice. Teaching guitar allows a very flexible schedule while allowing you to pursue a career alongside your teaching career.
Number of hours worked each week: 20
Number of students: approximately 30 (mix of 30 and 60 minute lessons)
Typical rate for 30 minute lessons: $20
Total weekly income: $800
It's actually quite easy to fit in 20 hours a week teaching guitar. Some teachers continue to hold a full time job and teach up to 20 hours a week. 20 hours a week breaks down to 4 hours a day if you want to teach workdays. Alternatively, you could spread your students over the entire seven day week and only need to teach less than 3 hours a day. As a guitar teacher you have plenty of flexibility to set up a schedule to fit your lifestyle.
Please note that although income of $800 a week is shown, this could be more or less depending on the number of students, the number of hours and the rate charged. You can easily increase your income by playing with these numbers.
Scenario 3: Full-time Teacher
If you're considering teaching guitar full time you have a couple of things to consider. How many hours a week do you want to teach? What days would you want to teach? What income do you want to make? Your answers to these questions will play a big part in how much you can earn teaching guitar full time. We've helped guitar teachers make the jump to full time teaching and can help get you in the ideal situation financially.
The scenario below shows what is possible when you want to make a living teaching guitar.
Number of hours worked each week: 40
Number of students: approximately 50 (mix of 30 and 60 minute lessons)
Typical rate for 30 minute lessons: $20
Total weekly income: $1600
As mentioned in the other scenarios, the rate you charge could be significantly different to this example depending on your location and local demand for lessons. What happens when you charge $25 dollars instead of $20? Your weekly income increases to $2000. The truth is that there are guitar teachers out there that earn far more than $2000 a week. When you take the time to work out a strategy, focus on your marketing in the right way and work on building a good reputation, you can achieve fantastic results. Just ask yourself how much do you want to earn? Once you have the goal you can work backwards to see how to get there. We work very closely with our members to help them achieve results like this. We know what strategies work and can help you earn significant income if that's what you want to do.
Of course you may not live in an area where you can comfortably gain 50 students or $20 for a 30 minute lesson might be too expensive for your local area. But even if you aren't in the ideal area and can't charge a high rate, there are many ways you can still earn a full time income as a guitar teacher.
What do you want your scenario to look like?
The three scenarios above show only a glimpse of what is possible when you teach guitar. You can teach as much or as little as you want and earn the income you want to earn.
If you want to get a head start as a guitar teacher, become a member so you can access our wide range of lesson materials, business guides, teaching guides, teaching courses and email support. We can help you succeed as a guitar teacher.
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